What Parents of Successful Children Do Well

If there’s one universal truth in parenting, it’s probably this: whenever we think we’ve figured out parenting, we are quickly humbled to learn that we don’t really know that much.

Keeping in mind that there’s always room for improvement in parenting, the business magazine Inc. recently published these five things that parents of successful children do well.

1. They don’t lie.
“Individuals who recall being lied to more as children were also more likely to admit lying to their parents as adults,” wrote Inc. contributor Christina DesMarais.

2. They speak with a certain tone of voice.
In a test conducted at Cardiff University in the United Kingdom, “Almost across the board, teens who listened to the mother speaking in a controlling manner responded negatively. The kids who heard the mother speaking in a supportive way responded positively.”

3. They have conversations with kids.
MIT researchers found that children between the ages of 4-6 who engaged in more back-and-forth conversations with adults “had the highest proficiency in vocabulary, grammar, and verbal reasoning.”

4. They get kids involved in the arts.
A 2019 study by The New York Academy of Sciences of more than 6,000 eleven-year-olds reported that students engaged in playing music, drawing, and painting all had higher levels of self-esteem.

5. They don’t get carried away with “sharenting.”
In a 2019 poll emphasizing online safety, 42% of teens in 25 countries said they have a problem with parents posting about them on social media.