Parenting with an Attitude

21 Questions Successful Parents Ask Themselves

PARENTING WITH AN ATTITUDE…..21 Questions Successful Parents Ask Themselves Thoughts and Ideas for good parents who want to be better parents Most of us parents know the importance of consistently looking for ways we can improve our parenting skills; we ask questions, and we want answers to those questions. Often, however, in our efforts to be better parents we ask the wrong questions like, "Where have we gone wrong?", "Why won't Jason ever listen?", "Why aren’t my kids as easy to raise as the neighbor’s kids?", "Why do they always prefer being at someone else's house than ours?", and, "Why me?". PARENTING WITH AN ATTITUDE….. 21 Questions Successful Parents Ask Themselves, instead focuses on some of the more important questions parents must ask themselves if it is their goal to raise healthy and prosperous kids. It is written for parents who want to ask themselves the right questions- questions that will help fine tune their efforts and attitudes with their kids. By doing so, they will be more likely to raise great kids who grow up to be emotionally healthy adults, rather than chronically angry, discouraged or defeated. It has long been my belief that if we want to see a change in the other person , it makes good sense to first look at ourselves to see what part we might be playing in actually perpetuating and reinforcing in the other the very behaviors or attitudes in them that we dislike and would like to see changed. It stands to reason, then, that if we can “fine-tune” how we function in a relationship, it is more likely that some the changes in the other person we’d like to see just might come about . I believe this principle applies also to us as parents-that as we fine tune our attitudes and actions in our efforts as parents, the results are likely to be behavior/attitude adjustments in our kids- and growth in our relationship with them as well. So in keeping with this notion, PARENTING WITH AN ATTITUDE…..21 Questions Successful Parents Ask Themselves, is different than most other parenting books on the market today. What sets it apart is that its focus is primarily on OUR efforts as parents and what we can do differently, rather than on our kids and how we can somehow extract a change in them. As you consider 21 of the more important questions successful parents ask themselves, I would also suggest that you focus on the parenting style and attitudes with which you were raised. Often, much can be learned about how we parent, by looking back at how we ourselves were parented. To assist you in this self-evaluation, I have asked several questions at the end of each chapter that will help you assess how your current parenting efforts might be shaped and affected by how you yourself were parented. In addition, several other questions are offered at the end of each chapter to help you and your spouse discuss, co-ordinate and fine tune your own parenting efforts. Ed Wimberly, Ph.D.