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Perfect Parenting Keys
An Excerpt from Perfect Parenting
By Elizabeth Pantley
None of us are born knowing how to be parents. We can love our kids with our whole heart and soul, but we aren't born with a gene that gives us an instinctual knowledge of the right consequence to impart when our children misbehave, nor do we automatically know how to solve daily child rearing problems.
We won't learn a Perfect Parenting process by chance. It takes research, thought and planning to decide upon the best solution to any problem. I don't think any chef, no matter how skilled, could enter my kitchen and without any direction, recipe or ingredients end up creating a four-course meal with a five-star desert. It would increase the odds of our having a delicious meal if that person had access to my best cookbook, and passage to the local grocery store. In much the same way, you will be a much more successful parent if you have access to ideas and solutions whenever you come across a parenting problem.
Whenever you come across a situation that baffles you or creates strife in your family life, take a few minutes to look up ideas in your parenting books, and talk to educated and experienced parents. Contemplate how the ideas fit into your parenting style, how they match up to the personality of your child, and how they might work for you. Then create a plan of action. And, then, keeping the Perfect Parenting Keys in mind, follow through.
