25 Simple Parenting Tools To Ensure Your Kids Thrive In 2025.
Leap into the new parenting year with this carefully-selected set of parenting pearls.
image by Foundry Co from Pixabay
The most straightforward tools and tips are usually the most profound.
They are the practical, everyday application of deeply held philosophies and powerful principles.
The New Year offers an ideal time for a parenting reset. I’ve carefully hand-picked these parenting tools that will work in any culture or context.
Each tool represents a research-backed principle or concept (briefly outlined in brackets) that will help your kids flourish.
Keep this list handy for those times when you want instant inspiration.
Enjoy the learning.
Be the adult in the parent-child relationship.
(Families work well when someone is in charge, and it’s a good idea if it’s a parent.)
Encourage kids to keep pets so they learn empathy, practise nurturance and develop responsibility.
(With families shrinking, children have fewer opportinunties to develop these critical qualities.)
Show kids how to behave.
(Modelling is a most potent behaviour shaper. Kids are like sponges soaking up the behaviour and attitudes they observe.)
Cultivate good manners.
(Manners are respect in action and a great way to open social doors for kids.)
Build character daily.
(Character, not personality, helps kids thrive. I will significantly expand on the concept in the Parenting Toolbox this year.)
Catch kids being kind, gentle and strong.
(The behaviours you focus on expand, so think carefully about the behaviours you notice in your kids this year. Your attention bandwidth is limited.)
Establish healthy habits early.
(Habits become patterns that are hard to break. Childhood is the ideal time to develop mental and physical health habits.)
Stick to routines.
(Most kids love routines as it helps them feel in control. Doubly so for boys, which will be another key Parenting Toolbox topic this year.)
Have fun.
(A happy family atmosphere begins with this.)
Eat together every day.
(A shared meal is the simplest but most impactful family ritual you can establish. Note: There’s a high correlation between good mental health in children and teens and regular family mealtimes.)
Focus on excellence, not perfection.
(Essential if you have a perfectionist in your family, most likely a firstborn.)
Spend individual time with each child each week.
(Relationships are built on one-on-one time.)
Expect kids to change.
(Childhood as a stage of life is constantly changing, which frequently flummoxes parents with little experience of kids.)
Praise in public, discipline in private.
(Self-explanatory! Note: Some children become embarrassed when praised in front of peers, so use common sense.)
Keep an adult-only place at home.
(A third space is essential for your mental health and well-being. Yes, your well-being impacts the quality of your parenting.)
Admit it when you’re wrong.
(Forgiveness is a tenet for successful family relationships.)
Choose a time and place to deliver big messages.
(Communication is as much about timing and context as it is about the words you choose. Note: Avoid talking with your kids when you or they are angry. It won’t go well!!!)
Keep the meal table free from arguments.
(Location carries memory, so keep your meal table for conversations and happy times. Choose elsewhere for chastising, discipline and arguments.)
Prepare for tomorrow the night before.
(The title of my first parenting book says it all-stay One Step Ahead to win the day as a parent.
Expect children to help without being paid.
(Families are where kids learn to contribute. The best way to belong to any group, including your family, is through positive contribution.)
Encourage siblings to apologise.
(Relationship restoration is a key personal and life skill. This skill repeatedly appears in young leaders' social traits in my Young Leaders Program.)
Send kids to school with breakfast, a kiss and a smile.
(A full stomach and a boost in serotonin will set your kids up for a productive day of learning.)
Celebrate success as a family.
(Healthy families share the good times as well as the bad.)
Spend time in nature together.
(The great outdoors is the ultimate stress-buster and anxiety-reducer.)
Let go.
(Your job is to make yourself redundant, so resist the urge to keep holding on when they’re ready to fly.)
Leave a comment and tell me what you’d add to this list. The wisdom of the Parenting Toolbox community is incredibly valuable.
Enjoy a brilliant year with your kids in 2025.