How we were parented as children play a vital role in how we parent as adults. In this week’s episode, social work expert Michael Watson discusses the correlation between our lived childhoods and what we consider normal when raising our children.
 
KEY TAKEAWAYS 

A parent’s experience of being parented plays a vital role in how they care for their children. The parenting they offer their children is strongly linked to the parenting they receive. 
As children, our parents are god-like, in control of our world, and our representatives to others. This is why we may remain loyal to them regardless of how they treat us.
Upon reaching maturity, many adults cannot identify problem areas of their childhood simply because it has become the norm for them.
Parents unable to remember much of their childhood may have been subjected to traumatic episodes at that time. 
Many mental health issues in adults can be linked to the care they received as a child.

 
BEST MOMENTS 
“If children are not allowed to have a childhood in which they are free to be a child, devoid of inappropriate adult responsibilities, they're likely to have to mature too soon, and may be emotionally stunted, and thus unable to achieve healthy independence.”
“What a child is exposed to during their childhood, over and over again, is what becomes natural and normal to them. It is the repetition of the environment they grow up in that moulds their character into the adult they become.”
“There is no such thing as perfect parenting, but children benefit from a combination of attention, affection, stimulation, safety, stability, security, routine, boundaries, guidance, encouragement, and consistency.”
 
CONTACT METHOD
familycourtcoaching@gmail.com.
Instagram: michael240656Linkedin 
ABOUT THE HOST
Michael Watson is a qualified social worker and author with over thirty years of experience working with children and families. As an expert in family court, Michael is in a key position to assist, advise, and coach parents through their private law family proceedings and provide them with the information and skills to represent themselves successfully in court. His two books, ‘How to Represent Yourself in Family Court’, and ‘FAMILY COURT: Giving Evidence In Family Court’, provide parents with a clearer understanding of family court proceedings, legislation, and parenting skills.