Parenting, Part 1.

Hi everyone, This is Jackie. Today we’re gonna talk about parenting. One of the most important jobs all of you have is being a parent. It’s the most difficult job. It’s the most challenging job, but we’re going to figure out how to do it together. At Alternative Options we have what we call a parenting group. Parenting group is to support the parents because all of us want our kids to come out perfect with no problems and no challenges and that’s not going to happen. I know that for a fact because I’m a parent and also a grandparent of four children. So let’s get back to the basics. Let’s learn to communicate. Let’s learn to listen to one another. You’ll find that when you listen to your kids you’re going to find out a lot more information than sometimes you really want to hear. When you listen to them and give them the option to talk to you. When you listen to them and give them the option to talk to you without judgement, without being put down, criticized or told, you don’t really feel that way do you? Because the kids are little people. They come into this world. They’re our children. We want to nurture them. We want to develop them, but they’re also little human beings and they have feelings and they have concerns. They have to have an outlet to express those feelings. They need their parents and really as parents we need them too because sooner or later they’re going to grow up to be adults. What we do to them while they’re little and teens is what’s going to define the relationship with them when they’re older. If they have that connection to you, they’re going to come to you because they know you’re gonna listen and you’re gonna hear what they have to say and you’re not gonna judge. That doesn’t mean you don’t tell them your opinion or give them advice because you don’t want the same things happening to them that happened to you. So we’re gonna take a few weeks to go into what a parent looks like, how we’re challenged by being a parent, and how we can change that. It all is learned behavior. Goodbye for now and I’ll see you next time.