Child rearing is an experience that makes adults out of grown-up children, called parents. As soon as a child is added in the life of a couple, everything changes. Suddenly, the baby becomes the focus of their lives. Everything revolves around the needs of the baby. The first formative years, from age birth upto five years lay the foundation of the whole life of a child. Mistakes made in child rearing during this time can sometimes be irreversible.

One of the fundamental principles of parenting is to appreciate the needs of a baby. If the needs are misunderstood, the responses of the parents will lead to damage in the bond between the baby and the mother. One of the earliest needs of the baby are- food, sleep, being clean and a sense of safety. Once these needs are met, the baby is a happy baby. The first three needs are physical but the need to feel safe is where there is a difference of opinion among experts. In cultures, where babies are free to sleep with parents and where the mother is available to cling to during any time of the day, the baby feels safe. In cultures where babies are made to sleep in separate rooms, and most of the waking life is spent in creches, there is a shift in the baby’s perception of safe relationships.

Spending time in creches has the advantage of bonding with different person/s other than the mother, which may be looked at as the start of making the individual independent. But the frequent change in caregivers gives confusing messages to the subconscious. The more the changes in the number of caregivers involving less touch, the more the nervous system feels unstimulated. At the end of the day, the baby’s needs for safety are prime after feeding and cleaning has been done. Touch plays a major role in providing the baby, a sense of safety. The more the tender touch is available, the safer the baby feels. Sensorial satiation is what makes a child grow up to be a stable individual.

When a baby does not get sensorial satisfaction, then the baby starts to develop various problems, one of which is hyperactivity. In my own observations, a child who has had the kind of touch that is available to a child reared full time by a mother in India or in Nigeria, he or she is likely to be more stable emotionally. In this case the behaviour can be easily controlled because the nervous system has absorbed the sense of safety in the subconscious. The hyperactivity happens because the nervous system has not reached its level of satisfaction. Children in India are of lesser weight than a baby born in Western Europe. Yet they develop motor skills like crawling and walking and talking earlier than children in the Westren countries. My conclusion is that the sense of safety by touch by mother is the key to this difference. In India, in families in which the baby gets touch -experiences the whole day by family members, even if the mother may be working, motor skills are learnt earlier.

As the baby grows up to understand language, the next step is to teach the baby ways of life. A normal baby who feels well loved, will behave well and will not show any problem behaviour. Any reprimand by the parent, by a well bonded child, is taken seriously and obeyed. The more the child feels loved, the less are the chances of misbehaviour.Love is the best foundation for discipline.

When a child is to be reprimanded, it needs to be done immediately after an event and not ten minutes later. A child has a short memory span. So correction has to be immediate. This way the child can learn to associate the event with the consequences. It is important to let a child know what the expected conduct needs to be rather than giving out for undesirable behaviour.

Spanking or beating is not needed to correct a child. They are counter-productive. If you want a behaviour to discontinue, let the child know of its consequences. For example, if you do not want a toddler to go near a burning candle, then you have to hold the child’s hand and bring it to a safe distance from the flame, so that the child can feel the heat. Once a child knows the fire can burn, they will not go near the flame. Such experiences demand hard work and alertness on the part of a parent. But it is worth it if you want a healthy and well adjusted happy adult as a child.

Experience teaches a child. Words do not mean much, till they are associated with experience. In order for a child to learn, every mistake and its consequences have to be explained in simple language without going into too much details. And everything needs to be based on truth. If a child observes parents being untruthful in any area of life, no matter what you tell them about truth, they will learn to be untruthful.

Copyright Pradeep K Chadha 2006

The Bible has a lot to say about a lot of things, and among those topics is the very crucial subject of raising children. The Bible makes four key points on the subject, four statements that literally lay the foundation for good parenting.These are things you really must know as a parent–and they may very well surprise you!

The first admonition from the Bible tells parents that they should raise their children “in the way they should go.” In other words, parents should raise children with a view of how they should live as adults. Rather than focusing on the immediacy of their day-to-day experiences, parents should bring up children thinking about the kinds of men and women they should grow to be.

This means that children should be raised with values, but not the pop culture values or age-appropriate values, but real grown-up values. The Bible teaches throughout its pages what those values are: honesty, integrity, hard work balanced with appropriate rest and recreation, compassion, and a sense of fairness.

If you want your children to be adults who care for the poor and needy, speak out for the disenfranchised, and honor their commitments, don’t expect them to get all that the day they turn 18. Children-even little kids-should be raised with adult values.

The second thing the Bible says is that parents should tell their children about God. Many otherwise well-meaning Christian parents feel that they’re doing a good job by bringing their children to church regularly, taking them to Sunday school, or buying them books or other materials that help instruct them in the Bible. Those things are great and should be done. But the Bible says that parents-not teachers, not pastors, not friends-should tell their children about God and the things of God.

This brings up an important point that is often overlooked today. Parents have a unique privilege that no one else has. A parent is able to speak to his or her child in a way that no one else on earth can. A good and loving parent has an incredible ability to make an impression on a child’s mind. Regardless of what children say or how they seem to tune out, they do listen to their parents. In fact, most of us remember a lot of the heartfelt things our own parents told us.

Unfortunately, few parents bother to relay anything to their children about how they feel about God, the Bible, and their faith. Parents need to tell their children about the big things in life, not just ordinary day-to-day matters.

The next thing the Bible states about raising children is that they ought to be disciplined. The Bible recommends corporal punishment in this regard, but the admonition in Scripture is not so much how to punish the child, but that a child be punished for wrongdoing.

Nowadays people sometimes even hesitate to use those terms-I have even heard people say that children should get “consequences” for making “bad choices.” The Bible does not use that kind of sissy language, and it doesn’t mince words. It says that children ought to be disciplined, which means that breaking the rules or doing something bad requires punishment. Punishment should never harm the child, but the child should come to know what’s right, what’s wrong, and what happens when he or she does the wrong thing.

On a related note, the Bible also says that parents should not make a child crazy. Actually, the Bible uses the old-fashioned word of “vex.” Parents should not vex their children. Vex means to frustrate or make a child feel like he or she cannot do the right thing or can never please the parent. Children should grow up with clear rules and boundaries they understand, but they also need to live in an environment that gives them a lot of wiggle room to do things that won’t get them in any trouble.

This means that parents have to be consistent. The kind of parent who punishes a child for swearing on Monday, laughs off the same word on Tuesday, ignores it on Wednesday, and then punishes it on Thursday is the kind of parent who vexes his or her child. The rules are whimsical-the child cannot figure out from one day to the next what’s acceptable.

This statement also means that parents have to decide what’s right and wrong. This may not be easy to do in all too many homes today, where lines between right and wrong, good and bad, and acceptable and not acceptable are blurry and getting blurrier! Parents and other caregivers need to get on the same page to formulate the household rules. Children get vexed when the rules are blurry or not defined. Parents can make their children crazy when the children cannot reasonably predict how the adults in their lives will respond, particularly when the children start to test limits and put their toes over boundary lines.

Those are the four key points the Bible says about raising kids: give them adult values (train them up in the way they should go), tell them about God (parent’s can’t out-source this task), discipline them but don’t make them crazy, that is, be consistent and give them clear guidelines.

Before discussing the problems and circumstances that a single mother and her child will face in future, it is good to understand the term “single parent” or “sole parent” first.  Single parent can be a single mother raising her one or more children without the assistance of her children’s father or vice verse. Moreover, you will see the variation in the meaning of this term because of the religion and national laws differences about single parenthood. The reason for single parenthood might be a divorce, adoption surrogate motherhood, death of the spouse and so on.

As we know, mother is a main source in developing certain capabilities in her child like communication skills, social skills, social normal behaviors and is also responsible for his/her mental and physical growth. But these developments are made gradually and with the passage of time become noticeable when children start interacting with others

No doubt, there is no alternative of a mother in this world who can teach her children that what is right and what is wrong. She is a best source for building-independence in their children and is responsible to control the child’s behavior-disorders. Mother should point out positive and good qualities of her child at every stage of life so he/she can adopt good qualities and avoid bad ones. Moreover, you can find various personalities, who attained success & fame in their lives are raised by their mothers alone like: Mother Teresa, Tom Cruise, Bill Clinton and Bill Cosby.

Besides this, there is a perception that raising a boy is more difficult than a girl for a single mother, yes! It is true to some extent. Because boys tend to be more active than girls so  it is  important that arrangements for releasing their excessive-energy like sports is done at an early stage in their life. Emotional situations males respond in a different way than females it is important to keep the lines of communication very open, mothers need to handle the situation with patience in tricky manners. As a single mother, you are fulfilling both(father and mother) responsibilities at-once so you should give your boy the realistic perspective that there are all kind of families in this world, some are with a father and other are without a father. These tips will help her in developing her boy like any other boy who is rising with a father. Otherwise single mom will fail to raise her baby mentally, emotionally and physically normal and healthy. And as a result you can see a violent behavior in their personalities. It is also important to also have positive male role-models that can teach your son valuable lessons that are best come from a male point of view.

In short, day by day single mother and child families are increasing in numbers especially in western societies. But, the out come of single mother and child is mostly depending on the social network and the communication with-in her family. As a single mom is playing the role of father as well as of mother she needs to manage efficiently  multi tasking in every facet of life, performing not only the house hold duties, work and her children.With the help of great time management and a proper  schedule, she can manage every with greatest of ease, some times it is just more  challenging.

According to Wikipedia, mono parents are parents without partners in raising a child or children. Thus, a mono parent is one who raises his or her bud solely and lonely, spouseless. Illustrations on mono parents will be at variance from place to place. Each societal mannerism treats and classifies them to their accord.

Treatment of mono parents modify according to where they are put up. Mono parents in urban areas are dealt with in a more positive manner in contrast to those from rural areas. Mono parenting has become a widespread scenario in today’s lifestyle. But not all cultures receive this change in the way of living, with a positive outlook.

Mono parents- Their practicality

The mother or father is left to raise the bud, companionless, due to various causes and reasons. They are singled out due to reasons like annulment, mutual separation (break-up), one of them is imprisoned or has kicked the bucket.

The so called parent, who raises the bud, is not necessary to be blood related to that bud. The DNA affirmation does not really count to classify him or her as a mono parent.

Parenting singly is a mere option opted by the person, if the bud is not his or her organic child. Opting to raise another person’s bud is an aristocratic gesture. As per the latest research, mono parents should get hold of their bud either legally or by adopting or by getting pregnant, unnaturally, or by becoming the surrogate mother.

Thus, mono parenting is a personal option, depending on one’s own individuality. Bringing up a kid is a strenuous task and a costly affair, considering the present standard of living. Mono parenting might not always be successful.

In a few places, where the lifestyle of people is still passé, mono parents are regarded pariah. The reason is that, in those days, parenting children who are not born to them or raising a kid companionless, was considered as sin.

Mono parenting – Today’s Fashion

Latest reports, taken in US, states that, on normal standards, thirty percent of the kids are raises in households of mono parents.

Parents, who are single, are dominantly mothers. The impact of mono parenting is more dawned upon mothers who are singled out. But, mono parents in fatherly figures, are also on a rise. The male being a mono parent is a widespread scenario in Muslim dominated areas, due to the fact that they are yet to acknowledge the capability of a woman.

According to the 2002 poll taken in US, kids growing under the father’s in charge was around ten plus five percent of parenthood. But this data has increased one tenth, over the decade. Thus, its is inferred that in the 20th century, male gender shouldering the responsibility of raising a child was not prominent and such a scenario has changed adversely, as the lifestyle of people shifted.

Mono parenthood

Flow through the life, is what our living preaches us. Mono parenting has become a common gesture in our day to day life. Accept the change. Live the way you want. Mono parenting, a sin, has become passé. The kids raised parents are not seen indifferently now. In fact, present regulations are in favor of such parents and children and the kids are protected from close minded people, by these legislation.

Nowadays, mono parenthood has become a part and parcel of the societal mannerisms. In fact, mono parents are acknowledged and appreciated for their strength of will and aristocratic gesture.