Joe Biden: Parenting lessons from the newly-elected US president

There’s no distance parents won’t go for their kids

In his speech as Vice President at Yale University’s Class Day in 2015, Biden spoke about how he would take a four-hour train ride every day for some 37 years, from the Senate in Washington to his hometown in Delaware, to be with his children.

Biden was said to have decided to do this in order to be able to tuck his kids to bed at night and have breakfasts with them in the morning.

While many people, according to Biden, did not understand why he’d choose to travel the distance, for Biden, it was important that he be there for his children because “things can change in a heartbeat.”

“But looking back on it, the truth be told, the real reason I went home every night was that I needed my children more than they needed me,” Biden continued.

There’s no way to measure the sacrifices parents will make for their children

When his first wife Neilia was killed in a car accident, the same tragedy which also took the life of his daughter, Naomi, Biden said to have considered resigning from Senate to take care of sons Beau and Hunter, who were also involved in the car accident and badly hurt.

In his introduction for his father at the 2008 Democratic Nation Convention. Beau said his father almost did not want to get sworn in because knowing his job would require him to spend time apart from his remaining children.

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Opting to stay with his children, eventually, Mr Biden was sworn into office as senator at his son’s hospital bedside.

His son Beau has described him as a devoted, single father.

No matter what, family comes first

During an interview on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in 2016, it was revealed that Biden insists that his staff put their family first — a mandate that he said is something “very important to [him].”

In a memorandum to his staff as then-Vice President of the United States, which Fallon read on air, Biden told his staff:

“I do not expect nor do I want any of you to miss or sacrifice important family obligations for work. Family obligations include but are not limited to family birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, any religious ceremonies such as first communions and bar mitzvahs, graduations, and times of need such as an illness or a loss in the family.”

Biden said this has been “an unwritten rule since my days in the Senate.”

According to an article,  Biden still doesn’t work on Dec18, the anniversary of his first wife’s death.

Quantity is as important as quantity when it’s about time spent with your kids

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“Every important thing your child will say to you will be off-script, will be at a time when you don’t expect it,” Biden said in an interview.

The former US Vice President explained how the quality of moments parents get to spend with their kids are only made possible by ensuring there is enough quantity of time spent with them to make these quality times.

He also emphasised on the importance of taking the time to hear your kids out. Not in a sense of overindulging them but rather being mindful of when parents really need to listen to what their kids have to say.

“Kids can hold an idea for maybe 12, 14 hours and after that, it’s gone, you lose it,” Biden quipped, noting that if you miss those opportunities to hear their ideas, you might not get the chance of hearing about them ever again.

To make this possible, especially when his kids were still very young, Mr Biden made it a must that his staff inform — or interrupt him, even — at any time if he received a call from one of his kids. This something his staff were told to do from way back when he was still a senator.

Bonus: Lessons from Dr Jill Biden, Joe Biden’s wife and future first lady of the United States

As a parent, give your kids confidence

One of the many roles Jill played in her life is being a mum to her daughter Ashley, and of course her stepsons.

She shared how it is important for parents to give their kids confidence — especially for women.

She said, “Girls need to be strong because they have to keep it together and handle a lot more responsibilities right now.”

Record your child’s feelings, learn from them

An English teacher for more than 45 years, Jill, recently shared advice for parents who are currently homeschooling their kids amid the pandemic.

In an Instagram Live interview with actress Jennifer Garner in October, Dr Biden urged parents to “record their [child’s] feelings” and encourage their kids to keep a journal.

This is in order to “reflect on how did this change them, and what learn about themselves [because of it].”

This article was first published in theAsianparent.