After reading the section of Chapter 8 on parenting styles, reflect on your early childhood years.
What style of parenting did your parents use? Did both parents use the same style or were they different?
Explain your answers, using examples. How has their parenting style affected the person you have become?
How has their style of parenting affected how you discipline (or plan to discipline) your own children?
My parents were primarily authoritarian. I was not really given the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them as things were pretty much dictated on how to be done. As an adult it took some time to realize that there was no longer a safety net in place and that I would have to learn from mistakes and pick myself back up. Because of this, I have raised my own three children in a way that, while I still have set rules and consequences for breaking them, I have allowed my children to try things that I knew, as an adult, would not work out well for them, so that they may experience that failure and learn from it. When those failures have ocurred, I have made sure to support them and help them to find a better way for them to reach their goal. That being said, things like respect for elders, doing chores, being home by curfew are all handled by me much the same way my parents did so with me.