Handling peer pressure as an adult is not always easy. Aside from growing a very hard and thick skin, how we manage it is key.
Peer Pressure is more common amongst our kids as they battle the school yard. But as parents we have our own playground with its own pressures and plenty of peers.
Our conversations with friends are often about our kids – how quickly they learnt to walk, whether they sleep through the night, how well they are doing at school, and where we are headed for the summer holidays. Comparison creeps in as one friend tries to outdo the other in the parenting stakes. The pressure to parent a certain way, provide for our kids outside of our financial resources and give in to our kids demands, adds an incredible difficulty to our parenting lives. Our self-doubt creeps in as the pressure mounts for us to keep up with the Jones’.
Handling peer pressure as an adult is not always easy. Aside
from growing a very hard and thick skin, how we manage it is key.
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Remember your values.
Our values about how we would like to raise our kids come from how we were raised, our personalities and our children’s needs. How we implement those principles into our lives is completely up to us. Although peer pressure may side-line us into letting go of our values, we need to remember where we came from and why we want to parent a certain way. What do we want our children to learn and what values do we want to instil in them?
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Trust your instincts.
Whether you are a parent one day or ten years, learning to trust your instincts is so important. Everyone has different views on almost every aspect of parenting. From how long to use a soother, how much TV is acceptable or whether to allow sleepovers. What is right for one family may not be right for yours. The great thing about being the adult is that you get to choose what is right. After all, you know your child better than anyone.
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Be life realistic.
Peer pressure often comes down to affordability. While one family can afford Disneyland every year, another may not. It’s a difficult one for parents because as much as we would love to give our kids everything, it’s not always possible. Being realistic about what we can afford is important in overcoming peer pressure. Kids don’t need the next big trend of bounce birthdays or a high-tech mobile phone. As the adult, you decide whether these things are important and if it makes practical sense for your family.
