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1.10 – How were you brought up?

We usually learn to parent from our own parents or the adults who brought us up; this may be a lone parent, grandparents, aunt or even an older sibling.

Think about when you were growing up and how you were brought up, how was it? Are you doing things the same as your parents did? Have you thought about whether you would like to do things differently?

The following activity isn’t a test, it’s simply to help you think about why you parent the way you do.

In the following questions, you can tick as many answers as are suitable for you – you may have some other experiences of parenting that you might like to add in the boxes provided. You can save this work so you can refer back to it at any time throughout the course.

1. What were the rules when you were growing up?

2. What were the consequences of breaking the rules?

3. Did you have a happy childhood?

4. Which aspect/s of your growing up are important for you to pass on?

 

It can sometimes be quite revealing when we spend some time thinking about how we were brought up. Most parents want to do a good job of parenting, but even the best parents make some mistakes, and these mistakes have a big effect on us.

We may or may not want to practice some of the things we learnt growing up with our own family. Some experiences you have had might be part of your culture or heritage, or may just be a really nice family tradition that you want to pass on to your children.

Thinking about negative things that happened in our childhood can make us unhappy even many years later. If any of the activities in this course bring up some of the bad experiences, you are welcome to talk about it with other parents on the the forum. If you need advice feel free to contact our Learning Advisors who will be happy to support you in finding help.

Journal entry / Diary

You may have some experiences that you do not want to pass on through your own parenting, for example smacking. How did this make you feel? You may want to write your thoughts in your Journal.

Next: 1.11 – Responsibilities of parenthoodBack: 1.9 – Parenting aims – feedback

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