I have been facilitating parenting classes for a long time, 27 years to be exact. Helping parents gain new skills to help them to be the best parents they can possibly be has been my goal for many years. You might say, as do some of the parents that come through my classes, “Who are you to tell me how to raise my children?” Telling a parent how to raise their child is certainly not my job, but helping a parent learn new parenting skills, or helping them to put into practice what they already know is a win for parents.
I have the pleasure of seeing improvement in most parents that go through the parenting classes offered by Just Say Something. The joy I receive is in knowing that with improved parenting skills a child has a better chance of growing into a successful adult.
Which leads me to something that happened recently for the very first time... A parent in the Back In Control Parenting Enrichment Course gave me a gift from her teens! I have received many gifts from parents through the years, but this was “a first”! The gift was sweet, but the thank-you card is what is important and made me cry. I want to share their words:
“We want to say thank you for teaching our Mom. She has done a 100% turn-around. I hate rules but I guess they work.”
The other teen wrote: “Thank-you! My Mom is so much nicer! Lol, I am glad she came to your class, except we have more rules now.”
Children who grow up in homes where there are rules and follow through and consequences, as well as structure and routine, learn what is and is not acceptable in the home, in school, and in life.
Some parents weren’t taught good skills while growing up and may not
have had rules in their home. That’s where Just Say Something can help, by providing parents with these very important skills. When the teen children of a parent who has taken your parenting class thanks you for helping their Mom, you know that parent has learned and is putting into practice the skills they need to use to raise their kids to have a better life and live by rules. I love “a first”!
Written by Lynn Hooper, Parenting Director
