What are some of the qualities of a good parent? Use specific details and examples to explain your answer.

William Shakespeare wrote: "All the world is a stage. And all the man and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances. And one man in his time plays many parts..." One of the life parts most people play is being parents, which I consider to be extremely responsible and demanding a huge amount of mental and physical resources for everyone. The way these resources are invested in a child greatly influences his or her present and future life lines. I believe that being a good parent is an art of "getting the clue" to a child, and using it to succeed in his or her upbringing.

One colleague of mine has two sons, they are seven and eleven years old. The first thing I have noticed when I first met ...