20 Beautifully Illustrated, Thought Provoking Questions That Will Make You a

Great Parent in 2014

Afineparent.com

Ideally, we want both. But if you had to choose -- mansions, expensive cars, and a bottle of anti-depressants; or a modest life filled with genuine smiles?

When you say “I Love You” do you expect something back in return or mean it as an apology?

Should you tough it out, or should you get it out of your system? When you see someone crying, would you offer to help or would you look away?

Have you built in enough pauses in your schedule or is all the time spent running from one task to another?

Can a parent set firm limits without screaming? Do you think it is possible to be gentle and caring, and still discipline your kids?

Do you think being a parent is as a blessing or an inconvenience? (Just for perspective, in the US alone over 6.7 million women struggle with infertility!)

Is failure disgraceful or is it a learning opportunity? Can you live a fully vibrant life if you don’t try anything new?

Have you figured out what is your uniqueness? Have you embraced it? Do you love each other just the way you are – warts and all?

You can only go so far carrying the burden of your past. Is your past holding you down? What kind of parent would you be if you had a different past?

Would it be about joy and hope, or gloom and despair? Will it be memorable or forgettable? Would it be a simple story or a complex saga?

Are you handed a script written by the circumstances that you just act out, or do you create your own brilliant story?

Can you carve some time in your schedule to do that one thing that’s your soul work?

What makes our perception of time so different from the visionaries who raise families while they change the world?

Are you sacrificing your sleep (and hence your health and happiness) at the altar of stress, productivity, money and success?

Can you think of anyone who has never made mistakes? Maybe practicing grace and kindness is a better option?

Gory, I know. But it could happen. And the only time you can do anything about it is now.

What if you could not be with them but knew they were doing fine? What if they were gone, but only you could survive?

What is your reason for reading these questions? What do you want from it all? Are you competing with your old self or with someone else all together?

Do you scream and scare the crap out of your children when they make little mistakes or do you teach them that it is OK to come to you for help?

How often do your kids grumble about doing something and you respond “You don’t realize how lucky you are! I never had the opportunity to [...]”?

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Image Credits

All images in this slidedeck are from fotolia.com. A huge big hat tip forthese wonderful artists (in the order of the photos) for taking thesefantastic photographs and making them available through fotolia forfolks like me :) – mariiya, gitusik, Apple, Friedberg, ArtFamily, SerhiyKobyakov, DM7, Eric Isselée, Anyka, flas100, brat82, Sergey Nivens,pio3, deviantART, giideon, Apple, Laurin Rinder, olly, xavier gallegomorel and Ilya Zaytsev!