What Are the Duties of Parenthood?

Basic Needs

• Providing your children with basic needs, such as healthy foods, water, clothing and shelter, is an absolute necessity. However, giving your children the biggest house, spring water and gourmet foods is not necessary and your family can survive without them. Other basics your child needs is a place to sleep and medical attention when necessary. Every human needs these things to live a healthy life.

Safe Environment

• Provide your children with a safe environment. Keeping knives, scissors and other sharp objects out of reach will prevent many injuries as will childproofing your home for younger children. Keep smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors in your home and test them every six months to make sure they are working.

  Emotional safety is also extremely important. You must never allow your child to be in an environment where they feel threatened or could be harmed physically and emotionally. Keeping your children away from any sexual, physical and/or emotional abuse should be one of your top priorities.

Morals and Values

• It is an important to teach your child morals and values that will guide him every day. Teach your child to respect others and always be honest. Show your child to have compassion for others who may not have as much as he does or are sad or having a hard time. Patience is difficult to teach, but being a good example and showing your child patience may be the best way to teach him.

Build Mutual Respect

• Treat your child with respect, and you will see your child treat you and others with respect. Chances are, if you hear about a family that is having trouble with one of their children, it is because there is no mutual respect between the child and her parents. Respect your child by using clean, age-appropriate language, and respect her feelings by not belittling them. Encourage your child to share opinions and respect those opinions. Give your child privacy just as you would like privacy.

Education

• To be successful, you must give your child an education. Whether you enroll your child in school or teach him in your home, involve yourself in his education to make sure he is doing well in classes and understands the material. If your child shows a special interest in a certain subject, encourage him and talk about the jobs that subject could lead to.

Discipline

• When done correctly, discipline will teach your child respect, pride and love. She will find out that she is not able to do whatever she wants, and she must take responsibility for her actions. These lessons will help her grow to become a strong individual with a good foundation of right and wrong.

Self-Esteem

• Encouraging your child to have confidence in himself is one of the greatest things a parent can do. When a child has strong self-esteem, he feels more confident in everything he does. Sports, school, friendships and family relationships are all things that will benefit from self-esteem.

Know Your Child

• Spend time with your child, and you will grow closer together. Get to know your child by participating in things he enjoys. When you truly know your child, you will better be able to see the signs of stress, sadness and joy. You will then be able to react appropriately.