Parenting

Why do people want to have kids and be parents? I mean in 2009 it was estimated that the cost of raising one child from birth to age 17 was $221,000! That's a lot of money! There are plenty of reasons couples choose to have children and why some opt out.

Why People Want to Have Children

• Experience of happiness in a family
• Personal fulfillment
• Personal & family legacy
• Personal status
• Religious beliefs
• Social expectations

Why People Opt Out

• Personal Fulfillment
• Focus on career
• Economic costs of children
• Focus on marriage
• Doubts about parenting skills                                                                                   

Most of the reasons why people opt out of having children are for selfish reasons or out of fear. The reality is having a child is always going to be scary whether it's your first child or your fifth! And parenting is always going to require sacrifice on your part to meet the needs of the child. There will never be a good enough reason not to have kids unless it puts the mother's life in danger! The benefits of parenthood far outweigh the benefits of being childless. So why is parenting so important?

The Purposes of Parenting

• to develop patience & selflessness & unconditional love
• to teach us & children
• intergenerational patterns established/perpetuated
• to continue learning
• to approximate God's role; change our relationship with Him

 

*Parenting does just as much for the parent as it does for the child*

Children are not well accepted in today's world. Many adults see today's children as spoiled and rude. All I can say to that is that if children act that way it is their parent's fault! That's right I said it it the parent's fault! Parents are responsible to teach their children. If parents don't teach their children they will learn from other sources: the world! So what should parents teach their children? A guy by the last name of Popkins says children should be taught four things:

1. Cooperation - working with others
2. Mutual Respect - demonstrate it instead of just demanding it)
3. Responsibility - giving children choices and consequences. It's teaching them to respond
4. Courage - from the heart - a risk with a desired outcome. Encourage kids!

Parenting is the biggest responsibility, but it is also the biggest opportunity for you to influence someone for the better. Who wouldn't want that kind of an opportunity?!