Be a good parent

There are several qualities that define a good parent. Whether you're looking for characteristics of a good dad or characteristics of a good mom, we will help you tremendously.

We highlight the 5 parental qualities which are most important in developing a happy, healthy and successful child. These parental qualities are not listed in any particular order. It's just important that you strive to exhibit them all.

Ability to empathise with your child

A good parent is someone who has the ability to empathise. Being empathetic is a powerful tool to help your child through any problem they may be experiencing.

In order to help your child, you must first understand and try to empathize with the thoughts and feelings they are having. Only once you've empathized will your child be receptive to your guidance.

Children don't always tell you how they feel and instead show you how they are feeling with their body language. As an example of the benefits of being able to read body language: your child comes home from school claiming they had a good day.

Yet, they are being quiet and looking sulky. Obviously, there's a good chance something happened at school that is bothering them.

You should take the time to figure out what happened. Find out how they are feeling and let them know you understand why they feel the way they do. Providing a story from your past which caused you to feel the same way is a great way to show empathy.

After you've empathized, you can give them advice on how to handle the situation in the future.

Work ethic

We are responsible for teaching our kids how to work hard at whatever it is they choose to do. My father always told me that "anything worth doing is worth doing right." I not only heard my dad saying this, I also witnessed him working hard and being thorough.

[If you think your children are lazy or you think they have more potential and effort than they are putting forth, peruse our article on teaching kids how to create a strong work ethic.

You'll learn many tips and tricks you can start using today!]

Anytime we did anything around the house together, whether that be fix the lawnmower or build something in the shop, my dad was always thorough with his work.

He never put less than his best foot forward, no matter what he did. Lucky for me, my mom was also a hard-worker and successful in her career. So, I witnessed two hard-working parents growing up.

Not all parents have a great career or large income, and that's okay. No matter what the job or the task at hand, a child learns how to work hard based on how hard you work.

Be sure that when you're at home or on the job you're working hard and stressing to your child the importance of always giving it your all.

Teacher of life skills

Good parents teach their children life skills. Parenting can be boiled down to one central idea: kids are adults in training. If this idea is at the forefront of your mind, it will affect the way you parent and you'll find your kids maturing at an astounding rate.

With this in mind, one of the best ways to train our children to become highly functional adults is to teach them important life skills.

I'll highlight four of the most important life skills but know that there are many more that a child should be taught. These are just the four most important.