Millennials are now the largest living adult generation in the country after they surpassed baby boomers recently. And their numbers have a significant effect on different facets of society, including family life and parenting.
The parenting style of millennials is different from previous generations due to several factors affecting the society they grew up in. Many millennial parents have to work to allow them to deal with their financial obligations. Despite this, they still set aside time in their busy schedules for their children. Here are the unique traits of millennials as parents.
Millennials Value Positive Reinforcement
Millennial parents focus on positive reinforcement when they want their children to eliminate bad behaviors. Instead of being strict disciplinarians like previous generations, millennials focus on reinforcing their children’s positive behaviors. In this situation, they reward good behavior.
But some psychologists have opposing views on this parenting style since they think that millennials are lenient when disciplining their children. While the situation resulted in many requests from the children, the children do not always get what they want. Millennial parents also have rules that their children have to follow.
The changes in society have made it essential for millennials to use a different approach in dealing with their children. The things that worked with older generations do not work anymore with the current generation. So, the parenting style of the generation reflects the changes in society.
Millennials Spend More Time with Their Children
Even though many millennials marry at a later time, there are instances when they get married earlier than usual. In these instances, both of them have to work due to their financial obligations. And children of millennial parents are aware that their parents are working.
Despite this situation, millennial parents still spend more time with their children. Millennial fathers are also enthusiastic about their duties as dads. Due to this, they are closer to their children compared to previous generations.
Even though this is beneficial for the child, being close to both parents also presents a challenge if the parents get divorced, which does not often happen in the millennial generation. In rare cases when millennial couples get divorced, they have to work with reliable child custody lawyers to reach an agreeable decision. The attorneys should have the knowledge and experience to reach an arrangement suitable for the child’s welfare.
Millennial Parents Want Their Children to Be Open-minded
Millennial parents want their children to be empathetic and open-minded. They also want their children to be confident in themselves. And it appears they are achieving their goals. Their children are accustomed to asking questions and talking about what they have in their minds.
Children of millennial parents are more engaged when it comes to learning. They are also flexible when interacting with the world around them. Therefore, teachers have to adjust their strategies to ensure they have their attention when they are in the classroom. They need to create interactive lessons where the children engage in activities while learning.
Millennials Are Overprotective of Their Children
While millennial parents encourage their children to be open-minded and confident, they are also overprotective. They also demonstrate more consistency compared to previous generations, which means they tend to stick to the rules they established for their children.
Their overprotectiveness has a basis since society is not as safe as it was before. Millennial parents are aware of what is happening around them. As digital natives, they get their information about ensuring the safety of their children from the internet.
They tend to make sure their children wear helmets when they go biking. Millennial parents also have a lot of rules to keep their children safe. Despite considering themselves too strict, millennial parents still praise their children whenever they do something good.
Millennials Prefer Doing Things Together
Millennial parents also value doing things together as a family whenever possible. And even though they want to have dinner together with the family, their work has made it challenging for them to do it. And with both parents working, they often end up not eating dinner together as a family.
While the pandemic saw many people working from home, not all millennial parents have the luxury of being a part of an industry where their companies allow them to work from home. Even with these challenges, millennial parents try to find ways to spend more quality time with their families.
And one of the ways for the parents of this generation to spend quality time with their families is to make sure they have no other activities during weekends.
Millennials have a unique parenting style that combines strict rules with positive reinforcement to raise their children.