Humanistic Parenting

What does it mean to parent humanistically?

To me it means that I need to recognize my child as the autonomous human that he is.

It means interacting with him compassionately.

It means helping him learn how to find joy in the act of living and being alive. 

And it means helping him to understand and assume the responsibilities of being a member of the human family.

Because while we humans may be autonomous individuals, we are still social animals. 

There are other humans we interact with regularly and it helps us to make those interactions as good as possible.

We have to be responsible for our actions towards those other people. 

I teach him the responsibility of respect by modeling respect for him and through my interactions with him.

Does he appreciate the respect I show him?

Yes he does.  He’s one of the few kids in the neighborhood who isn’t spanked.

He tells me how grateful he is that I don’t discipline him with spanking all the time.

Does a Humanistic approach to parenting work?  Yes it does.