What Parenthood Means

Parenthood Brings Change New Responsibilities Changes in lifestyle Emotional adjustments Changes in relationships Changes at work Rewards of parenting

Activity Brainstorming new responsibilities.

New Responsibilities Raising a child is a lifelong commitment. A child has physical needs, emotional needs, financial support, love, and guidance. The responsibility of providing these things for another, helpless person can be overwhelming.

Changes in Lifestyle There are major adjustments to a new parent’s daily life. Caring for a newborn takes a huge amount of energy. Why? They need to be fed every few hours, both day and night. Children limit a parent’s personal freedom. Preparing for these changes in advance can improve a couple’s ability to adjust.

Emotional Adjustments New parents often find themselves with conflicting emotions. There is the fear of not being a good parent. Frustration at the loss of personal freedom and the addition of new responsibilities. Worry over money matters.

Changes in Relationships First-time parents often struggle to adjust to the new baby and maintain a healthy romantic relationship. Fighting and bickering increases. Having patience and being understanding can reduce the likelihood of frustration boiling over into anger.

Changes in Relationships cont. Relationships between new parents and their parents change. Sometimes new grandparents want to spend too much time with their new grandchild. Or the grandparents want to parent their grandchild. These can lead to conflict.

Discussion What suggestions can you give Lisa to cope with these stresses? How would you handle the situation of one person wanting to have a child but the other not?

Activity Role play Three people per group New Mother New Father Family Life Educator Develop a skit that relates to a real life problem new parents would have adjusting to their newborn. Perform the skit in front of class.

Changes at Work Having children impacts your career/job. Some working women quit their jobs or cut back on their hours to care for their child. This is also true for some men. People that used to work overtime or on weekends may be less willing or able to put in those extra hours.

Activity Assuming a baby is fed every three hours and each feeding lasts for 45 minutes, how much time is spent feeding the baby each day? Each week? Would you consider parenting a full time job?

Changes at Work At the same time, some companies have policies that help working parents. What are some of these policies? How might companies be more helpful to parents? What might they provide?

Rewards of Parenting By helping children discover the world, parents can see it with new eyes themselves. Children can enrich an already strong marriage. Raising children can also give a parent a sense of accomplishment.

Activity Think- pair share