Responsible Parenting Made Simple - Even Your Kids Can Do It.

A parent is a father or mother who takes care of his or her child or children and others in the household. Parenting is the act of providing care and affection to the members of the household. Parenting normally involves two people (usually the mother and father) or either one of them. In years past, it might have involve the early member of extended family. parents are the custodians of the next generation. Therefore, parent hood is among the most serious of commitment and individual make to the future and to another human being. It is a promise to the devote time, resources and best efforts to the emotional, physical and social development of a child. Being responsible parent is the best thing you can do for children. Good parenting is one of the hardest task parents face.

Responsible parenting therefore refers to the expected responsibilities of parents in the process of raising their children from infancy into becoming a responsible adult.

Roles/Responsibilities of Parenting.

There are some basic emotional and physical needs that parents provide for their children.

1. They should provide love, guidance and acceptance for healthy emotion development. 
2. They should provide supervision, protection and shelter for the child's safety. 
3. They should provide proper nutrition, healthcare and safe environment to safeguard the child's physical health. 
4. They should provide opportunities for educational and recreation for intellectual and social development.

If parents are poor and there is insufficient number of school, a child's education and physical health may be compromised. Even if there is little money available, parents need to; 

• Teach respect for other people, including oneself.
• Clearly communicate expectations for the child's conduct.
• Help the child in making decision based on their own learned experience (provide advice).
• Allow the child a full range of emotional experiences.
• Provide unconditional and acceptance.
• Give their best efforts in providing for the child's material needs.
• Teach skills for resolving conflicts.
• Be a good role model.

Parenting Involves many responsibilities. These responsibilities include;

• Setting Rules And Regulations: Parents are responsible for setting down rules and regulations as a guide for their children to follow. They therefore set goals, policies and rules.

• Education: Parents are children's first and best moral and spiritual teachers, and one of the best way to educate and enforce obedience is for them to lead the example. There are also certain things, which the school cannot teach them, because they are best taught at home. They should teach children moral and religious value. 
• Inspiration: Parents must enforce obedience. Children must obey either grudgingly or gladly. Instead, parents must motivate to be imaginative, creative, reliable, hopeful and encourage them when their spirit are low. 
• Friendship: Parents must take the time to form real friendship with their children "Real" in the sense that both parent and the children must share, communicate, confide in and make time for each other.
  

Other Responsibilities are:

• Providing care and affection, love and encouragement for children to grow and develop into their unique self.
• Providing health-care and nutrition.
• Guidance towards responsibility adulthood.
• Encouraging psychological, emotional well-being.
• Provision of shelter clothing and security.
• Protection of the children.

Skills For Good Parenting

• Effective communication skills.
• Negotiation skills.
• Creative teaching skills.
• Interpersonal skills.

While parenting is a relationship between the adult and child, the relationship between co-parents influence the quality of parenting and its importance is shaping of the child development. Good communication between the co-parents is essential. It facilities joint decision making and consistency in child rearing practice. Values that are promoted by both parents provide clear guidance and expectation for children's behaviours. It also modules positive adult relationship for developing child to observe.

Constraints To Good Parenting.

• Impatience.
• Poor communication with the child and  co-parent.
• Inadequate resources.
• Inadequate love, time and affection.
• ILL Health .
• Separation, divorce.
• Lack of sense of responsibility.
• Social pressure; pressure from work or the extended family.
• Effect of peer group and the child as well as on the parent.
• Lack of knowledge of child development and what is natural for each age.

Challenge of Working Parents

Many parents have to work in order to make ends meet and as such, working parents face a lot of challenges. These challenges include:

1. Inadequate time spent with their child/children.
2. Inability to relate with the child/children properly.
3. Inability to thoroughly understand the child/children.
4. Children are usually unsupervised and tends to get into trouble more easily. 
5. No one to attend to the immediate need of the child e.g when the child is sick.
6. Parents are usually exhausted.
7. Children relate better with people they spend more time with e.g housemaid and their such, may learn values which are outside or against family values.

Cultural Variation In Parenting

1. Communal participation in parenting: In some cultures, it is expected that responsible adults in the community have some degree or responsibility for raising a child.
2. Extended family participation in parenting: In many African communities, adult member of the extend family are regarded as parent and expected to participate in bringing up a child.

Importance of Responsible Parent In National Development.

• Responsible parenting reduce responsible citizen.
• Responsible parenting helps in reduction of crime rate.
• It helps in building a healthy nation.
• Its inculcates and strengthens the spirit of nationalism and patriotism.
• It helps impact positive value in the  child which eventually makes him a total man.