I think parenting is one of the most interesting things in this world because everyone parents different. A lot of this is because everyone is parented different and then when you get married, you combine how you grew up with how someone else grows up and try to parent together. I think this causes some stress, disagreement and problems in marriages sometimes because each individual wants to parent in a different way and parents have to deal with each child differently.
My parents have a great marriage. I can only remember them getting in a few big arguments when I was growing up but they got in plenty of small arguments almost daily and a lot of it was because of parenting. For example, my dad is super chill and laid back whereas my mom is pretty strict and uptight. One example of parenting that my parents disagreed on was mom wanted all her kids to practice piano for an hour a day and none of us wanted to. Because of this we always fought her on it. My dad didn’t really care if we played or not. Because of this, he usually took our side which caused my mom to be upset because she always told my dad that they need to be on the same page.
I love the quote by President Thomas S. Monson, “To you who are parents, I say, show love to your children. You know you love them, but make certain they know it as well. They are so precious. Let them know. Call upon Heavenly Father for help as you care for their needs each day as you deal with challenges which inevitably come with parenthood. You need more than your own wisdom in rearing them.” I love this quote. I love that he says to call upon Heavenly Father for help in parenthood. Every child is different and going to have their own struggles and challenges so it’s very important to go to the Lord for help. I think also along with making sure your children know that you love them as parents, they need to know that you love your spouse. My dad always would tell me, “You know I love you and would do anything for you. But I am always going to put your mom first and love her more.” Sometimes I didn’t understand this but now I do. I am excited to have kids of my own and see the love that I have for them.
As parents, I think the best thing you can do for your children is teach them the gospel along with let them know you love them through spending time with them and telling them. These are important because if a child knows that their parents love them, they’ll be more willing to listen to their parents along with being able to trust them enough to talk to them about anything. Because I know my parents love me, I am more willing to go talk to them about anything I am struggling with or need help with. My parents are great examples to me and have shown me the type of parent I want to be. I think it’s important when you are seriously dating someone that you talk to them about how they were parented and how they want to parent. I think this is such an important topic and can make or break marriages. To me, if a girl doesn’t want to parent at least close to the same way, it’s a no go.
Parenting is important and there is a reason that God has put us in families with 2 parents. It is nice to have parents that parent alike but are also different in some aspects.
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