I used to struggle to parent my two children because what worked well with my eldest daughter is not working with my other child. Like when I raise my voice, my eldest will start listening and my youngest one will continue ignoring me.
The truth is that if you are experiencing challenges in parenting, you are not alone since no academic education or experience prepares a mom or any individual for parenthood.
Imagine being stress-free about parenting because you and your kids are going very well. Learning parenting practices from different cultures is one of the best ways to become stress-free.
Here are 3 key lessons I learned from different countries and cultures through Working Moms Academy’s live interview with parents from India, Puerto Rico, Malaysia and Australia.
- Respect for the elderly is common in most cultures.
In India, respect is a big factor and parents have a big role to play, especially in making big decisions from choosing careers to finding the right partner according to Neelanjana Choudhury.
In Malaysia, acknowledging the elderly by greeting them on arrival and prior to departure in any social gathering is a form of respect according to Gladys Tan.
In Puerto Rico, calling elderly Aunt and Uncle is a norm according to Annette Caraballo. You can watch the full interview with Annette Caraballo Pacheco here and discover more about parenting practices from Puerto Rico.
In Australia, respect is a practice in terms of allowing children to speak their minds according to Chloe Lim.
- Conscious parenting is one of the best ways to parent your kids
Conscious parenting is about letting go of a parent's ego, desires, and attachments. Instead of forcing behaviors on children, parents should focus on their own language, their expectations, and their self-regulation (source:healthline.com)
Neelajana Choudhry shared how she managed her daughter’s tantrums by allowing her child to have a dedicated time and space to fully air out her emotions without judging whether the emotion is right or wrong. This gives the child an opportunity to process her emotions and get the help she needs when she is ready. This is a powerful tool since studies suggest that suppression of emotions is one of the reasons why people go through depression. Watch the full interview with Neelanjana here to learn more about how she managed to help her daughter overcome tantrums and unexplainable emotions. You can watch the full interview with Neelanjana here.
Chloe Lim from Australia shared the power of using questions to help her children discover how to think and find the solution to their problems within. This parenting style is aligned to Australia’s academic education strategy that focuses on developing a child’s critical thinking and problem-solving skills. You can watch the full interview with Chloe here and discover more about parenting practices in Australia.
- Communication is key
Annette Caraballo from Puerto Rico shared how she successfully developed a deep connection with her children who are now adults through open communication.
Gladys Tan also shared how communicating with her children through the power of virtues helped her manage and support her kids who are uniquely different in gender, talent, and interest. You can watch the full interview with Glady’s here to discover more how she uses virtues not in parenting and in everyday life.
Regardless of culture, I think times have changed and what will work on parenting your children successfully is finding a way that works for you and your child because each child and each parent is unique.
I believe that there is no such thing as a perfect parent. Parenthood is lifelong learning and I look forward to interviewing other moms to discover what works because the goal of Working Moms Academy is to help moms become better parents, people and partners by sharing life tools that education lacks through coaching, training and community of moms learning together.
ABOUT WANDA
Wandalyn Tan-Calupig is the Founder of Working Moms Academy. After suffering from burnout in 2014, she is helping stressed and burnt-out working moms find balance and bliss, so moms can "have it all” - personal and professional success. Subscribe to Working Moms Academy’s Youtube channel (bit.ly/YOUTUBEWMA) and find 58+ videos and new content every week that can help you overcome the stress, demand and pressures of everyday life. Working Moms Academy is a platform and community that supports mothers struggling with stress and burnout by providing life tools that education lacks. It is one of the 20 finalists (out of 128 applications) of the Built to Last 2020 Hackathon, The First-ever Virtual Hackathon for Female Founders in South East Asia.