As per a recent study, kids who are allowed to be kids make better parents.
Mothers who took on burdensome care giving roles as children and weren’t allowed to just “be kids” tend to be less sensitive to their own children’s needs, finds the new research led by a Michigan State University scholar.
The findings suggest these parents do not understand appropriate child development and end up parenting in a similar harmful manner in which they were raised
If your childhood was defined by parents expecting you to perform too much care giving without giving you the chance to develop your own self-identity, that might lead to confusion about appropriate expectations for children and less accurate knowledge of their developmental limitations and needs as infants, said lead author Amy K. Nuttall.
If mothers don’t understand their children’s needs, Nuttall concluded, they’re not able to respond to them appropriately.
Burdensome, adult-like care giving or parentification can involve routine parenting and disciplining of one’s siblings, excessive chores and responsibilities around the house, and serving as the main emotional support system for parents.
Prenatal parenting classes may be particularly useful for teaching accurate knowledge of child development and appropriate expectations about children’s abilities even before mothers give birth and begin parenting, Nuttall said.
The study is online now in advance of print publication in the Journal of Family Psychology.