Summer 1998
Nurturing a Child's Potential
Leanne Spengler, Human Development Specialist
If the following ad was published, I wonder how many people would volunteer?
WANTED: Someone to guide, nurture, and protect children from birth to death. This is a full-time position 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. No financial compensation is available and in many cases the applicant will have some financial responsibility. Co-workers can be challenging, yet interesting. No experience necessary.
This is a basic description of a parent. When written as a job description the role seems insignificant; but when you are "on the job" the role can be overwhelming. In either case, the role and responsibilities of a parent are very important and should not be taken casually.
Being a parent is a complex role under any condition, but social conditions can make the job stressful. Divorce, maternal employment, and mobility can separate and isolate family members from traditional extended family support networks. In such cases, encouragement and support must be provided by the community.
Parents can find formal support through professional services, but the informal support from family and friends provides vital parenting resources. These resources are similar to the needs of children including: emotional reassurance, social contacts, as well as material and physical assistance.
Nurturing their child's potential, communities can nurture parents. The following ideas may be useful in making your community a place that supports parents:
Although the job of a parent has no financial compensation and is time consuming, there are many 'perks' that are invaluable.
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Nancy Flood, floodn@missouri.edu Consumer & Family Economics Specialist Putnam County University Outreach and Extension Center Last Update: May 23, 2001 |