Parenting Methods that WORK

"I teach correct principles, and they govern themselves."
      Joseph Smith

Parenting is a very serious responsibility. There are hundreds of different books and methods that people swear by. So where do we start? Who do we trust with parenting advice? Lucky for us, we live in an age where parenting methods have been scientifically tested. Scientific conclusions of what the best parenting styles are also matches up with modern day revelation on parenting. I would say that is pretty good evidence.

The tricky thing is, there is no "one size fits all" when it comes to parenting. We have the challenge to apply principles and adapt them to our individual families. Because of our knowledge of the pre-existence, wen now that the character of our spirit contributes to our disposition and temperament. We also have biological influences that influence the way we react to our environments. These factors plus the influence of parents all come together to make an outcome.

This has been the absolute greatest thing I have learned from my degree in Marriage and Family Studies. I started going to school again when I had a 5 month old baby. I was getting so much conflicting parenting advice, and I was very confused. This degree taught me that there are a lot of different correct ways to parent, and some wrong ways to parent. You truly have to adapt your parenting to each child, as I now see for myself. My first child is very sensitive and my second child is very laid back. I have to approach them differently to achieve the optimum result. I am so glad that I learned that it is not only okay to parent differently than those around you, but it is necessary to parent according to the needs of each individual child.

Righteous parenting means having charity, gentleness, kindness, long-suffering, persuasion, and appropriate discipline in a warm and nurturing relationship. In the sociological world, we call this Authoritative Parenting. More examples of authoritative parenting includes

  • Love, warmth, and support
  • Clear and reasonable expectations for competent behavior
  • Limits and boundaries with some room for negotiation and compromise
  • Reasoning and developmentally appropriate consequences and punishments for breaching limits
  • Opportunities to perform competently and make choices
  • Absence of coercive, hostile, forms of discipline such as physical punishment, love withdrawal, and inflicting guilt
  • Models of appropriate behavior consistent with self-control, positive values, and positive attitudes



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