The Certainty of Parenthood

Over the years I've learned that there are not too many things in life that are certainties.  There are however a few things that you can always count on - death, taxes, the sun coming up, and parenting being very, very difficult at times!

There are often many different things going on with each of my four children.  They are all at different ages, different stages of development, with different temperaments, different interests, and on and on.  Sometimes it can become a bit hectic parenting each of them in the way that best meets all of their individual needs.  There are some things however that all four of them need despite their differences in age, developmental level, etc. Things such as rules, empathy, limits, attention, consequences, listening, praise, etc. are things that all children need.  As a parent, I've sometimes noticed myself getting a bit out of balance with those things.  At times, I've noticed myself being a little heavy on the rules and consequences and not doing as much of the empathy, listening, and praise piece.

The following "parenting pyramid" has been a visual reminder for me over the years of the importance of always keeping those different parenting pieces balanced.  And more so, that the blocks of my parenting foundation needs to always be things like attention, empathy, talking, etc.  I hope this small little tool can be of some help to you as it has been to me!

Monte N. Criddle, LMFT

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