Being a parent isn’t an easy job, and these days, with all sorts of parenting tips and advice you see online, it’s easy to get confused on what might be the best way to take care of your child.
Not to mention the fact that there are thousands of people online, most of them fellow parents, who openly shame other parents who they feel aren’t being good parents. This type of behavior is very disappointing, and it totally goes against what parenting is all about.
It’s not a competition
You’ve probably seen people criticizing parents online, for one reason or another. Maybe you’ve had thoughts in your mind that as a parent yourself, you could have done a better job. However, that type of mindset turns parenting into a sort of competition, where parents pit their kids against each other to find out who the cutest, smartest, or nicest kid is.
But really, it’s not a competition. Parents shouldn’t look at other parents and treat them as rivals, or think of their kid as some sort of trophy that shows how good they are at raising a child.
There’s nothing wrong with being proud of your child, or showing off their achievements to other people. But when it starts to become a competition of who’s the better parent, it starts becoming toxic, and sets a bad example for kids as well.
Being too competitive makes kids feel that they have to succeed in order for their parents to appreciate them. Some parents forget that kids sometimes just want to play, have fun, and be kids. It’s not all about the high grades or being perfectly disciplined, what’s more important is the lessons that children learn, and developing a good relationship with their parents.
Learn to support each other
Instead of harshly criticizing other parents for their ‘mistakes’ or because they’re doing things differently, why not try to support each other instead? If you see a parent doing things differently, why not try and ask them why they’re doing so? It can be a learning experience for the both of you, since you’ll be sharing both of your experiences as parents.
It’s important to create a community of parents who are supportive of each other, and are open-minded when it comes to learning about new things.
It would be great to see that instead of parents trying to constantly one-up each other, they’re instead trying to think of ways of how to help each other out and become better parents to their kids. Parenting is hard enough as it is, and it gets even harder if you constantly see people judging you because of how you do things with your child.
At the end of the day, all parents want the best for their children. And being supportive, understanding, and learning from other parents is one way of making sure that our children grow up to be wonderful human beings.
Source: cosmopolitan.com
READ: Is public shaming good parenting? Parents share their opinions