Mental Health & Wellbeing 

A Child’s Life Should be Good, Not Easy

Dear Parents and Carers,

I recently came across this article about parenting expert Maggie Dent. You may find it helpful, or you may not.

Maggie Dent reacts to popular parenting advice

By Ruth Barber for The Role Of A Lifetime

Wednesday 5 March

Author and educator Maggie Dent aka the 'queen of common sense' has been helping parents for years. (ABC/Dreamchaser)

Parenting is hard. Like, really hard. 

It's almost impossible to know what advice to listen to and what to ignore. 

And it doesn't help when you're constantly bombarded by contradictory "expert" opinions on seemingly every topic.

That's why we asked beloved, no-nonsense parenting author and educator, Maggie Dent, to share her wisdom on some of the most popular and widely-touted pieces of parenting advice. 

'A child's life should be good, not easy'

On this, Maggie believes the shift in parenting styles over generations has meant many have become hesitant to expose their children to various hardships.

"We've moved from punitive, fear-based parenting, which was often really hard and challenging, right through to this lovely tender respectful responsive parenting," she says. 

"[Respectful responsive parenting] is wonderful because we can raise really great kids."

However, Maggie says it's sent the message that kids are meant to be happy all the time and consequently, their emotional buoyancy has suffered.

Maggie says parents are often quick to shield children from difficult emotions. (Canva)

"We need to not rescue our kids from discomfort," she says.

"They are all opportunities for our kids to grow in the confidence to manage themselves.

"If we allow them to experience life's particular risks, you will have a kid that can navigate the bumpy journey to adulthood."

'Routine is everything'

Maggie says routines are a great guideline, but parents need to have some routines with flexibility or risk becoming "naggy" parents. 

"I think sometimes routines make us shift into the need to control our children rather than be in charge of our children — there's a big difference between that," she says. 

"Routine and predictability is incredibly helpful but it's not everything.

For the full article, please click here.

Thanks for your continued support. 

Andy McNeilly

Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader

Year 4 Classroom Teacher