To have children is a natural and beautiful thing. But children come
without a manual. Parenting is one of the most challenging but also most rewarding occupations in the world. Good parenting can come in many different styles. Important is that you are aware of what your child(ren) need(s) and what you are doing. Just repeating your parent’s, friend’s or neighbor’s methods might not be enough.
Every age group of children needs different approaches. We often underestimate the lasting effect parenting has even in the first two years of life. Alfred Adler, founder of “Individual Psychology” believed that the first 2 to 5 years will determine most future aspects of your life. Traumas and lack of trust can last a life time and might require
lots of counseling later in life. Diana and Karsten did not ony rise 4 children of their own – who turned out beautifully – but also have a solide background in developmental psychology. Both have worked with numerous children both in schools and in churches.
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…teenagers are just hard work
While teenage years surely are challenging for parents (and for the teenagers as well), they don’t have to be “horrible”. They can actually be essential in forming a life long healthy bond between parent and child. We will try to help you understand your teenagers and how to be a good parent to them, one who will help them find their own way while at the same time be there to protect them and to set up limits for them.
…siblings are always fighting
Siblings sometimes need to argue and challenge each other, however, they should not be fighting all the time. If that happens it is often caused by other issues in the family. Since children develope according to their age, the age difference means that they are at different developmental stages. The younger one might not understand the older one’s behavior and the older one might not realizer that the younger one cannot do what the older one expects. For that reason, children close in age often get along better than children 4 or 5 years apart. Once the gap is even much greater than that, fights are usually less often as the children don’t relate much anyway due to totally different interests and experiences. If there is still a lot of fight, it definately should be checked out to exclude abusive behaviors of the older child toward the younger.
Different genders play a role as well when it comes to siblings fighting, and how parents interact with and react to the children as well. Siblings fighting, especially how they deal with each other in the fight, might also be learned behavior which might have to be addressed.