How do you rate yourself as a parent?

Question

How different are you from your parents? Are you a superior parent?

Answer 1

I am a pretty good parent I think. Sometimes its hard though!!! With a15 & 11 yr.old I am always tackling something new. I have very good parent & I do call my mommy & ask for advice sometimes.

Answer 2

Sorry, I can't answer this one, I never had children of my own. I have a beautiful step-daughter, but she didn't come into our lives until she was 20 years old because of her Mother. However, my Daddy was an alcoholic and I don't drink. My Mother was a wonderful woman. I would never say that I am superior to my parents because we are all products of our parents.

Answer 3

Only been a parent for 1 year so still learning, not perfect at it but think I'm doing a good job. Follow some of the things my parent done and miss out the bits I didn't like!

Answer 4

I have been a parent for 5.6 years i have 3 children i was married when i had them i am now divorced i am far from superior. My parents have been married for 30 years. I think i am good mum i still make mistakes but my children are great all rounded children, so i must be doing a good job.

Answer 5

I have been parenting for 18 years. I don't recommend it to young people, as it has been the hardest thing I've ever done.

That's how I know I'm a good parent- if it was easy, then I didn't do a good job.

My motto is to do the OPPOSITE of everything my parents did. It's worked wonderfully:)

Answer 6

Ok, the fist additional question I will respond to first, then answer the one about whether or not I was superior to my parents at parenting, and finally, the overall rating I would give myself as a parent.

First, I raised eight children. I didn't raise them all from birth, only the first three for that, and the rest were sort of adopted by me. I was actually legal guardian, but I am their mother the same as for my birth children. It makes no never mind to me the blood question.

So, I can review the past twenty six years of parenting to arrive at my responses.

I was very different than my parents in overall parenting techniques, but not in my morals, values and integrity. That foundation was taught by my parents and they did an outstanding job if I do say so myself. I have a very strong moral and ethical foundation, and as such a high belief in personal responsibility and work ethic.

So, while my parents failed in some ways, so too did I. Anyone who claims they did not fail their children in any way at all are either in denial, or simply lying. Every parent fails their children at least in some ways. It is when parents are well intentioned, did their level best to be the most effective parents possible that somebody is a "good enough parent".

I know for a fact that decisions I made over the course of my children's lives had adverse affects upon them. Thankfully, my children are loving and understanding young adults who appreciate all I have done for them over the years and so do not resent the times I messed up. lol

Now, one of the major reasons my children appreciate me and don't judge me too harshly, is because I didn't try to pretend to be some super hero parent who could do no wrong. When I was wrong I promptly admitted it and did what I could to make admends. Even children deserve respect and consideration, and they can handle a great deal more honesty than most believe. I never lied about Santa Claus, or the Tooth Fairy, or the Easter Bunny either. If you wish a open and honest child, you need to be an open and honest parent. Children grow to distrust and resent parents who lie to them and especially over something which can cause them great embarressment. Such as when they attend school with students who know Santa Claus is a myth, and yet, they still think he is real, and are told in very cruel terms of that truth. Children do not appreciate such school yard tortures, and do not trust parents who subject them to such abuse.

Now, my parents were much harsher with my siblings and I than I felt was needed for proper discipline of children. While I do not resent my parents or blame them, as they did as best they could too, I did want to try things differently with my children.

However, children have plenty of friends, if they are not moved around a great deal. They develope these friends over years of attending school and social events in the town/city where they live, and they do not need parents as friends, but as parents. They only have one or two parents and so parents need to be those parents. Too many parents these days attempt to be freinds to their children, which confuses the heck out of them and creates boundery issues.

My children knew they lived in a dictatorship, rather than a democracy. I was the ultimatly responsible individual and as such held the ultimate final decision on what occurred in our household. My children knew their voices would be heard, but that I couldn't please all of them all the time, nor would I if I could have.

I do think I did a better job at parenting than my parents. However, this does not mean I think I am superior to them. They lived in a different generation as did I. My children also live in a different generation, and in a different culture, and I expect them to do a better job parenting their children than I did with them.

Each generation is suppose to accomplish more in all areas than those which went before. This includes raising and parenting children. However, sometimes we get stuck on how our parents did things, and it seems more men do so than women, or so studies show. Perhaps it is due to how stubborn men tend to be, though women are fast approching men in stubborness in the United States. I am unsure how it is in other cultures but equality has both positive and negative empacts. lol

So, I do think I did a better job than my parents, in an overall viewpoint, but that they did the best they could for their generation. I know it could have been a great deal worse for my siblings and I, and I see today how horrible it can be for c hildren today. I would hope we each in our turn appreciate the good our parents did and forgive the not so good, as long as they are not drunken, or drugged out addicts, who abuse and neglect their children for the high.

No, I do not feel superior to my parents. I think each of my parents are good enough parents. Did they mess us kids up in some ways? Sure they did, they wouldn't have been human had they not, or would have been in the very small 5% of the worlds population which isn't dysfunctional to one degree or another.

Answer 7

I rate myself an 8. There is no perfect parent . All you can do is your best and LOVE your child.

Answer 8

as a single parent of 2 for the past 5 n half years, i can deal with anything that is thrown my way, whether it being puttin a kids bike 2gether, to teaching them how to swim n tie their shoes i can more then handle it.
i am the modern day wonder woman.
feel free to stand in my shadow!
mahahahaha!!!