The skills

To what extent have we developed life skills in our children? Or, in other words, to what extent have we taught them to think, relate to others and learn from their mistakes?

Parenting skills refer to the ability to apply educational principles that seek to protect, provide affection and correct behavior. In this way, a subject is taught and trained for life.

Parental skills.

Parenting skills are a set of knowledge and techniques that enable parents and caregivers to apply practical skills in raising their children.

These skills include nurturing and setting appropriate limits, ensuring expectations commensurate with the child's true capabilities, assertive communication, and emotional management. Once perfected, these skills become competencies.

Parental competencies.

Parental competencies include:

• Bonding: generating physical and emotional contact with the child without falling into harmful or avoidant attachment. This means devoting time and attention consistently, not applying the law of ice in an argument or maintaining an indifferent treatment for a prolonged period of time. It also means demonstrating warmth: approaching children, expressing concerns, reaching out, giving advice and looking them in the eye when they talk.

• Formative activity: this involves guiding children in learning valuable subjects, supporting them in their homework and teaching them how to apply what they learn in their daily lives. Conveying values and behaviors to them can help them grow as individuals and face life's challenges. It would also be beneficial to help them discover and enhance skills or talents they have not yet explored.

An example of how parental competencies can manifest themselves is as follows: A parent detects that his child is being bullied. He informs himself and acts intelligently by talking to teachers and parents.

He offers support to his child and explains that, although it is normal that there are people who enjoy hurting, this should not affect his self-esteem. You show him that he is a valuable person and that together you can overcome any obstacle.

Healthy parenting.

In terms of healthy parenting, some specifics to mention include:

• Anticipating future situations and preparing for them.

• Evaluating outside influences and how they affect the child's life.

• Taking care of oneself, this involves handling our emotions, managing them and being able to convey a balanced approach to children.

We can consider the following to measure our level of competence in specific skills:

• Unconscious incompetence: We are unaware of our strengths and weaknesses. One way to reflect on this is to ask ourselves questions such as: Is there anything I need to improve on? Is there any area of my life that would benefit from becoming more competent? In what areas do I tend to have problems and difficulties?

Assess level of competence.

To assess our level of competence in specific skills, we can consider the following:

• Unconscious incompetence: We are unaware of our strengths and weaknesses. One way to reflect on this is to ask ourselves questions such as: is there anything I need to improve on? Is there any area of my life that would benefit from me becoming more competent? In what areas do I tend to have problems and diff