Challenges of Parenting Essay PDF

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Challenges of parenting essay used for personality psych....

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Brooklynn Townsend Grand Canyon University SOC-320 June 6, 2021 Professor Christopher

Children Needs and Demands As interviewing some parents on children’s needs and demands there were several. If you think about, raising a child takes much responsibility and it is a lifetime commitment. A lot of people are natural born parents but a lot of other couples learn from scratch. I interviewed my sister, Brittney. She has two children named Axton (4 years) and Adahlee (1 year) and she said, “When I first had Axton, the only thing I could think to myself holding this little thing is how did someone think I am capable of raising this baby?” She then explained that as he got older his needs grew with his age. What she meant by that was when he started talking and becoming more aware of life and the things around him, his demands change from when he was little. When he was little, he did not speak therefore his needs were limited, bottle, diaper, sleep, and rain sound music recorder. When he got older, he was exposed to more, so his demands increased to monster trucks, specific foods because he is picky, batman underwear, big boy beds, and fighting nap times. “When it comes to raising a girl, it is totally different” she said. Adahlee has required as much attention from birth as she does now because she has such a strong personality.

Strategies Some strategies they personally use in their household is affirmations. Providing mental awareness when you have two children that each child is different therefore each child needs to be treated differently is very important. “My boy needs to be handled differently than my girl and when I had Adahlee I didn’t understand that and that is where I went wrong early on” She stated. She also talked about how in her household she makes all emotions normal, and she lets each kid express whatever emotion they are feeling without telling them how to feel otherwise.

She also said, “ Growing up, my parents did not show emotion in our household and when us siblings did, our parents always tried to overrule our emotions with something else, so that was a parenting skill I wanted to break in my family.” Resilience can be understood as the capacity of a child to deal effectively with stress and pressure, to cope with everyday challenges, to rebound from disappointments, mistakes, trauma, and adversity (Brooks, 2005). Any emotion that her two children feel, they get to have the opportunity to feel to the fullest extend until they are ready to cope. Economic Challenges Some economic challenges that they have faced as a family really hit bad during the COVID-19 pandemic. Brittney is a labor and delivery nurse, and her husband Scott owns his own graphic design business. Both experienced a big financial decline during the pandemic because Brittney was overworked in the hospital spending long hours and was volunteered to work the COVID floor of her hospital for several weeks. Scott lost business tremendously because there were no companies looking for word due to quarantine and social distancing measures. In an article it states that parent-child attachment is a very important thing to monitor and making sure there is a distinct relationship between friend and parent ( Kerns, 2001). As I spoke to her about this she said “ That is one thing I struggle with in my parenting. Growing up my mom always told me that she was my mom not my friend and I couldn’t grasp what she meant because to me it came off so negative, with my parenting skills I want my children to think of me as a outlet, I never want them to be scared to come to me, so it is hard where I draw that line.” When the pandemic hit, the had to reevaluate their finances and really figure out necessities over wants, including the children’s. Scott added, “ I love my children and my goal is to be able to provide anything my kids want while still teaching the disciple, when the pandemic

hit, my daughter was 5 months old and every Walmart and Target in our area ran out of diapers. I was so worried that I wouldn’t be able to provide the most necessity to my daughter.” Brittney went on to explain that when she was working in the hospital her only worry was contracting the virus and bringing it home to her children that it came to the point where she left the COVID floor and returned the labor and delivery. Economic Goals When it comes to economic goals that they as a family want to succeed, they have a checklist and slowly but surely, they check them off. Because of the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), families across the world are experiencing a new range of stressors that threaten their health, safety, and economic well-being (Brown, 2020). Scott said, “ I grew up very fortunate and my mom and dad provided everything for me that I ever needed, and I make that a priority of mine to do the same for my children.” Even though his parents are on different career paths with him they both make it a goal to provide anything for their children. Their 5 year plan is to move out of Colorado to North Carolina, pay off all student loan debt they have, and purchase a bigger house on the water where their kids can call home and be happy. They have a spreadsheet of budgeting items that they refer to stay on track of their goal. Strategies for Financial Security Their 5 year plan is to move out of Colorado to North Carolina, pay off all student loan debt they have, and purchase a bigger house on the water where their kids can call home and be happy. They have a spreadsheet of budgeting items that they refer to stay on track of their goal. Being financially responsible is a necessity in life, especially when you have children therefore it is extremely important to budget. They provide the necessities for their children and their household, then the make room for the fun things such as vacations, toys, and other memorable

things for both the kids and them. They continue to work hard in what they do and know that one day there will be a huge outcome. Advice for Others The advice that they give to other parents is to really dive into your childhood and pick out the pros and cons that made you, then do it differently. What they mean by this is for example, of your parents did not prioritize mental health as much as you needed in your home, make that a priority to do it in yours! Make it a priority to have a deeper understanding with your children and their needs. “If you are a parent of two or more, dive into your children’s personalities and remember that each child needs loved differently and cannot be compared to their siblings” Brittney said.

References Brittney and Scott Caspers Interviewees (2021). Brown, S. M., Doom, J. R., Lechuga-Peña, S., Watamura, S. E., & Koppels, T. (2020). Stress and parenting during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Child abuse & neglect, 110, 104699. Brooks, R. B. (2005). The power of parenting. In Handbook of resilience in children (pp. 297314). Springer, Boston, MA. Kerns, K. A., Aspelmeier, J. E., Gentzler, A. L., & Grabill, C. M. (2001). Parent–child attachment and monitoring in middle childhood. Journal of Family Psychology, 15(1), 69....