It’s no secret that your kids can drive you crazy, but in the vast majority of cases that doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t go back and do it all over again. Why? Because being a parent is one of the best and most rewarding things you will ever do in your life. If you are at the end of your tether when it comes to parenting, have a read of this article to remind you of why parenting is one of the most rewarding things you will ever do—and likely why you decided to become a parent in the first place!
You get to help shape the adults that your kids will become
As your kids grow up, they will be influenced by all sorts of factors—their teachers, their peers, the media they consume and more. However, parents are often the strongest influence on a child’s values, especially in their younger years. You can derive great joy, therefore, from raising your kids with the values and priorities that you think they should maintain throughout their lives. There are fewer things more rewarding than teaching your child to be kind, for example, and witnessing the first time that they perform an act of kindness without any prompting from you.
You might be wondering just how to impart your values onto your kids. The best thing you can do is lead by example. Secondly, make sure you expose them to stories which challenge stereotypes—check out, for instance, this reading list for raising feminist boys.
You get to be there for your kids no matter what
Unfortunately, most people have experienced times in their lives when they have felt alone, unsupported or misunderstood. If you form and maintain a good relationship with your kids, they will never have to feel that way with regards to you, because they will know that they can always count on you to support them. Being a single foster parent, like through
thefca.co.uk, is a lot about being a kind and supportive presence in a child’s life. This goes for all kinds of parenting, and it doesn’t mean always saying yes to your kids or always agreeing with them—rather, it means supporting them through their mistakes and helping them to grow into the best version of themselves that they can be.
You get to experience the world anew through your kids’ eyes
One of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of spending time with young children is that you get to experience the world through their eyes, which means discovering everything—the beauty of a flower, the feel of the rain on your skin, the elating sensation of jumping on a trampoline—as if for the first time. Young children have fewer inhibitory neurotransmitters—the chemicals which prevent neurons from firing all the time—than adults, which is why they appear to see and hear almost everything at once. This is what can lead to being overwhelmed and having meltdowns, but it’s also why toddlers are magical creatures to be around!
