What is it like to be a parent or educator?

I can try to sum it up in one long run on sentence. Being a parent or educator you will appear sleep deprived, often hungry, sometimes thrilled, emotionally incapacitated, ecstatic, depressed, hysterical at times, calm and collected other times; simply every oxymoron possible.

Yes, being a parent is not easy. It comes with many ups and downs.

So how can we make it the most wonderful and worthy experience ever?

Let us take a look at what a parent or educator does:

Parenting/ Educator roles:

• to nurture and guide a child in all aspects of development- social, emotional, cognitive, and physical.
• support and encourage learning

Being a parent or educator means you are there for the children at all times. Every moment of the day you have the opportunity to educate the children. They look up to you as role models and learn to imitate your actions. The way you talk or deal with others will show them how to do so. It does not make a difference what you teach it makes a difference how you actually do so.

Goals for being a parent or educator:

Of course, being a parent is tough and difficult at times. With a proper support system and set goals you can make the job a bit easier. You will benefit from it and so will the children.  It is important that as a parent or educator you reach out to other parents or teachers and hear from them. Share thoughts, ideas, things that worked and things that didn’t work. Share your failures as well, let others learn about them and then you did not go through it in vain.

Every parent or educator should have goals in place as well. Think about it, what is the most important thing for your child/ student? It will differ for each child and goals may overlap.

I just spoke to a parent who said her overarching goal for her child is that her child should be an asset to the community. She then outlined what steps she is taking to help her child reach those goals. She volunteers in a shelter a few times a week, she brings home books to read to her child etc. The parent is ensuring that her child understands that it is important to be a giver and sees how her mother is doing just that. There are many avenues that a parent/ educator can take to reach goals, however you first have to know what they are.

In addition, a parent or educator may have many more than one goal. Goals or milestone targets can be for a year or for many years. An overarching goal which is so to say a main goal can be for a lifetime. ( Such as my friend whose overarching goal is for her child to give back to their community).

I suggested to parents that New Years is a great time to sit down with a pen and paper and think, not just what you want to accomplish this year but what you want for your children to accomplish=goals.

Once you have a goal in mind you have to make it attainable. Think of different ways that you can reach that specific goal. Be realistic, life gets in the way, therefore you must make sure that when you set the steps to reach your goal it is something you know you can do. Do not write down to visit the library weekly if the library is a half hour drive from you.

As said, being a parent or educator is surely not easy, yet being prepared for it, makes it seem doable.  Plan your goals well and how you will attain them. Know that as a parent you will learn so much and gain from the experience of being a parent or educator.  Do not let little things discourage you. Know that you are doing the best you can. You will find yourself discovering new things about yourself everyday, it is a journey not just for the children it is with the children.