An interesting read on parenting…

Written By Roots Psychology

Blog post written by Dr Catherine Pitfield, Psychologist (Brighton and Hove).

Becoming a parent, I felt an immense pressure to get it ‘right’; to give my son the best chance of success. I wanted us to have the ‘right’ relationship and to create the best environment to support his psychological, social, intellectual and physical growth.

I found this to be a huge task and one that I was not sure I knew the right way to do this, let alone be sure I was going to get it right.

I’ve found it really helpful to reflect on this pressure, and shift my focus away from there being a ‘right’ way but instead to focus on the relationship that we have together. Two books that talk about this really well are:

  • “The book you wish your parents had read (and your children will be glad that you did) by Philippa Perry

  • “The Gardener and the Carpenter” by Alison Gopnik  

Both these books explore the relationship that you create between parent and child. The Guardian article linked here is a nice short read on the metaphor of a parent being like a gardener; creating an environment in which our children can flourish, and “a space in which our children can become themselves, rather than trying to mould them.”

You can read the article here:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/17/gardener-and-the-carpenter-by-alison-gopnik-review

Roots Psychology
Next

Family Scripts