RECOGNIZING YOUR PARENTING STYLE: EXPECTATIONS & NURTURING

 

Beliefs and attitudes towards raising a child make up a parenting style. How high parents’ expectations are, how responsive and nurturing parents are, how much freedom children are allowed, define a style.  Since a parenting style is not something we choose, but a result of our own awareness, our own history, capacity and values, distinguishing your own style will help improve your parenting. To quickly assess each parenting style we have rated them based on the four simple descriptors mentioned.

Personal history can make us repeat our parents’ mistakes or react by opposition, pushing us either way to one extreme or another. Cautiously and honestly assessing our parenting style can bring consciousness to areas we’ve been neglecting or to behaviors we’ve been causing. This awareness is not meant to criticize us, but to guide us in becoming better parents.