Tamara Agarwal Parents (2024)

FAQs

What makes a good enough parent? ›

As a good-enough parent, you are empathetic and responsive to your child's needs. You can support them if they feel sad or angry and don't feel you need to stop them from experiencing these emotions.

'Good enough' parenting encompasses being sensitive, warm and empathic towards your baby, being physically and emotionally available for her and meeting her needs responsively. It also involves providing a nurturing environment where your baby feels safe, contained and held – literally and emotionally.

Try to ignore the comparisons. Life is not a competition and those other people are not your enemy. They have their own problems and failings. They probably have parents who tell them that you do something better than they do.

A 70/30 custody schedule is a physical custody arrangement where one parent has the child for 70% of the time, and the other has the child for 30%. Factors such as geographical distance or work commitments can make a 70/30 schedule more practical for some families than a 50/50 or 60/40 schedule.

Attachment theory a set of concepts that explain the emotional bond between an infant and primary caregiver and the way in which this bond affects the child's development into adulthood. Research shows that parents of securely attached children are only attuned to their baby/child about 30% of the time.

The Four Cs are Choices, Consequences, Consistency and Compassion, and each is as important as the next, and none can be left out of effective parenting.

Don't aim for perfection in your parenting—it is impossible, and will only frustrate you. Aim to be good enough right now, today. Smile at mistakes and imperfections.

The Good Enough Mother, coined by pediatrician and psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott, is an approach to parenting that involves being sensitive, responsive, and adaptive to our children's needs and developmental abilities.

After you've had time to think, chat with your parents. Be polite and tell them it doesn't make you feel very good when they compare you to other kids. Talk about your goals and talents, and say you hope they can support you and help you achieve your dreams.

According to Hershberg, when parents compare their kids to others, they wind up making them feel “less than” their peers. “In turn, kids end up feeling bad about themselves, which is a risk factor for a range of negative outcomes down the road, such as anxiety, depression and substance abuse,” she says.

Why should parents stop comparing their child to others? ›

It's critical that you comprehend how constantly comparing your child to others can lead them to believe they are inadequate, damaging their self-esteem and is something you definitely don't want. They could even begin to dislike you.

What are the attributes of good parents? Several qualities come to mind, but those that should be most prominent are love, care and support. These characteristics can help parents guide and support their children while also providing them with assistance when necessary.

A key function of good enough parenting is to provide the essential background to allow for the growing child's disillusionment with the parents and the world, without destroying their appetite for life and ability to accept (external and internal) reality.

Positive parenting is about showing children love, warmth and kindness. It's about guiding children to act the way you want by encouraging and teaching them. It's about helping children thrive by sending the powerful message: You are loved, you are good, you matter.

A good enough mother responds to her young kids quickly and emphatically because she knows they need to be protected and soothed. But as her kids grow, she recognizes she can't sustain that level of attentiveness—and doesn't need to. Instead, she'll allow them to be uncomfortable, disappointed, frustrated, or sad.