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Parenting Tips 101 – Insights of a Mother, a compilation of lessons learned and shared by a mother of 8 wonderful, amazing, now grown-up children. I grew up as an only child, so what did I possibly know about parenting. Absolutely nothing.

Mother of 8 Shares Lessons Learned

I will tell you right off, I do not have a PHD, so have not learned these lessons from the classroom. I have learned these parenting tips from: personal experiences, my children, great mentors, church leaders and teachers, parents, and “The School of Hard Knocks”.

Parenting Tips – Questions & Answers

If you were to ask my children these questions, this might be some of their answers.

1. What was your childhood like?

• I played outside a lot
• I had chores to do.
• Grampa and Grandma were with us a lot.
• I had lots of friends
• We did things together as a family.
• I could climb on the haystack and play with the animals.

2. What didn’t you enjoy growing up?

• I hated getting up early on Saturday to weed the garden
• Getting up early every day to read the scriptures
• Mucking out the pens
• I wished we didn’t always have roast beef and potatoes & gravy for dinner every Sunday.
• Having to be in at midnight on weekends
• I always had to babysit

3. Did you have a favorite thing to do?

• I loved swimming in our pool
• Mine was playing soccer
• It was fun to take the baby in the stroller and walk to Thrifty for ice cream.
• I loved dressing up my little brother
• It was fun to play in the irrigation water

4. What great lesson did you learn?

• Families are Forever
• To be honest and tell the truth
• Someone always has my back, even when you mess up.
• My family loves me unconditionally
• Jesus loves me

5. Do you have a favorite memory?

• When we went to a cabin in the mountains. We called it Little House on the Prairie.
• I loved going to the beach
• I took a baby lamb to school for Show and Tell
• Grandpa would play with us in the pool and teach us to ride the waves in the ocean.
• Grandma was the best cook ever!

PARENTING TIPS

Lesson #1 – Each Child is Unique

Parenting is not easy and each child does not come with a User Manual. Each child is unique and cannot be parented exactly the same. I learned this lesson the hard way. What worked great for one just absolutely did not work for the next. Sometimes you have a “strong-willed” child. (This is a topic for another lesson, so be sure to check back often for updates.)

Lesson #2 – Play Together-Stay Together

It is important to know that the “family that plays together-stays together”. There is always work to do, but playing together and having fun together is so important. Don’t let those magic moments slip away because you were simply “Too Busy”. Our family loved to swim in our pool, play sports, go hiking, fishing, camping, to the beach or just play games together at home.

Lesson #3 – Teach the Value of Work

A very important lesson each parent needs to learn is that even though it might be easier to just do it yourself, your children must learn how to work. I can’t stress that enough. As my children have grown up, I see what a valuable lesson that was for them. Each one works so hard and knows it is important. Many parents mistakenly think that it just isn’t right to make their children work, but believe me, they will thank you for it later. After we had our 7th child, we decided to move from the city to a more rural area where we could have animals, a garden and a large yard for them to work and play in. For us, this was a great decision because with this came lots more work and responsibilities for them. Work makes responsible adults.

Lesson #4: Let Them Be Little

Let them be little. Childhood is a time for children to enjoy being little. As parents we sometimes wish they would grow up quicker so they could do this or that. Time goes by so quickly and before you know it they are grown-up, so Remember “Let Them Be Little.”

What to look Forward to:

I have many Topics for future lessons such as: Terrible Two’s, Strong-Willed Child, Allowance (yes or no), Respect, Teens, Family Traditions, Punishment for Misbehaving, Difficult Times, Time for Self, and so many more. Please check back often and see what is new in Parenting 101.

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