How to Start Your Parenting Roadmap

FacebookToday we start our Parenting Roadmap!.jpg — I love sharing fun and useful products for parents! Some links I use are affiliate links including links for Amazon.com. I get paid a small commission without additional charge if you purchase from the links. The commissions fund this site to bring parents fun and helpful content! Thank you!

Creating a parenting plan is like having a family budget or a grocery list. These organizational tools help people stay on track.

It is unlikely that every family has the same budget or grocery list, which will be true for a parenting plan.

No two people, parents, or families are exactly alike.

Let’s Begin!

How old are your kids? That is your starting point wherever you are on your family journey today!

Pick 2-3 parenting topics that you would like to plan for. Here are a few suggestions to get you started…

Is there a parenting topic keeping you up at night with worry?
Want to set a family goal, like volunteering for a cause or planning a trip?
What life skills would you like to teach? Cooking? Changing a tire?
Map out tough talks to have with kids. Have some notes and resources prepared.

Now, discuss how you would like to parent these issues.

Will you need to set expectations?
Are there routines or systems you can create to help?
What are the consequences if expectations are not met?
How will you teach and communicate this with the kids?
Do you need to get more ideas, or do you need to do more research?

Once you have your plan, write it down! Writing it down helps everyone remember the plans, and they can refer back to them as needed.

Keep your plans accessible to all parents, caregivers, and older kids, if needed.
You can use a journal, Like the Noteworthy Parenting Journal, or your own!
You can create a shared file on your computer or in an app,

Use and update your plans as kids mature!

A plan keeps you on track for the long haul and ensures you don’t miss out on the fun goals you want to achieve before the kids are grown and gone.

Some parents want to keep detailed notes of their systems and goals, while others want to keep track of bigger-picture topics.

Your parenting plans will develop and evolve as time goes on. There is no need to write every aspect of your parenting career in one sitting.

Life is never perfectly predictable, just as you occasionally go over budget or purchase an impulse item at the store.

A plan can help divorced parents maintain consistency for their kids. For more advice on managing this, check out Be the Best Co-Parent You Can Be!

Your notes should be helpful for YOUR parenting journey! Create them however you like!

The content or the “meat” of the notes matters!

Here are a few pages from the Noteworthy Parenting book and examples from the journal. If you want more, you can purchase the book and journal on Amazon by clicking the book photos at the end of this post!