Have you ever wished that your children came with an instruction manual? If so, you're not alone. According to the U.S Census Bureau (2000), there are 72 million family households in the U.S., and 34 million of these households have children under the age of 18.

Although being a parent is a dream anticipated with excitement by many, oftentimes, the dream is not matched by practical application. What looked natural and easy from a distance, now seems complex and difficult in reality. We could say that this challenge is the result of the inherent difficulty of parenting, or we can search for a completely different understanding of parenting.

We choose the second option.

 

How The Option Institute Can Help

We believe that parenting can be made not only reasonable, but a wondrous adventure and a most fulfilling life experience.

We have found that when parents are grounded by clear principles, they have a sense of purpose and focus which acts like a rudder in a storm. Without a strong grounding in guiding parenting principles, we have to invent a whole new rationale and solution for every challenge we face. We certainly aren't the first ones to advocate for parenting by principle, but our principles are very different from any you may have heard before. Moreover, they are easy to remember and, once learned, easy to apply.

We begin with some fundamental guiding directives: Love, Guide, Let Go. You'll notice that the last 2 words are bolded. These 2 words represent what is, for many, the most difficult aspect of parenting. Why? One of the key reasons is the belief often strongly held by mothers and fathers that what their children do (or don't do) is a reflection of them. This belief makes letting go impossible, and leads to countless instances of parental anguish and stress.

In fact, everything you do as a parent is dictated by your beliefs as a parent. Knowing that, we can help you to uncover and discard any beliefs which are making your parenting more difficult and less effective. These include other time-honored beliefs such as: It's your job to make your children happy. In actuality, by replacing this belief with the idea that you can't save you children from their unhappiness (and that's a good thing for them), you help your children to be architects of their lives, rather than victims who wait around for someone else to take away their distress.

Ultimately, we can enable you to find your steady center as a parent, and this is a benefit that will serve you and your child whether your child is a toddler having a temper tantrum, a rebellious teen-ager or a grown adult.