Mastodawn

What do you think makes a great parent?

What do you think makes a great parent? - Lemmy.World

I’m asking as a dad of two biological kids and one adopted child (though the concept of adoption differs between the West and the Arab world), ranging in age from 13 to 17. I was raised with a traditional Arab boss-subordinate dynamic between parent and child, but with my kids I went the opposite way and tried to cultivate a best-friend, mentor, and guide relationship, while still maintaining my role as an authority figure.

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peatbogman

I think with the attitude you describe you are 90% of the way there. What I find hard is walking that line between being the best friend/mentor and the authority figure. You can’t be everything all the time. I think some flexibility and context in your role is a good way to manage this. I’m the authority figure when we get ready for preschool and the best friend when we are playing and goofing around. Its hard to get him to accept decisions sometimes without wanting to debate every little thing, but I think this is part of being a mentor.