Parenting Is Not for Cowards

Audio By Carbonatix

As I listened to a mom tell me about how her child recently talked back to her, repeatedly told her she hated her, and defied every instruction given to her, I thought about how parenting is not for cowards. As I’m out and about, I tend to observe families and parents. There’s the child who throws a temper tantrum in the middle of the frozen food aisle. There’s the child who is told to take a time out and then proceeds to stand there and stare at their parent without moving even a centimeter. There is the child who is given a curfew and continually ignores it. Parenting is not for cowards.

When a couple thinks about having a child, I think they mostly conjure up images of babies and sweetness. It’s only natural. That’s the most fun part. Parenting is more comfortable when your child is sleeping two to three hours at a stretch. Even though a baby knows how to talk back to you by crying, they still can’t say words that are cutting to the core. They never say, “I hate you.” Then, they become toddlers and they start to show signs that they have some tartness to their disposition. They still say the cutest things. But there will come a day when you’ll need to be strong because their sweetness will start to sour like overdue milk in the refrigerator. It won’t taste good. You’ll be wondering what happened to your sweet baby.

Parenting is for people who are disciplined. It’s for people who are well-balanced. It’s for people who know how to take charge of things in life. As you read that, I know what you are thinking, “Well, that’s not me.” I totally agree. My kids are grown and out of the house now. But there were days I felt disengaged. There were days I didn’t want to be responsible. There were days I didn’t want to deal with situations that arose. But that’s not reality. That’s why you can’t be cowardly.

Being a good parent means confronting and facing issues that are sometimes embarrassing and humiliating. That goes with the turf. It also involves engaging in tough conversations, and sometimes those are conversations that we have to start. If your personality tends to shy away from any kind of confrontation, the results won’t be good.

That’s why I’m telling you that parenting is not for cowards. It’s very challenging and very demanding. The good parents are the ones who are viewed later on as instrumental in shaping the lives of their children. They were willing to take that responsibility even though there were many times they had to be tough with their children.

So I challenge you, don’t be a coward. Be involved in the lives of your children and you’ll win more often at home.