This technique has helped me and it’s still helping me in my parenting journey.
I’m sure you must have heard some parents saying that it’s difficult to raise teenagers but what if I told you that is not always true?
My last son will be 20 years old next week and God has given me the grace of raising him without too many power struggles.
I soon realized that most of the reason why there was not much power struggle between us was because I did the work on myself. I changed!
If you’re a parent you will agree with me that children can make you lose your cool sometimes if you’re not careful.
I had to change my parenting approach when my son became a teenager sharp – sharp! 😁😁😁
When my son was in school I used to get lots of calls from his school. I still remember how I used to dread those calls then.
I later realized that my son has always had an issue keeping it together in group settings. He likes to do things to get attention.
These calls from his school happen almost once a week.
I team up with his teachers by supporting them, having a talk with my son as soon as he gets home, and taking away all his devices and friend time for a few weeks. The punishments have become second nature, but clearly, I need to find a new solution because it’s just not working.
That was when I came across the Positive Parenting techniques.
I learnt that my approach is not working because I am taking his behavior personally and that’s what’s making him misbehave more, just to push my button 😁
I read in the book that if I want him to listen at home or school I have to change my approach to parenting.
And that I have to look inward and change my attitude towards him.
At first I’m like me – change keee 😁😁😁, why should I change? I’m the mom, if anybody needs to change it must be my son!
Well to cut the long story short I had to change when things became so intense at home and school.
So why I’m I telling you this?
I am sharing this because these days I see and hear lots of our teenagers are getting into trouble and following the wrong crowd and they can’t stay at home because their house is too hot for them. 😟
Why?
Because some of us still parent the way we were parented! 🤷🏻♀️
As parents, we need to be careful of how we react to things, especially in front of our kids.
Of course It’s important to correct them when they do wrong but it shouldn’t be on an extreme level so the child doesn’t develop the withdrawal syndrome as a coping mechanism.
I pray God gives us wisdom and grace to parent each child the way they should go.
Positive parenting teaches me patience and will help me work on myself and my son at the same time to yield fruitful results. (My son TOLU is just like my buddy now, we talk about everything …)
Don’t get me wrong, practicing positive parenting techniques is not easy but in the end, it will be worth it.
Few tips to help you:
Patience is key to positive discipline. When feeling overwhelmed, take a moment for yourself before responding to your child.
Be kind to everyone because your children are watching and learning.
A lot of children raised in strict homes do not have close relationships with their parents when they grow up and it’s quite sad. May God help us all.
I will share more tips on Positive Parenting techniques soon.
Stay tuned
Olu
Positive Parenting With Olu 