Christlike Parenting

Being a parent can bring great happiness, but it can also be hard. No matter how things went yesterday, every day is a new chance to strengthen your family. You are making progress every time you do something to create loving family relationships, nurture your children’s learning and growth, and build unity and strength through service. To learn more, see “A Powerful Pattern for Parenting,” Liahona, Sep. 2022.

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Create Loving Family Relationships

Good parenting starts with loving relationships. Your children need your love for their well-being and growth. Caring for yourself and your marriage will help you to create a safe and loving home. With a foundation of love at home, you’ll be better prepared to “bring up your children in light and truth” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:40). These resources can help you to strengthen the following relationships:

Parent Child Relationships
Self-Care and Marriage Relationships
Relationship to God

Finding the Divine Design in Our “Un-ideal” Family

Not having the “ideal” family in mortality can be painful, but we can use our realities to draw closer to the Savior.

Three Tips for Better Parent-Child Communication

Here are three principles that may help you and your children communicate better.

Family talking and laughing together at the beach in Peru.

Blessing Our Children by Improving Our Marriages

The quality of your marriage is influencing your children, whether you realize it or not. As you and your spouse work to improve your relationship, your children will be blessed.

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Nurture Your Children’s Learning and Growth

Family life is a process of learning and growth for both you and your children. Pray for guidance in your parenting. God knows your children and will help you to teach them. Watching you is the best way for them to learn, so give them good examples to follow. These resources can help you to nurture your children’s learning and growth in all aspects of their lives. The resources cover:

Establishing a Christ-Centered Home
Learning and Living the Gospel
Nurturing Growth and Development

Essential Family Conversations

Essential conversations will help our children know what they believe and why they believe it.

Father and son sitting on river bank, dad pointing at distance, enjoying view

How Can I Talk to My Teen about Religion

From our research, we’ve found several practical suggestions to help parents have positive religious conversations with their teens.

A Ghanaian family talks together. They are inside their home in their kitchen. They meet around a kitchen island. There are parents, youth, and younger siblings. It appears that two teenage daughters are leading a discussion. These are close-up images

Giving Children Love, Limits, and Latitude

These three L’s apply to parenting children of any age.

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Build Unity and Strength Through Service

Service builds unity and strength in your home, church, and community. Loving and serving others can help children to learn important skills and develop Christlike attributes. Support from church and community builds additional resilience in your children and family. Engaging our families in God’s work leads us all to Jesus Christ. These resources can help you to build unity and strength by serving and supporting others. The resources cover:

Loving and Serving One Another
Gathering Israel on Both Sides of the Veil
Building Up Church and Community

Teaching Children the Power of Relationships and Service

Helping our children serve others in their family, in the Church, and in the community lays a foundation for future happiness by helping them experience real happiness now.

How to Communicate Support to Your Missionary Son or Daughter

The following principles from Church leaders can help as you seek to offer your missionary support.

Seven Ideas to Become a More Unified and Welcoming Community of Saints

Strengthening our congregations starts with us.

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Common Parenting Questions

How can I do a better job of setting limits with my children?

"Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign, May 2017, 145).

Many parents wonder how to be fair and consistent in their parenting. When setting limits, it is important to be consistent in following sound principles of parenting.

Read “Giving Children Love, Limits, and Latitude,” to learn principles that apply to children of any age.

How can I help my children find answers to their gospel questions?

Questions are a critical part of our eternal growth, and searching for answers in the Lord’s way can bring us closer to our Heavenly Father.

President M. Russell Ballard has said: “When someone comes to you with a question or a concern, please do not simply brush off the question. Do not tell him or her not to worry about the question. Please do not doubt the person’s dedication to the Lord or His work. Instead, help the person find answers to questions” (see “An Epistle from an Apostle,” from an address delivered at a multi-stake conference on Sept. 11, 2016).

Read “When Doubts and Questions Arise,” for ideas on how to seek answers to gospel questions. You can also refer to “Helping Loved Ones Face Questions and Doubts about Faith.” Additional principles can be found at “Answering Gospel Questions.”

How do I help my children learn to master their emotions?

Everyone experiences strong emotions. But if left unchecked, these emotions can do serious harm. The solution is found in the scriptures when Alma counsels his son Shiblon to “see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love” (Alma 38:12). To fill ourselves, our children, and our homes with love, we must learn to bridle—or master—strong emotions.

Learn more by reading “Ten Ideas for Mastering Strong Emotions at Home” (David Schramm, Ensign, Feb. 2020, 40–43).

How do I help my children learn to appropriately use media and technology?

Heavenly Father and our Savior understand our struggles with technology and will strengthen us.

Digital devices are engineered to be irresistible and hard to put down. In fact, many software and phone developers intentionally target our human vulnerabilities to keep us checking and scrolling through endless feeds of information. Young people, therefore, need adults who can model the appropriate use of these devices and can educate children about their effects.

Read “How to Manage Digital Devices and Get Your Family Back” for tips. Refer to the Taking Charge of Technology and Media Safety resources for additional support.

Where can I find help for parenting a child with disabilities?

Finding out a loved one has a disability or chronic health challenge can produce a variety of emotions. At times you may feel intense love accompanied with a sense of being chosen to fulfill this sacred role. Other feelings such as denial, anger, disappointment, frustration, and sadness toward God or others are also normal and can be part of the process of coming to an understanding of what is happening. You may find yourself exhausted emotionally as well as physically.

Although God has not revealed all things to us now, you can trust that He is a loving God and cares for you and your loved one. Draw close to Heavenly Father and allow His Spirit to comfort and instruct you. The core principles of the gospel pertaining to disabilities and mortality can provide peace and comfort to members with disabilities and their families.

Read “Special Needs, Special Lessons,” by Elder Paul B. Pieper and Sister Melissa T. Pieper to see what they are learning from their experience of having a daughter with special needs.

You can find additional help and support by studying these resources for parents and caregivers.

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