How do you rate as a parent?


I was interested to read today that Australian actor Gary Sweet only rates himself a 6 out of 10 as a dad. I wonder how highly his kids would rate him. I wonder what score I’d get out of 10 if my children had to rate me.

I’d give myself a five or a six out of 10. I wish I was better.

Frank is the one I see the most of these days because he lives in Melbourne. Sophie lives in Adelaide and my two little blokes – well, they’re not so little – live in Sydney.

I try to be as good a father as I can be when I see them, but I often don’t see my younger ones as much as I’d like to. I do the best with the skills I’ve got.News.com.au

Parenting can be a tough job. Every parent is different. Every child is different. Every circumstance we face as parents is different. Yet amongst all the variables we’re asked to bring up our kids to be fine, upstanding members of the community. The weight of expectation can be enormous.

So how do we rate ourselves? What scale do we use to judge if we’re doing alright?

I’m not sure if I’d join Sweet and give myself a 6 out of 10 for my own performance as a father, whether I’d go higher or even lower.

I suppose the first task would be to decide the criteria for judging our worthiness as parents. What kind of criteria would you use? Quality time with our children? Being there for special occasions? Providing for our kids? What do you think?

I’ve heard it said that the best thing a father can do for his children is to love his wife, the mother of his children. Is that one of the things we should focus on to become better parents?

I’d love your input in the comments section of this post.



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About the author

Rodney Olsen

Rodney is a husband, father, cyclist, blogger and podcaster from Perth Western Australia.

He previously worked in radio for about 25 years but these days he spends his time at Compassion Australia, working towards releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name.

The views he expresses here are his own.

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1 Comment

  • The fact that our 4 kids have grown to be respectable and responsible young(-ish) adults makes me think I haven’t done too bad a job overall, although I know there are some issues that would drag my score down if you asked a particular child/ren to rate my efforts. As our kids become parents and face similar challenges we did I think they come to see we’re not as bad as they thought we were. I know I gained a greater appreciation for my mum once I became one!

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