World, Writing, Wealth discussion
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Does parenthood require managerial skills?
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With growing and maturing digital and virtual generations, what's required of modern parents? And should a couple consisting of male and female just do everything together to ensure an absolute gender equality or mother's and father's role may differ? What do you think?
Nik wrote: "With growing and maturing digital and virtual generations, what's required of modern parents? And should a couple consisting of male and female just do everything together to ensure an absolute gen..."Hmm, I think it depends on the couple. Growing up, my mother took on both traditional gender roles. She was the the cook and caretaker, but also the boss, handyman, and bill payer. My father was always present, just lazy. He was the ‘fun’ parent.
Some people prefer to take on traditional roles, others opposites, and some in the middle. I think it goes for all couples, whether man and woman, two males, or two females. I’ve come yet to see two parents who take on every single role equally, but I’m sure there are some. Whatever works for you works for you.
Talking in general, I think parent’s jobs should be obvious. Get your children ready for the real world, and what may become of it. While also being nurturing of course.
Madeline wrote: "My father was always present, just lazy. He was the ‘fun’ parent. ..."Not a negligible position :)
Madeline wrote: "... Get your children ready for the real world, and what may become of it. ..."I pretty much agree with this succinct, yet accurate essence.
Who thinks s/he's done a god job, please, raise your hand
Nik wrote: "With growing and maturing digital and virtual generations, what's required of modern parents? And should a couple consisting of male and female just do everything together to ensure an absolute gen..."Each as to his abilities. When my children were young I worked full time and their dad was self-employed. He did the get them off to school and after school pickups. Depending on schedules, we both did the rest. I was the LIttle League Coach; he was the classroom voluteer. Thankfully, we had grandma for childcare.
Mom and Dad roles are like Male and Female roles - they don't really apply when you have 2 parents working and children to care for.
Good parenting requires focus upon two basic goals.1. Doing everything possible to insure that children are protected, cared for, and guided with the intent of providing them the opportunity to enjoy the innocent years of gaining awareness and enjoying the all too brief period of childhood.
2. As children age and mature, the parenting role includes preparing the child to gradually begin to understand and assume the responsibilities and obligations of approaching adulthood.
The fact that some parents are willing to accept the responsibility of managing and nurturing their child's formative years while other parents decline to do so is evident in fact that there are some 18-year-old adults and too many 80-year-old children.
Judging by some behaviour - many current managers should be sacked - :-/
Any good parent will tell you of course.
I'm 65 and had my 18-month-old grandson with me for three days. That required managerial skills and patience and almost more energy than I had. It reminded me of raising my son alone when I was 33. People say that single parents have it hard, but they have no idea unless they've done it.
I've written a book called Teach Your Toddler to Read. It's aimed at parents and grandparents who want to give their youngster a head start in their education. If kindergarten-age children have mastered simple reading, think what that might do for their behaviour, your sanity and their capability. www.cenfoxbooks.com
Cenarth wrote: "I've written a book called Teach Your Toddler to Read. It's aimed at parents and grandparents who want to give their youngster a head start in their education. If kindergarten-age children have mas..."Amazing how you manage to write in various fields, light years away from each other, like parenthood and murder mystery. Yeah, an early acquisition of literacy sounds advantageous
Nik wrote: "Amazing how you manage to write in various fields, light years away from each other, like parenthood and murder mystery...."Well......parenthood could lead to murder mystery.....8^)
In the same line of thought, how much do older siblings contribute? My children were over 5 years apart so that a lot of after-school responsibility fell on my teenage daughter when her brother was in junior high. It made them tight for a very long time. I am sure her approach to dealing with him, i.e., making sure his homework got done, deciding what infractions to report to me and what things she just dealt with herself - affected his perception and actions as he got older.
My late wife and I were determined to protect, provide for, and nurture our children, gradually reducing our contribution to their welfare as they advanced in age and maturity. Our ultimate goal was to help them develop a sense of caring and loyalty to each other so that, even after they became adults and moved out on their own, they would always be there for each other.My four children are now middle-aged adults. I am proud of the fact that, whenever one faced a difficult time, the other three rallied to provide whatever level of material and/or emotional support was deemed appropriate.
I find it very consoling to know that my children will always be there for each other long after I am no longer around.
Jim wrote: "My late wife and I were determined to protect, provide for, and nurture our children, gradually reducing our contribution to their welfare as they advanced in age and maturity. Our ultimate goal wa..."I have said many times if you have raised productive children, you probably did a good job as a parent.
Jim wrote: "My late wife and I were determined to protect, provide for, and nurture our children, gradually reducing our contribution to their welfare as they advanced in age and maturity. Our ultimate goal wa..."My father was the same way with my sisters and me. Our early life was not easy but we always united against others. When I left home for college, Dad wanted us to promise to get together every 4 years. We all ended up in different parts of the country.
Initially, we kept up by phone and some family vacations, but as we had our own kids and jobs, and grew in different ways with different ideas about life, it became more difficult. Our dad passed away suddenly in 1998. We pretty much all went our separate ways then. I am sure our Dad was disappointed by that. He was the glue. Our stepmom passing in 2017 resulted in us all reconnecting with a bit more acceptance of our differences. We used some money they had left to all go on a cruise together. At the same time, we connected with a half-sister from our Dad's first marriage that we hadn't seen since I was 10 years old.
We planed the summer of 2020 to get together, and Covid hit. Now we have a goup video call once a month. Interestingly, it is the sister who was most obstinate, most rebellious, and most contentious as a teen who is the driving force. She is also the only one of us who has stayed married, so next summer we are all planning to join in celebrating their 40 years of marriage.
Sibling bonds may be contentious, but they seem to outlast most other bonds. My kids have been on the outs before, but always are there for each other when it is toughest.
Scout wrote: "I'm 65 and had my 18-month-old grandson with me for three days. That required managerial skills and patience and almost more energy than I had. It reminded me of raising my son alone when I was 33...."Physically keeping up with my granddaughter is exahuasting, I think it was much easier when I was younger, even though I had so much more going on - job, kids, school.
Technically, I was only a single parent for a year. In reality, when dad abandoned his responsibility because of addiction, I was a single parent with the added emotional and financial drain of dealing with him. My daughter is a single parent and has a great support group around her. My son is the traditionalist and wants marriage and children with the expectation of it being forever. It always amazes me how different my children are, especially since it was my daughter who had the good years to remember of her dad, while my son did not.
"Children don't wait for you to spend time with them. They grow up with or without you."Sharon Randall (Colunnist/Reporter) 1961 - Still Liveing
Do you think parents need to be managers or just going with the flow?