Psychology

What are the ultimate goals of parenting
The ultimate goal of parenting is to get to know ones children in the effort of streamlining their character and behaviors towards certain situations with the aim of bringing up a responsible, morally upright individual.  Also, the aim of parenting is to come up with positive individuals who are brought up in a cultured manner. Berk (2001) shows that children who have less interaction with their mother have a tendency of having a negative mood and are less passionate. Equally important is the negative behavior that is manifested by children who stay for long hours in day care they show a lot of defiant behavior (Berk, 2001, 9). Thus, the ultimate goal of parenting is to bring up a morally upright individual who is accommodative and ready to integrate with and be accepted in line with the conventions of the society. These traits can be manifested by positive outcomes expected from well parented children like high self-esteem, better grades in school, and more positive family and peer relations (Berk, 2001)

What are some ways in which you can obtain these goals
The quality and quantity of time that parents spend with their children is very important. These goals can be attained by parents seeking professional advice on child care. Another way these goals can be attained is by adults engaging in more productive practices and thus reflect to their children because they have a likelihood of achieving in school and thus develop productive interests and be more responsible and caring (Berk, 2001, 18). The prerequisite for these goals to be attained requires parents to plan their lives in an effort of investing their time and energy in their children.

According to Berk (2001, 21) some activities are essential to ensure or can enable parents to examine and obtain the goals of parenting. Parents can obtain these goals by taking their time to interact with each child. They ought to also have a sit down meal with their children and try to understand their children in an amicable environment free from the daily interruptions like TV and phones. Getting involved in some activities with the children is a positive move towards attaining parental goals. For instance, parents have to engage their children in day to day chores like gardening, cooking and shopping. They can also engage them in viable play and other recreational activities. This will enable the parents to instill the morals they intend in not only a relaxed environment, but also in a very easy way.

An equally viable way of attaining parental goals is by stipulating predictable routines with clear and consistently enforced laws (Berk, 2001). The oversight that should come with these measures should ensure that the children are within their supervision and the time parents share with them should be enough and spent in a fruitful manner. The quantity of time spent with children is of essence such that parents will be able to know if there is any change in their child and thus respond accordingly.

Parenting starts at a tender age and it is to this effect that parents have to take interest and invest their time in socializing children. When parents are attentive, patient and interested in the babys activities, their social signals sustain the infants attention, essential for shared focus. (Berk, 2001, 44) This shows that the child starts to be socialized at a very tender age and it is by the interest the parent creates in every stage of development that makes them (parents) mould them towards the intended parenting goals.

The goals of parenting therefore can be accomplished by parents trying to support their childrens interests and their strengths without forcing things (Gralinski, 1993). In the endeavor to do this, parents can attain parenting goals by ensuring that children have enough room to explore. The act of forcing children to do activities that they are not interested in may turn out to be counterproductive and thus be a panacea for failure to attaining parental goals.  It is to this effect that parents have to be honest to their weaknesses and strengths (Hudley, 2003) for them to build a trustworthy relationship. Another way the parenting goals can be attained is by respecting the childrens thoughts and opinions objectively. This is a controversial idea, especially when the parent does not agree with the children. Such kind of a difference can be addressed in a respectful and amicable way so that the children should be let to know why their parents do not agree with their ideas. Let different point-of -view coexist for a while they will allow your child to think more about an issue. (Stattin, 2000)

Other way of attaining parental goals is by the parents knowing the company their children hang around, what they watch, read and listen to. This should be done with a lot of caution though, because the children might hide what they are doing from the parents, especially when they know that someone is watching every move they are making. This should be followed with parents giving directions without being rigid (Stattin, 2000). There is the need to involve the teachers so that the parents can have a whole rounded character of their children.