I have been a parent for 33 years and have taught parenting for 30 years. So what qualifies me to teach others how to parent? Several years ago I was in court testifying regarding the parenting skills of a teen mom. Her attorney first asked me to state my qualifications. I was really nervous and did not know what to say…huh, “I’m a mom”, “I’ve read some books”, “I came from a good home.”….all of which were true. However, what I said was, ” I graduated from college and I’m certified as a parenting instructor.” Well that seemed to satisfy the attorney and the judge. Later I thought…”wow, is that all it takes to be considered a parenting expert?”
That happened in the beginning of my 30 years working with teen moms. Now I see that what I knew about parenting then could have fit into a very small thimble. However, it was good enough for the court system. Scary! Since then I have gone through countless parenting courses, new skill classes, new theory classes, how to be a parenting teacher class, …..well you get my point.
As far as my personal experience, my husband and I have had the unique blessing of parenting three wonderful children over the past 30 years. I figure if you want to see what kind of mom I was just look at my children..and of course all three are great human beings, working to help others. Our oldest daughter is a high school teacher and part of her job is teaching parenting. Our son is a minister/business man who spends his time investing and working in some of the worse parts of our city. Our third child decided in the fourth grade that she was going to be a social worker so she could protect children from abuse…..and that is exactly what she did. So all in all, I thought we were darn good parents. Then God presented my husband and me with an incredible opportunity….the opportunity to be the parents of a little 5 lb. , 2 day old baby boy. This happened when our children were 15, 19 and 23. We should have been making plans for an empty nest and lots of vacations. But God had a better plan for us.
Solomon David Smith was born on November 5, 2004. After 14 years of parenting Solomon, my husband and I openly admit just how much better we are at parenting this time around . But wait….If I was so good at parenting to begin with and had so much parenting knowledge 30 years ago; why am I a better mother now? I think the answer to that question is the key to being the absolute best parent you can be.
We admitted to ourselves and others that we did not know all the parenting answers. Even though our adult children were successful members of society, committed to serving others; Karl and I saw just how much we had to learn.
So I would like to begin my new ‘blog’ by sharing with you those lessons I had to learn as my husband and I made our way down the parenting road……again.
Up Next…….”Help, there are dirty dishes in my sink!”
Parenting the Nurturing Way 