Motherhood: Examining the Effectiveness of Differing Parenting Styles

Every mother has her own parenting style. Some of these styles are shaped by the way they were raised, while other mothers try to be completely different from the way they grew up. Some mothers are a combination of the various methods of motherhood. These styles vary in extremes, and there are pros and cons to all these different parenting styles. Here are a few common ones seen today.

"The Working Mom" has become more common in the past 20 years. Before, most mothers stayed at home and a working mother was an anomaly. Most women now work out of need rather than want. A pro of the working mom is that she demonstrates her ability to financially support her family. At a time when even two-parent families are struggling, she illustrates the need for a woman to have a marketable skill. A con of the working mom is the guilt she feels because she misses a lot of milestones in her children's lives. Instead of rallying around the working mom, some stay-at-home moms compound this guilt by criticizing her decision to keep working.

"The Academic" is the mom who may be educated. Thus, she feels the only way to succeed in the world is by excelling in academics. She pushes her children to do well in school. This is a pro because she wants her children to do their best. They may even put their children in advanced placement classes. The con of the academic mother is that she can become pushy, neglecting to let her children be children. She may restrict things that are fun or over schedule her children. It's hard to strike the balance between academic success and children having fun.

"The Friend" wants her children to come to them with all of their problems and may even participate in some of their children's activities. Children feel comfortable with her because she may act younger and not act like everyone else's mothers. She may even dress in trendy clothes. Although nothing is wrong with dressing in fashionable clothing or being current, the mother who wants to be a friend with her children may have a hard time balancing motherhood with friendship. Sometimes, she may have a hard time laying down the law when she needs to do so. I think this is a common style of motherhood because we want our children to come to us, but we also need to discipline them when the situation warrants it.

There are a number of types of mothers in this world, and no style of parenting is perfect. There are pros and cons of different parenting styles. Usually, the best option is use a combination of all of the techniques. In this way, we can try to be good mothers. Of course, we will all make mistakes along the way.