The title “Alpha Moms” came into being several years ago. It has been followed by a new classification, “Beta Moms.” Let’s take a look at these 2 styles of parenting.
Let’s start with a general definition of both. The title Alpha Mom seems to be a simple modernization of the term Helicopter Mom. It comes from the idea of an Alpha Male or Alpha Female – the dominant or domineering one in the group. These moms are ultra-involved in the lives of their children. The Beta Mom is a parent who is much more relaxed in her parenting style.
There are pros and cons of each style of parenting. Taken to extremes, there are more negatives than positives in either classification. When the style is tempered there can be many beneficial aspects.
The extremes of the Alpha Mom include:
• Micro-managing every aspect of the child’s life – from early development to college life.
• Making the child into an extension of herself, not allowing the child’s own identity to develop.
• Structuring the time each day to bring about optimum learning and development leaving little time for free play.
The extremes of the Beta Parent include:
• Such laissez-faire parenting that occasionally general health and safety factors are ignored.
• Little consistency in mealtime, bedtime, study time, etc.
• Seemingly ignoring the attributes of being teachable as a parent.
The Take-Away for parents
As a Christian your model is Jesus and your guidebook is the Bible. Jesus was perfect justice and perfect grace. Perfect truth and perfect mercy. We are all bound to fall short of His perfection. Additionally, every child is different. As a parent it’s not one size fits all. The challenge is to be a student of each child and with wisdom from the Lord choose to respond to the individual and parent to the best of your ability.
You can hear John and Kendra’s interview with Ted on Faith Radio Mornings below:
Image: Flickr
