Supporting Others’ Parenting

Supporting Others’ Parenting

A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends.

My son came home one evening after spending time with friends and began to tell me about all the fun they’d had while they were out together. As I listened, he went on to complain about one of his female friend’s parents, who, in his mind, was giving her a hard time.

“Her mom was so rude,” he stated. “She told her she had to come home right then and didn’t even give a reason.” As he took a breath to continue speaking ill of his friend’s mom, I felt a small smile tug at the corners of my mouth.

I raised a hand to interject. “Honey,” I replied, “I don’t know if her mom was being rude or not, and I also don’t know how your friend was speaking to her mother. But I will tell you, I am not going to throw another parent under the bus. Sorry, but parenting is hard enough and I’m not going to speak ill of someone else.”

He nodded begrudgingly at my response as our conversation moved on to other topics.

I thought later about how often I feel the pressure to parent well and the desire not to be judged by other parents. Despite all the benefits of social media, one downside is the pressure it can place on parents to always do and say things perfectly. The reality is that we are all human and will make mistakes, and this includes our parenting.

God does not mince words when he tells us that gossip pushes friends apart. The last thing I want to do to my friends who are parents is plant seeds of strife. I want them to be confident that I will not belittle their parenting to anyone, including our kids, and I know they’ll do the same for me. We can often wonder if we’re parenting correctly, disciplining appropriately, and teaching our kids the right things. Knowing we have other parents as friends who can support us and our parenting is so helpful.

— Kendra

— Today’s Act of Friendship —

Offer encouragement to a friend who is in a challenging season of their parenting.