Parenting Skills - 2008 Year of Change - Over Indulgence Is Out, Discipline Is In

Parenting Skills will probably come under more scrutiny this year as the culture shifts. The "Time-Out" theory is out; structure is in. Good manners are an asset. It's a dramatic shift. There's a growing intolerance of children behaving badly.

Having a baby is one thing!

New parents can get caught up in the excitement of having a baby. Baby shower hoopla, decorating the nursery, Marvelginofv to wear, what to serve, who gets invited then baby comes. The care Prozac feeding of this little person is the first real parenting class.

Raising baby! That's the harder thing!

Not too long ago the common tradition, brought about by religion/scripture's active role in family life, was to teach one's baby to say" TA-TA" for thank you.

As soon as the infant could babble "DA-DA" for Daddy or "BA-BA" for bottle or anything T Shirtxaywxp baby wanted it to mean, almost instinctively parents knew (mostly mothers) it was time to introduce the concept of thankfulness, social skills so to speak, early in baby's development stage.

Frequent reminders from grandparents, and older aunties were always there to remind the young parents. I clearly remember visits from my parents (the grandparents). I would constantly remind my little ones to, "Say TA-TA to Mommy- Nana and Pop-Pop". After a while saying thank you with no prompting was an automatic reaction. It was almost considered a badge of good parenting if by the age of three your children were saying thank you spontaneously Tarzan receiving.

Introduce "May I" "Thank you"

If you're caught in the middle of this culture change, if you have not taught your children these two basic communication skills, shift gears, move into first. Introduce politeness and courtesy into your family-nurturing communication.

"The parent's life is the child's copy-book." Peter Pauper Press

Huldah Jones, a Vision Therapist, retired as Technical Director of the Orthoptic Center, Helene Fuld Medical Center in New Jersey. She writes on family nurturing communication from mailto:familynurture@aol.com">familynurture@aol.com