A child is the best blessing anyone can ever have. Being a parent is the most surreal feeling and it is blissful for every parent to experience every special moment and achievement in a child’s life. Copying a tagline from an ad campaign “It takes two to make a baby and takes two to raise...
Home LearningParenting - A Mom’s Job?
A child is the best blessing anyone can ever have. Being a parent is the most surreal feeling and it is blissful for every parent to experience every special moment and achievement in a child’s life. Copying a tagline from an ad campaign “It takes two to make a baby and takes two to raise a baby”. It is high time to change the notion of parenting as intensive mothering and men as only breadwinners. Fathers’ sharing parenting and other responsibilities take off a lot of stress from a mother’s shoulders. Parenting is an adventure-driven ecstatic drive similar to a roller-coaster, especially for first-time parents.
The Need to Redefine Parenting Notion
A radical change has been seen in the number of growing couples. In most of our families, both parents are working. Let’s start seeing mothers as normal humans instead of super creatures with the sole responsibility to handle everything alone. Both the parents deserve the opportunity to focus on work, manage household chores, raise their child, and have me-time. The COVID era has made the concept of equal parenting feasible by bringing the parents to be available at home to spend quality time together.
Benefits of Equal Parenting
Equal parenting or Co-Parenting is beneficial in many ways. Here are some:
- Children, especially preschoolers, mostly learn life lessons from their parents and other family members. Family time without electronic devices is essential.
- Develops a high emotional quotient among children making them more empathetic.
- Equal parenting promotes teamwork at home, improves understanding of the value of team effort.
- Less risk of suffering from mental health problems like depression.
- Quality family time encourages kids to have open discussions, share problems, and come up to parents for solutions and guidance.
- Both parents’ undivided attention makes them feel more special enhancing their self-esteem and confidence.
- Other than kids, even the family benefits. The parents spend more time together, developing better understanding among themselves. Thereby, reducing the chances of split-up.
How to practice Equal Parenting
Are you a less active parent and want to be of more help and have a better role in your child’s development? These tips can help!
- Support each other and guide - The primary caregiver can give guidance to the new one to make them comfortable.
- Work as a team - Divide different tasks among yourself. It can be anything like changing diapers, making babies sleep, reading stories, or dividing subjects to teach for preschoolers.
- Exchange duties - Exchange your duties once in a while to avoid boredom.
- Try to be flexible with working hours to take up turns looking after the child and work in alternate hours.
- Extend support beyond childcare - Support the other partner’s non-childcare responsibilities - household chores, groceries, etc.
- Communicate Openly - Communication is the needed tool to develop a better understanding and be on the same page.
- It’s ok to make mistakes - Mistakes are common, especially for first-time parents. Try to correct them but don’t criticize, appreciate the efforts made
It might not be that simple initially, but practice will help you be better and have a smooth parenting journey. The busy contemporary world demands equal parenting to be customary in every house. Criticism is bound to happen from the society and elderly family members, but you need to stand strong on your beliefs and have each other’s back. In my opinion, the term “equal parenting” is not right because “parenting” itself means equal responsibility of parents otherwise it would have been termed as “mothering”!