Apprenticeship Parenting

Parenting can be overwhelming.
Humans are complicated. Parenting could easily be the trickiest challenge of all. Alert parents really have their work cut out.
Before a parent can be effective in encouraging a child, it is necessary to identify what makes a child feel discouraged, especially things that make them feel alone and abandoned.
Things that Can Make a Kid Feel Overwhelmed:
-A job that is too big.
-Being unprepared.
-Social ineptitudes and embarrassments.
-Making slow progress or feeling not as good as others.
-Being at cross-purposes with parents.
-Being given few limits.
So, what’s a parent to do? One solution is Apprenticeship Parenting; that is, including your child, as much as possible, in your adult world.
Here is a list of ways to encourage your child while taking him along:
-Realize that leadership really means servanthood.
-Recognize that the purpose of education and skills is to be better equipped to serve others, not to glorify self.
-Be sure your child knows that he is a Hand-crafted, specifically gifted human who will make mistakes along the way.
-Approach every experience with a mindset that says to your child, “Here is a chance to learn skills, develop maturity, and gradually take on leadership roles.” For example, school projects, summer jobs, computer technology, wedding receptions, babysitting younger cousins, and team sports are all ripe with opportunities to grow.
-Include your kids in the challenging moments of your own life. Long before they approach challenges, make sure they’ve seen you handle similar challenges. Experience alleviates fear of the unknown, producing confidence. Plus, your children will begin to have their own successes piling up, giving them confidence for future challenges.
- Let your child observe your attitude when things don’t go your way. Having a temper tantrum is probably a bad idea.
It takes a great deal of maturity to have a small person tagging along, monitoring our every move. There is nothing like parenthood for holding us accountable; we may fool a lot of folks but we’re not fooling our children.
In fact, it’s safe to say, integrity can be measured by whether or not our children respect us.
With our children watching, taking charge of our own maturity is exactly what a parent must do in order to encourage, rather than discourage our children. Apprenticeship Parenting is a great beginning.

Cathy Primer Krafve, aka Checklist Charlie, lives in East Texas with her family. She welcomes all comments and lists at CeaKrafve2@aol.com.