Its a tough job – being a parent today. In his new book , CNN commentator Jack Cafferty extols that parenting is in decline.
Now or Never: Getting Down to the Business of Saving Our American DreamI never presumed to have any more answers about being a parent than anybody else.
There are no perfect parents, perfect kids, perfect families — only degrees of dysfunction.
You get up in the morning and do the best you can. At the end of the day you say, “Okay, that wasn’t so bad, let’s try it again tomorrow.” Some of my instincts were pretty good and some of them were awful.
I did stay engaged and didn’t say to hell with being a father when my first marriage ended. With the younger girls, I eventually made the choice to clean up my alcoholism before I pushed things to the point of no return. But most of the credit does to my second wife Carol; to the girls; and to God Almighty. Ultimately, I’ve just been very fortunate.
I don’t know the status of parenting in America. But I know a little about the status of education in America. Parents’ growing inability to impose manners and limits on their kids when the kids are in school is reflected in record dropout rates, as well as teen drug and alcohol abuse, teen sex, and unwed pregnancies. Maybe it’s parenting that’s on the decline, more than the schools. Watch Jack Cafferty talk about “Now or Never” in The Situation Room“

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Do you agree? Is parenting on the decline? We would love to hear what you think.
Source: CNN

In an article in the latest issue of The Psychologist, Dr Nattavudh Powdthavee, of the University’s Department of Economics and Related Studies, offers an explanation to one of the most surprising conclusions of recent research into wellbeing — that having children does not increase our level of happiness.

Like many other young couples our age, my long-term girlfriend and I are thinking about starting a family of our own. Two things are currently on our to-do list. First is to get married. And second is to have two children, hopefully one boy and one girl. [continue reading…]

The psychologists in our practice who work with adolescents find that of all the presenting issues, parent/teen conflict is one of the most common. In the excellent series How to Understand People Terry Apter writes about Parent /Teenager Conflict

Parent/teen conflict is common; the important thing is for parents to assure their teen it is safe to have their say and that you will respond. It isn’t a calm and sunny relationship with a parent that gives a teenager the strength he or she needs – it is an open, trusting relationship that offers respect even in the face of heated disagreement. These conflicts often help teens hone their distinctive identities, but parents should follow some general rules……link to continue reading

Source: The Guardian