The Covid-19 outbreak forces students, mothers, employee workers to learn and work from home. This, for some families, has become an opportunity to bond and get closer to each other. However, there comes another challenge for parents now that children spend more of their time at home: “How do I become a good role model for my children?”.

Since as young as months’ old, children tend to copy their parents’ behaviour. As they grow, they receive more and more knowledge of how to act, how to speak from their teachers and classmates, and friends. 

In regards to being a role model at home, Tzu Chi School published a podcast on ‘How to Become A Role Model at Home’ with two speakers, namely, Ms Hanlie Muliani, Clinical Psychologist, Child; Teen and Educational Psychologist of Sahabat Orangtua dan Anak (SOA) and Ms Dini Caroline, Chair of Tzu Chi Early Childhood Parents Teacher Association (PTA), both Ms Hanlie Muliani and Ms Dini Caroline are mothers of two. The podcast was moderated by Mr Yosehan, Head of School Counseling in Tzu Chi School. 

Walk the Talk

In most cases, parents have their own way to tell children their wishes but parents actually need to ‘Walk the Talk’. “If we wish for our children to do something or to act in a way that we want, we must first implement them ourselves, to give an example for children to understand what parents want,” said Ms Hanlie Muliani. 

Ms Dini Caroline agreed, based on her experience, “Children are better at seeing than listening to us, they’re so good at imitating,” she highlighted.

Parenting is A Learning Process

Nonetheless, every parent was also a child. Parents are often referring to their own parents as role models, before adjusting their parenting style to fit their children. “Never try to be perfect because there’s no such thing,” said Ms Dini Caroline. 

Ms Hanlie Muliani also added, “Parenting is about knowledge skills and art. We need to learn, just like a finance advisor needs to take on financial lessons, we have to learn how to become a parent. How we face kids of different ages, and so on.”

Mr Yosehan summed up the discussion by saying that, the key to becoming a good role model to children is to be a mindful parent.  “We have to be mindful, focus on our goals, and be honest to ourselves, that we too, make mistakes and are willing to take feedback from our children.”