Parents Helping Parents
Curiously, there’s no systematic transfer of knowledge – meaning, no school – on the most important function of humankind: parenthood. Parents simply have to learn from their own individual experiences… or to learn from one another.
Parent support groups share experiences and mutual support among their members. Presently, it is done either personally or via the internet. Parents find a sounding board for their thoughts and troubles. Such groups also provide good ‘companionship’ for parents who are often confused and alone in facing the challenges of their parental function.
The fact that members of parent support groups are usually ‘other people’ makes it easy for them to open up to each other. They share issues they would otherwise not share with closest friends and family. Parents also get inspired by other parents who seem to be doing a smooth job in raising their children.
By meeting other parents who had come across, or who are currently experiencing, the same issues, group members feel
grounded and feel less lonely in the journey they were not prepared for. Parent support groups do help:
Parents find support. If parents long for one thing, it would be empowerment. Parent support groups do not only provide emotional support, but practical support as well. Online discussions regarding parent support are available to fit the time of on-the-go parents in search for insights from other parents whom they think can help.
Parents can express themselves. It is especially helpful to younger parents to know that other parents had encountered the same struggles before and were made stronger by the difficult experience. It helps to hear praises for one’s successful techniques, for example; it is self-validating for the parent. On the other hand, by talking about one’s fears with other parents, the power of the fear dissipates, especially with reassuring comments from other parents. The key thing in hearing other parents’ stories is to find support, not comparison.
Parents can feel less alone. Being in a group with other parents, either actually or virtually, can be comforting. It is comforting to be with people who understand one’s situation. And when one parent reaches her lowest point, the company
of other parents can lift her up.
There’s power in numbers. In grouping together, parents can have some kind of power. A group, for instance, is harder to ignore than an individual. As a group, parents can be very helpful in getting things done – getting information around, communicating the collective needs of children, initiating children-oriented community projects and more.
Parents become
better parents. Naturally, when parents gather and share ideas, they have the opportunity to hear good ideas and emulate it. They can improve their personal styles – as parents, as homemakers, as individuals. They’ll come upon a better way of preparing a lunch box for their child, for dealing with a child in trouble, for improving themselves and in building camaraderie with others etc.
Parent support groups can be found everywhere – in the local community, at the kids’ schools and on social media. Today’s parents have all the avenues available to become better at their parental function.