If you are a parent, you will understand the myriad issues surrounding people like you. No matter what parenting style you undertake, you will face some challenges or others. There has been a lot of research in this field in recent years. Many children are coming up with mental ailments as a direct effect of the pandemic.
This situation has pushed parents against the wall, at a time when handling work-from-home and kids alone is a challenge. If you are overwhelmed with your responsibilities and rearing happy kids, you must read this. To top it all, society has its norm of grading parents based on the effort they make and the time they spend as a parent. Moreover, the definition of “good parenting” has changed a lot today. If you go by the hierarchy of needs, food, shelter, medicine, and education happened to be the prerequisites about three decades ago. However, things have changed, as the psychological factor also comes in.
Here are some of the biggest challenges parents face today and possible solutions.
Digital Device-related Issues
This is the most critical challenge that you must be facing right now. Furthermore, the lack of schooling in the past two years may have worsened matters. Most parents have been pushing their kids towards digital means to concentrate on their world. Additionally, children have had many online classes that made digital interactions a habit. Today, you will notice depending on online avenues for entertainment and fun. They will rarely go out to meet their friends or play outside. Today, most children have found their best friends on mobiles, tablets, and laptops.
The only possible solution to mend things is to enforce guidelines about play hours, indoor games, and gadget usage. This can ease the situation to a considerable extent.
Balancing Work and Children
If both of you are working, things can get worse. You will often feel divided between your work responsibilities and parenting tasks. When you focus on one, the other tends to get neglected. Moreover, you have to hear society’s norms about what’s good and what’s wrong. Not being with the kids when they need you most can also negatively impact their mental health. Moreover, kids get busy with tuition, extra-curricular activities, and studies under normal circumstances. So there happens to be minimal interaction between you and your kids. Well, not all is lost.
You can create a routine around your life to alleviate the situation. Try to do some household chores together. That way, you will get to spend some quality time with one another. It can include preparing meals together or cleaning the house.
Bad Eating Habits
This is one of the issues that bother all the parents. Most children do not like to eat their meals properly. They refrain from eating healthy vegetables, fruits, milk, and nuts. However, you will find them gorging on fast-food and unhealthy colas. This can affect their mental development, physical growth, and oral health. Obesity also seems to be the number one issue with kids in the US today.
You can do certain things, like educating your kids about the harmful effects of junk food through cartoons and videos. Show your children through magazines and news about how obesity affects health and leads to childhood diabetes. Additionally, you should inculcate proper oral care. Take your kids to a dentist’s office at six-month intervals. This will help you to detect any issues at their nascent stages. The doctor can intervene if required and stop further damage to your kids’ teeth.
Anger and Aggressive Behavior
You will find your kids to be more aggressive today. They have zero-tolerance levels, too. This is quite challenging in situations when you might have to leave your children with other caregivers. They may create nuisance and also create a stir over any small thing. If you do not monitor your kid’s mental and emotional aspects, it can quickly culminate into irreversible character traits that are beyond any remedy. If there is a reason behind such behavior, you should talk it out with your child.
If the kid behaves in this manner all the time, it’s time you get a counselor’s appointment. The mental health of kids is getting affected in more ways than today. Over-exposure to online information may be one of the reasons for that, so monitor and limit activities that lead to restlessness and impatience.
Lack of Interest in Education
All of us want our kids to grow up to be successful individuals. Parents like you are after the child most of the time, forcibly concentrating on their studies. However, it is not that harsh. You should find out your child’s interests and pave the way for education in that direction. If your child is weak in certain subjects, try to show the way with real-life examples. They will understand better. You should help your child understand the goal of education. This will help them decide for themselves in the times to come.
These are some of the biggest challenges that parents face today. We have given some possible solutions as well. So you can either act on those or devise more creative options.
