You can never be a perfect parent, but you should never give up trying

It is so tough being a better parent, I know some people simply give up trying. 

Recently, two articles about parenting came to my attention.  One is an article about French parents vs American parents.  The article paints a very positive and attractive picture of French parenting.  The French parents place great priority on teaching the children patience and how to play by themselves.  They also set firm boundaries and maintain their authority over the children.  American parents on the other hand... well, you can read the article for yourself.

The second article which I read was on China parents and their precious 'snow-flakes'. A kindergarten teacher describes the children she teaches as being "more aggressive, and also more weak. They cannot control themselves and they give up when given tasks to do. Because their parents do everything for them, they do not believe they can do things themselves. They cannot even do up their buttons".

Such articles will generally cause people either to criticise, or defend these French, American and China parents. The truth is, none of us are in any position to judge another parent. 

All parents (with few exceptions) love their children and will be willing to give up their lives for them.  Everything that a parent does is out of good intentions.  But being a parent requires a huge amount of balancing - balancing authority with gentleness - balancing the development of the child's brain and the heart - balancing teaching the child to love and to trust and teaching him to guard himself/herself against harm/hurt - balancing making the child independent yet a team-player - and the list goes on. 

There is however, one thing which I firmly believe in.  Parents must never give up in trying to find a better way to parent their children. 

None of us will ever be a perfect parent, but we must keep trying.  We must keep searching and learning, not be fearful of criticism or challenges, and change if we need to, and hold our ground if we need to.  Our children deserve our best effort.