Parenting starts as soon as a new life is brought forth by two individuals, in this case the union between a father and a mother. For most people, it poses a great challenge depending on the individuals involved. Ordinarily once you have been blessed to give birth to a child, you are automatically called a parent or parents of that child.
Parenting is, and can be, challenging but also a rewarding experience if done correctly. It requires a lot of time and energy, effort, resolve, courage, and an enormous threshold of patience to succeed. Parents are required to make choices and take adequate steps to help mould and shape their children into people who possess character, respect, a sense of responsibility, motivation, decency, integrity, and skills to help them be both successful as children and adults that can represent themselves and society.
Being a parent entails additional responsibility as one can be either a father or mother and not be a parent, this is because we have biological fathers and mothers who end up not parenting a child. You can also be a parent without giving birth to a child.
Parenting involves providing discipline, emotional support, and guidance, to mention but few. Guardians, teachers, and well-meaning individuals can also play parenting roles. Providing the child’s needs and not their wants is paramount, in other words, it is important for parents to understand that providing all a child wants does not make good parenting, rather provide the child’s needs as they arise.
Twenty-one years ago, being a parent was not exactly one of the things on my to-do list, not that I did not look forward to having children, I desired to understand how it felt like to be a mother, especially the bond shared. Fear at the thought of being responsible for the needs of the child were equally present, having watched how my mother cared for us, but at the time it felt like something meant for others not me, since I was still looking at myself as a child to my parents.
Being a parent entails additional responsibility as one can be either a father or mother and not be a parent, this is because we have biological fathers and mothers who end up not parenting a child. You can also be a parent without giving birth to a child.
After getting married, naturally couples are expected to procreate, in other words have children, but the question is, are they prepared to accommodate them? Interestingly, the Bible tells us that children are gifts and blessings from God and must be properly taken care of as precious gifts that they are. Because parents would be required to give an account concerning them.
For the mother, who must carry this child for nine months, it is a unique experience as she starts the journey of housing an individual within her with no idea of what he or she would look like. She goes through phases of anxiety and fear, also being mindful of her lifestyle just to make sure the new life within her is faring well. Of course, all of this comes with sacrifice as she goes through a major period of changes that occur during the gestation period.
There is a saying that; “There are no bad children, just bad parents.” The importance of Parents in one’s life is quite evident from this eminent quote. That is not to say all parents are bad, neither are all children good or well behaved. It is important to note that no parent plans to raise bad children. We have seen situations where children under very good parenting turn out badly, while those from not so good parenting turn out well, this could be attributed to circumstances. As parents it is essential to Commit parenting to God in prayer.
In an era where most parents are busy pursuing careers or fatter pay checks, it has become difficult for parents to mark their presence in the lives of their children making them unable to attend to their emotional, physical, and basic needs. Unfortunately, today, our children are faced with several distractions and find it difficult to cope with reality, making it difficult for them to connect with the ordinary or normal. The advent of the virtual world via Information Technology has taken up much of their being.
Are these children to blame for how they have turned out, or the perception they have of what things ought to be? Maybe, or maybe not, some parents are indeed guilty of how they are turning out. Various electronic devices ranging from mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and video games have become pacifiers, which are often handed over to them without proper monitoring.
We need to save our children from these perilous times, how?
- Parenting should start from the cradle, speak positively to the child, subtly correcting him or her in accordance with their age and understanding.
- Being a model for your children, do not only teach, but also act because in emulating your actions, they become more proficient.
- Teach them to uphold values and maintain acceptable morals.
- Teach them to be contented.
- Teach them humility by being humble yourself.
- Encourage them, correcting them in love.
- Do not compare them to their siblings or other children.
- Teach them how to pray, do not force them, personify the life of a Christian, and explain to them why it is important to embrace that path.