No one is born to be parent. Learning by doing is what most parents do. To boost people’s confidence and skills in parenting, YWCA Tsing Yi Integrated Social Service Centre organises a book club for parents, allowing participants to share the laughter and tears when raising their children. 

The book club aims at nurturing participants with greater confidence in parenting, and hence helping them to become better parents. Solving problems faced by parents is not the main purpose, but participants can always learn from each other during the 2-month period. They talk about the resonances they find in the book, laughter and tears with their children, etc. Sometimes when appropriate, social worker will also share parenting skills with the participants. 

The book participants discussed last winter was a bestseller, Atomic Habits. Mrs. X used to ask her daughter to act faster and did not understand why it took so long to finish the homework. After reading the book and talking with the group, she adjusted her expectation, “If I am a Hongkonger, my daughter must be a European. I should learn to make her success as a European, but not change her into a Hongkonger.”

After studying a book by a Korean author, participants started reaching out to their inner child and noticed how their background affected their pursuit as a grown-up. They learnt to help their children to realise oneself, instead of conforming to parents’ anticipation.

The upcoming book club will read the work written by a Taiwanese author, Wang Pei Ting. Follow the Facebook page of Tsing Yi Integrated Social Service Centre and join the next event! Parents who enjoy reading are welcome.