I was wondering what makes a good parent.

Is it the ones children are perfectly behaved, or parents who are more like friends with their children. Is strict good or casual parenting? Do you have strict routines?

Would love to hear everyones views xx

I think a good parent is one that can have a laugh with their kids but also teaches them respect, manners etc

hi, i am not strict with sophie, i want to be her friend but at the same time she knows when i mean no! she has tried a few sips of coke, eats chocolate more than she probably should but i dont feed her chicken nuggets all the time!!!i just want her to be normal lol, not the best behaved, certainly not the worst!

I find as they get older its harder to be a friend to them as they need to be "kept under control" of sorts. As a baby i think routine id definitely good for them.

I hate it when parents just turn a blind eye to their kids in for e.g pall pits etc. They will happily let their child "bully" another child and dont tell them off. WTF why do people do this?

I think kids should be brought up knowing right from wrong from an early age.

xxx

I believe a good parent does their best for their child and let's the child be themself within the boundaries of what is acceptable in their society.

My role is to bring Wil up to be a confident, responsible and independent adult.

I have to admit im quite soft with callum wheres oh isnt so much if callum does something wrong oh tells him and callums crys oh can handle that. Wheres i feel like the crapest mum in the world cos i made him cry but i know if i let him get away with everything hes gonna be a lil bugger when he gets abit older x I am gettin better at it. xx
I cant stand mums that just let there children bully and ignore there behavour its wrong i see mums ignore there children when theyre being rough to other children play centres etc. xx

Im not too strict with food i do let callum occasionally have chocolate and biscuits and i have to admit when im in town and nothing will calm callum down i do give him a biscuit i know i shouldnt but he really does hate sainsburys

ava's still quite young but one thing i want her to have is good manners, i hate when kids don't say please/thankyou. It sounds a cliche but the main thing i want for her is to be happy and just enjoy life x

ohh im an inbetwweny!

I am strict with Izzy with things I think are important - however unless she is doing something naughty my main objective is to do whatever makes her happy

I am very laid back and easy going with her, always have been - people sy it shows cos she is that way and also she is VERY sociable!

I'm similar to you Lisa. If Ollie spills juice on the floor - what's the problem? It can be cleaned up easy enough! If he's putting his mucky fingers all of the glass in the back THIS WORD IS BANNED - what's the problem, it's easily wiped off! Can you see where I'm going with this lol.

The only thing I am strict on is bad behaviour, manners and respect. As long as he's not going to hurt himself or break anything then he can carry on doing what he's doing.

I agree about the manners, it drives me mad when kids are rude and no one picks them up on it. Lily can already say thank you as we are trying to drum it into her from an early age. Like many others have said i want her to be happy and we spend lots of time doing silly things but i will do a stern 'no' voice and scary face when necessary.

I woudl like to be like my own mum was with me and my brother as i think we are both quite confident and hopefully considerate of others. With my mum you wouldnt mess with her but we never had to tell lies etc about where we were going as she trusted us and we did have lots of laughs!

I'm another inbetweeny sort of parent.
She knows her boundaries. I will tell her off and i like to make her attempt to say please &thank you etc and i just ignore her if she has a tantrum but we have a laugh and as long as she's not hurting herself or others i let her play as she likes.
In terms of food, i try to stay away from unhealthy foods, only because i'm so paranoid she's gona be a chubby child like me. but i do allow treats occasionally.

im a strict mum.. they have been taught right from wrong and to have mannors and to be polite and think of others! im always concious of there behavoir and tend to step in before it gets to bad and warn them lol..on the other hand i love to have fun and be silly and try to teach them to be just concous of others.. ashleigh is 11 AND i have let her make a few decisions herself to see how mature in her thinking she is and to find herself with out me nagging her to be polite behave not to be rude ect.... well she has been brough up fpr 11 years with all thses things but totally goes out the window when with her freind so i have found my self being much more harder on her at the moment which i dont like! i do agree with mara as they get older the freind thing doesnt quite work and u have to be firmer..or they will push trough it..
um does this make sence ?

I think i'm in between too.

I want Rowan to have fun, so he pretty much has free rein of the house (apart from upstairs) When he does something naughty he is moved away and told no.

He used to go back to what he was doing but he's now learnt not too.

Diff between me and OH is Rowan saw chocolate in the fridge this morning when i was getting the butter out. now OH would just give him the choc.

Me i told him no, it was breakfast time and he could have some this afternoon.

He cried and cried. in the end i picked him and put him on the kitchen top (as i usually do) and let him open the butter. to which he'd forgotten about the chocolate

id say im an inbetweener to! i want evan to have fun but at the same time i dont want him to be a brat!
id say the one thing i am strict with is his eating my oh wud let evan eat choc, crisps etc where as im very the opposite i do allow him choc n crisps but in moderation especially chocolate!
and i would never let him hit another child or anything like that so im strict in that respect
but i like to see him enjoy himself so if he wants something thats goin to make him happy such as the remote or an empty juice bottle then ill give him it where as my oh is always saying why u lettin him play with that and he takes them off him! but if its not harming him then i dont see why he cant play with it!
ive never been great at getting even in a routine either ive tried and jst now im really struggling with bedtime its not gettin him down thats the problem its gettin him down in his cot!

im a scatty parent! i dont conform to all these rules. do this and dont do that stuff. i do have a set of guidelines for my kids, that works for us

I'm fairly strict with Chloe, in the sense that she has very clear boundaries of how I expect her to behave, for example if she asks for something I expect her to say please for it, which she is getting pretty good at now, on the other hand though I don't stress about things that aren't important. I try and have as much fun as possible when I'm with her and on the whole she is a very happy, content child who I take anywhere without worrying how she's going to behave.

I've just read that back and sound like a right meany, lol, but it works for us!

Not sure were I fit into this.

I believe that it's a patents responsibility to teach our kids right from wrong, what's acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, if we don't teach them, then who will.

I also feel it's my responsibility to teach them all the social skills they're going need to get on in life.

I also feel that a good education is crucial so I am strict with ensuring school work is done and they attend the best schools I can get them into.

But I do enjoy my kids and we do have a laugh together. I know I'm a bit of an oldie mum for ellie but I quite a young mummy for my eldest and she tells me that her mates all say they'd love a mum like me and she says she never says that because she's glad she got me.

I think if we just do the best we can, do it our way and maybe adapt it to suit our different kids we'll all be fine.

Ps I'm a routine freak.

not really sure where I fit in either.

I ignore tantrums and demands rather than getting annoyed. Hannah is very very good at saying please and thank you. in fact shes started getting mixed up with sorry and please so she says "sorry mammy, read this" with a book in her hand which makes me feel like a right biatch as if I never read to her

I feel we are becoming more like friends but we are so alike so sometimes we clash. I can see so much of myself in her. if we are both in a bad mood heaven help my oh.

I wouldnt say I was strict and I dont let her away with murder. But I do buy her too much. my mum keeps saying to her "you are a very lucky girl mummy is always buying you lots of toys and clothes" so when we buy something hannah says "hannahs lucky" I NEED to get out of this habit because I can see demands for things when shes older.

I would say I am a bit of both. I expect Jamie to behave respectfully. I always make sure he says please & thank you as I believe manners cost nothing. Our household is very chilled, me & hubby rarely argue so I think Jamies behaiviour is reflecting this as most of the time he is really a good boy. I tend to ignore most behaviour if I can (except the good of course!!) and use distraction methods but if not then I give him a warning by saying if he does such & such one more time I will....... "insert the appropriate punishment here"