Don’t Let Expectations Interfere with Parenting

As a parent, it can be tough to ignore the ideas and expectations of others and avoid letting those viewpoints control or influence how you raise your child. At times, it might actually help to listen to the experiences of others and the tips, tactics and techniques they have used in raising their children.

Sometimes though, their advice must be molded to your specific situation or accepted with a grain of salt, depending upon the situation from which they are coming and the resources at their disposal. With such advice, we must also often consider the various backgrounds, strengths, and weaknesses of those to whom we are listening as well as our own.

Molding Information to Your Needs

Just because moms are expected to be the nurturing caregivers, or dads are expected to be the gung-ho sports fanatics, this doesn't mean these are the roles that we must accept and adhere to as parents. Sure, I played baseball growing up, but my wife played softball, and actually likes the sport more than I do. And while my wife cooks a decent meal, I am the meal preparer the majority of the time in our household.

My wife and I have tried to stay away from the preconceived notions of others and the ways things have been done in the past when raising our son. Instead, we have focused on our separate strengths and weaknesses to find the parenting patterns and techniques that work best for our situation and benefit our son and family the most.

My At-home Role

While you might find a few more dads pulling at-home duties after the "Great Recession," they still aren't what you might consider commonplace. This didn't deter me from making the decision to move into an at-home work and parenting role a year before the recession ever hit.

Sure it was slightly frightening, and yes, I had no previous experience upon which to rely, but why should I let that stop me? It was a great opportunity that presented itself, and I'm extremely glad that I didn't let outside perceptions of the "manliness" of taking on such a role stop me from taking the plunge. Coming from someone who has managed numerous employees during his management career, there is nothing easy about raising a child.

Don't Let Expectations Interfere with Parenting

The different upbringings between my wife and I -- myself being an only child, raised by a single-mother, and my wife having three brothers and a large family support system -- meant that our strengths, abilities, and impact areas as parents were very different. I focused much more upon the education side of things, while my wife focused more upon the rough and tumble sports activities. I often worry more about our son, while she tends to take a more, "whatever will be, will be" type approach.

While we both do our share in all areas of parenthood, it's interesting for me to see the areas in which we excel, and how those areas are often different from what might be considered the "norm," yet they work for us due to our backgrounds and personal preferences.

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Disclaimer:

The author is not a licensed parenting professional. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or parenting advice. Any action taken by the reader due to the information provided in this article is solely at the reader's discretion.