Introduction

Brainstorming: „My memories”

1. Recall when you knew you were going to become a parent, what did you imagine being a parent would be like?
2. What emotions were you experiencing?

Ask the questions again, but referring now to the present:

1. Now, what do you think it is like to be a parent? What does it mean to be a parent? What is expected of you as a parent?
2. What feelings are you experiencing now?

Was there any difference then and now in terms of your understanding ?

Summary: Surely your perceptions of yourselves as parents were different from what actually happened to you. Watching other parents from the side, you have repeatedly said to yourself : “This will not happen to me”, you have criticised implicitly or explicitly.  And here come the moments when you are confronted with a variety of problems, cases and situations in which you have to react appropriately, educationally, correct your children’s behaviour , build trust with each other, communicate effectively.

Case study “I heard you are smoking”: A close friend of yours works at the school where your 14 year old daughter attends and tells you that she saw her in the schoolyard smoking with her friends. As you consider how to react, entering your home, you see how everything is messy, your daughter is listening to loud music and has not written her homework for the next day. How will you react?