Continuing our series of good parenting mythology here are 3 more points…
Myth #4 Good Parents Ensure their Kids Success
- Good parents send their children to lots of classes that develop skills that will look great on their resumes
- The more you do for your children, the better prepared for their future they are
- Your child’s success is your trophy and the only reflection of your own success that really counts
Good parents send their children to lots of classes that develop skills that will look great on their resumes. 
The rocking, rollicking carousel of brain stimulating, math building, self-esteem growing, competition generating, resume padding activities, when overdone, leaves no time for the contributions that need to be made on behalf of community. Few children are genuinely interested in different activities five days a week. In addition, these activities are generally designed to maximize provable output with greatest efficiency. This means adult directed, content controlled, direct instruction with some sort of product or production at the end. Not exactly an educator’s description of the best classes to build skills. In fact, often times the development of the skills are primarily evident only on the brochure.
The more you do for your children, the better prepared for their future they are.
Truth: the more you do for your children the less they can do for themselves. Not a recipe for success. Nor for contentment.
Your child’s success is your trophy and the only reflection of your own success that really counts.
Contrary to how it feels when the nurse hands your first born over to you and waves goodbye, your children do not belong to you. They are not simply extensions of you. You have your life and they have theirs. Your lives are not interchangeable. Your dreams are not interchangeable. Children are yours on loan, for what will feel like a shockingly short period of time when they get ready to launch off on their own. Remember, your most important job is to prepare them for that launch.
Are you doing the best you can do to help your children develop to their best capability?
For some extra tips check out the insights from the Aspinall’s parenting class that addresses many of these “good-parent” myths:
*Adapted text from Mrs. Calise’s State of the School.
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