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| Doing Life Together |
In many developing countries
around the world, parents have more than eighteen years to train and take their kids
from total dependence stage to relative independence. But that is not the case
in the most western countries; particularly, in the United Estate we parents have eighteen years to take our kids from the
state of total dependence to a state of relative independence. In functional and purposeful
families, mom, dad, aunts, uncles and- grandparents recognize and readily
accept this responsibility of training. This intentional
parenting process typically takes more time, energy and prayer than just verbal
instruction. For instance, telling a child how to do something is easier and
less time consuming than showing the child on how to actually perform the task,
observing his or her behavior, and making further recommendations for
improvement. Experts says, this process of training involves not only training
in certain skills, such as reading, writing, bathing, and riding a bicycle, but
it also involves teaching the child how to respond to such emotions as fear,
anger, and disappointment. Some experts also mention It also involves character
development with an emphasis on such fundamental values as honesty, and work
ethic, and courage. In the Caribbean island, parents are very big on
intentional teaching, because of these many great values. Because they know if
such work is demanding for parents, its rewards must also be countless. Most Caribbean
parents count on their kids to care for them in the future, so the payoff is in
the quality of life the child lives, and the side benefit is that the child’s
training positively affects the society at large.
