Being a parent is a blessing, an honour, a privilege; also an enormous responsibility, an extreme commitment. This is a new role you have to take up, dear parent, as you hold that little bundle of joy in your arms. You have a precious gift, love him, nurture him, support him but do not try to possess him or live his life for him. As a parent you facilitate the growth of the child at every stage, you set the goal and pave the road to the goal; you hold the torch light so he can see; you cheer, you warn, you support all along. But all the while you remember 'he is growing, I am not making him grow.' In the process of raising a child many doubt arises in the parent's mind, “Can I do it? Am I on the right track? How do I handle this?” A few simple rules can help a lot. Firstly, try to figure out what you intend to do for your child. Our intention should be to guide and support him to i) attain the best to his ability ii) to imbibe the values we honour iii) to lead a happy, purposeful life with contentment. For this we ourselves first need to adopt a consistent, stable life style with definite principles, values and goal. The child's nature will evolve automatically according to the ambience he is in. You will just need to give the right guidance at the right time and in the right manner.
The child's early development is largely dependent on the nurturing care provided by the family. Babies need intent attention from both parents, interacting with them at every opportunity and appreciating his/her achievements. Talking to them, playing with them, singing to them, exposing them to different textures, shapes and colours, all help in promoting brain development. Interactive parenting practices, such as reading aloud to children, eating meals together and having family outings provide stimulation that promotes the development of language, early cognitive skills, and school readiness. The home environment should be made stimulating with a happy, playful ambience, which promotes early development. This can be done with low-cost, indigenous material in any socio-economic background; it only requires a good amount of motivation and a bit of innovative skill. Parental awareness about early childhood development is an absolute necessity.
Adequate exposure and opportunity is another important aspect of nurturing care for the young child, which can be provided by:
When we think of raising a child, we immediately think of teaching him things, directing him in the right direction. Considering the latter responsibility of a parent, we take up the onus of teaching him, which automatically brings in issues like parenting methods, disciplining and also punishment. As we know, parenting provides the foundation to promote healthy child development and to protect against adverse outcomes. Positive parenting describes an approach to parenting that achieves these goals.
Positive parenting must ensure the child's safety, health, and nutrition as well as developmental promotion. Common attributes of positive parenting include: caring, leading, providing, teaching, and communicating with the child in a consistent and unconditional manner.
In positive parenting, disciplining the child is of paramount importance, but prior to setting limits, parents should consider the following:
We must also remember that discipline is important, not punishment. Discipline involves teaching and instruction to bring about a change in behaviour while punishment enforces a behavioral change. Punishment will teach a behaviour because of fear of consequences; discipline will teach a behaviour because that behaviour comes to makes sense. The purpose of discipline is to teach the child how to govern his own behavior, which requires teaching him about emotions, cause and effect, and equipping him with the necessary skills for self-control. For this integrity of the child's self esteem and confidence is important, As parents we must be cautious about this. Any disciplining measure must avoid the following:
We have to remember why we need to discipline a child....
Emotional and behavioral problemsare common in children. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) , such as abuse and neglect, poverty, caregiver substance use, caregiver depression, and domestic violence or criminality increase the possibility of behavioral problems in childhood update.
Emotional and behavioral problems occur more frequently in children with developmental challenges than in typically developing children. These children may have delays in self-regulation and communication skills which contribute to the increased likelihood of behavioral challenges.
For parents to handle such situations they need professional assistance to
Such support should be made available for the parents at all socio-economic levels. They must be convinced not to ignore the child with challenges. He needs more attention. Regular interventions and constant stimulation under specialized supervision is essential. Afterall, a prepared mother handles the toughest situations best.
