Be good parent

Listen to your children. It's important that your communication with your children goes both ways. You shouldn't just be there to enforce rules, but to listen to your children when they are having a problem. You have to be able to express interest in your children and involve yourself in their life. You should create an atmosphere in which your children can come to you with a problem, however large or small.

• You can even set aside a time to talk to your children every day. This can be before bedtime, at breakfast, or during a walk after school. Treat this time as sacred and avoid checking your phone or getting distracted.

• If your child says he has to tell you something, make sure you take this seriously. If the timing is right now, drop everything you're doing to listen properly, or set up a time to talk when you can really listen.

• Don't underestimate your children's intelligence. They often have insights to share or a way of sensing when something is wrong (or right). Take the time to hear their perspectives.

Make time for your children. Be careful not to stifle or smother them, however. There's a big difference between protecting someone and imprisoning them within your too unyielding demands. You want them to feel like your time together is sacred and special without making them feel like they are forced to spend time with you.

• Spend time with each child individually. Try to divide your time equally if you have more than one child.

• Listen and respect your child and respect what they want to do with their life. Remember though, you are the parent. Children need boundaries. A child who has been allowed to behave as they please and had their every whim indulged will struggle in adult life when they have to obey the rules of society. You are not a bad parent if you don't allow your children to have everything they want. You can say no, but you should provide a reason for saying no or offer an alternative. "Because I said so" is an invalid reason!

• Set aside a day to go to a park, theme parks, museum or library, depending on their interests.

• Attend school functions. Do homework with them. Visit their teacher at open house/parents evening to get a sense of how they are doing in school.

Be there for the milestones. You may have a hectic work schedule, but you should do everything you can to be there for the important moments in your children's lives, from their ballet recitals to their high school graduation. Remember that children grow fast and that they'll be on their own before you know it. Your boss may or may not remember that you missed that meeting, but your child will most certainly remember that you didn't attend the play they were in. Though you don't actually have to drop everything for your children, you should at least always try to be there for the milestones.

• If you were too busy to be there for your child's first day of school or another important milestone, you may regret it for the rest of your life. And you don't want your child to remember his high school graduation as the time when his mom or dad couldn't show up.