Being able to Provide love, support, unselfishness, and the basic needs for survival. Don't gotta be perfect and be spot on every time but most of the time.

I was told once to be the parent I always wanted... I am blessed with wonderful parents who are still married 35+ yrs later. My husband's dad didn't do a lot with them growing up,.. and i can tell because he sometimes isn't sure what do with our son. I just tell him to be a boy. Get dirty, play cars, all that boy-stuff.
I hope I have a relationship with my kids like I have with my parents. they were not really strict growing up, but there was a solid foundation of mutual trust and respect. The last thing we wanted to do was lose our Mum's trust, because then we had to earn it back.

Parents who put their children's needs and desires first, love them unconditionally, and nurture them. This is probably different with every parent/child relationship, but as long as they do these things then I'd say they are doing pretty well! 

I truly believe there is no one way to be a parent. All children are different, and therefore, all parents must also be different. We all make mistakes as parents, and it will never matter how many kids we have or how old they get, the mistakes will continue to happen. The trick is to learn from the mistakes we make and not beat ourselves up or over analyze. If at the end of the day, we put happy, healthy kids to bed, I'd say we're doing okay.

I'm the oldest of 4 children, 2 girls and 2 boys. My parents were always harder on me than my siblings growing up. I was what many would refer to as difficult because I was stubborn, opinionated, challenged authority and my emotions were expressed in extremes. If I was mad, I was loud, explosive and irrational. If sad, I'd cry and cry and cry. My parents didn't know how to handle me, so I often received physical "punishment" as well as harsher groundings and loss of privilages. As I got older, I rebelled pretty bad. I'd sneak out with friends late at night, lied to my parents about where I was and who I was with, started drinking and smoking. I got kicked out of the house a few times, and had to couch hop. My younger brothers did the same things I did, only a bit worse. One would drink AND drive, the other got involved in shoplifting and hard drugs, and they both smoked a lot of pot. Did they get beaten? No. Did they get kicked out? Fat chance. They just got yelled at, and as a teen, yelling doesn't really bother you anymore. You just think: "Mom and Dad are gonna yell at me, I'll tune them out, and go back to whatever I was doing." My baby sister can basically get away with murder. She's 18 years old now, and has been running the house since she was 15. My parents never know where she is or who she's with because she lies to them (something only I know), she faked being raped when she didn't want our parents to know she was sexually active, and here's the worst: A few years ago, her and her best friend were giving out their cell phone numbers to strangers online. They were receiving (and I'm pretty sure sending as well) sexually explicit texts/photos, and meeting up with men they didn't know. I found out about it, told my parents immediately, and got hell when I criticized them for not taking it seriously. I was worried sick that my baby sister was going to end up on a milk carton, and all they did was tell her she couldn't use the computer for a month.... A few weeks later, she let a 19yr/o boy (she was 15 at the time) come over to the house when everyone was gone, and he would've spent the night if I hadn't caught her. I was completely appalled with the way my parents acted like nothing was a problem and considered them to be lazy and self absorbed. Now, all my sister has to do is threaten to freak out, and she gets what she wants. I used to be so angry about this. I used to criticize my parents behind their backs to my husband constantly, and found myself becoming nearly consumed with anger and frustration before I realized it wasn't my problem. My parents are the kind of people you just can't talk to about anything without it blowing up in your face, so I stopped trying. I figure if my sister ends up being a mess, it's on their heads. All I can do is try to be the best mom I can be for my kids by doing the opposite of what my parents have done.

my dads dad died when he was 13 so after that age he really didnt know how to talk to us or anything.  My mom is my world tho, she slapped me once and i shoved her we each kinda deserved it.  humans are physical creatures and unless you were hit more than once you need to let it go.  People do things they regret sometimes but you cant brood on it.  My parents were strict with me and very lienient with my brothers it was always biased and unfair, so i rebeled a little.  But im older now with my own baby girl who is my entire world.  when it comes to parenting and handing out punishment do what you know is right (not hitting of course thats never called for).  If your angry its not the time to dole out punishment send them to their room cool down think it over then sit them down and talk and explain what they did and the consequences then stick with it.  My older brother was the strait arrow kinda kid i was the rebellious one and my little brother it the bratty mamas boy that doesnt get punished for anything.  My older brother snuck out once and got caught he was grounded for a month, i never got caught, my little brother did and mom didnt talk to him for a day lol.  oooooo silence treatment how terrible! lol.  the thing is parents almost always have to have double standards they seem to worry about their baby girls getting hurt and are usually harder on us.  no parent is perfect but as long as you love them and do they best you can with them and dont molest or beat they crap out of them and verbally abuse and brainwash then your a pretty good parent i think.

This is really tough, because I felt I was doing the best I could at the time, but now look back and see areas lacking.  There have to be expectations and consequences for behavior, but those consequences cannot be so harsh that it takes away the child's will to succeed once they leave home.  Tons of praise for the work it took to do something, not praise for just doing something alone, like coloring a picture.  Equating work and effort with what they are doing is a must.  Complete unconditional love, regardless of behavior and consequence, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.  Teens who are gay have a 9% higher rate of suicide than non gay teens, so like it or not, if your child comes to you with this issue, you cannot throw repeated hissy fits and treat them less than loved.  My regret:  I worked long hours as a nurse, and when I came home I was exhausted.  I should have spent more time talking to them, or vise  versa.

My mom moved to a different country when I was 9. And although I saw her every Summer, it still sucked. She had a different family, treats my sisters alot better than me (I live in the same city/country as her now). My dad was alot worse though.. :/