The role of parents

Parents' role in early childhood appears to be particularly important, especially in terms of anticipating children's changes (Levendosky & Graham-Bermann 383). The authority term "responsible parenting" or "positive parenting" is used to refer to a variety of parental behaviors, such as warmth and sensitivity, proactive environment formation, limit setting, and contingency-based reinforcement (Waller 302). Parent-child relationships, as well as the child's perception of those relationships, play an important role in a child's behavioral development. Negative parenting, on the other hand, reflects a very different scenario in which parents act as if they are not ready to be parents. For example, breastfeeding is recommended as the optimal feeding method for the first six months, and after introducing solids foods it should continue for a minimum of one year. Who would imagine a woman who has delivered five days ago would refuse to take a well-prepared soup to enable her breastfeed her child well as we here from the story of a sheltered woman.

Cinderella Story

Parents with authority create a supportive and structured environment for their child thus making them happy and affectionate (Waller 304). An increase in positive parenting result in the reduction of child conduct problems, prove to the potential fundamental influence of these parenting strategies for child outcomes. The dying mother in the story of Cinderella (Jacob & Grimm 119) the dying mother of a wealthy man tell her only daughter to remain sincere and good and she will be protected by God always, and she promise to look down on her from heaven and be near her. The girl used to go at her mother grave every day and she kept her late mother words and remained pious and good. It did take long for Cinderella father to marry another woman who came with two beautiful girls who were evil and dark heartened.

After a while, the two sisters started mistreating, insulting, shouting and laughing to their poor stepchild even to the extent of making her do hard work from morning until evening and wake up before daybreak to carry water, make fire, cook and wash. They did all this to hurt her. The bitter part of this story is that the parents did nothing about it and to make the matter worse the stepmother supported her two girls. You can imagine in the evening after Cinderella working herself weary there was no bed for her and instead, she had to sleep by the hearth in the ashes and because she always looked dusty and dirty the two step sisters nicknamed her Cinderella (Jacob & Grimm 120). Despite going through difficulties, Cinderella did not stop to pray under a tree in her mother’s grave. God always answered her prayers and provided her with everything she wanted. She managed to get gold and silver dress, slippers embroidered with silk and silver and attended a festival at the king’s castle. Cinderella is the one who was chosen by the prince to be his bride and got married. The two step-sisters came wanting to gain favor with Cinderella and share her good fortune, but for their wickedness and falsehood, they were punished with blindness as long as they lived (Jacob & Grimm 125).

A Sheltered Woman Story

In the story of a sheltered woman, we have Auntie Mei who had prepared a bowl of soup simmered it all morning and thickened it to a milky white which is the best recipe for the breast-feeding mother. Despite her efforts, Chanel who is the mother of the child when she is told to take it she asked why she should eat for him. When Auntie Mei in laughter as Chanel where she thinks the milk to breastfeed the baby will come from, she arrogantly replies that she is not a cow. Chanel knew that there was an option of preparing a formula for the baby to drink but was forgeting the importance of breastfeeding for the first six months when the baby is born. Auntie Mei even wonders Chanel was fit enough to be a mother as she is skinny after five days since she delivered and she does not want to eat so as to breastfeed the baby well. What if she told to breastfeed for a minimum of one year which is a recommendation as it supports healthy growth and also has immunological properties that give first protection from diseases, and is creating a lower risk of child morbidity and mortality. Breastfeeding affords a small, yet consistent, protective effect against obesity.

When Auntie Mei met Chanel and her husband she did not like them, unlike most expectant parents they looked distracted and asked few questions before offering her the job and entrusted their baby to a stranger which shows they were not ready enough to become parents. Chanel is disappointed with her husband that he cannot take a few days off to help her and asked what right he has to leave her alone with his son. Surprisingly, the husband is getting tired of changing the baby diapers and said that he could do this anymore, but the nanny reminds him that the child is his and he is a father to that child. Does have to be reminded for sure? It is their responsibility as parent to nurse the baby and it does not matter how many times. Chanel did not trust her husband because when he emailed her and told her that he had to stay for another ten days, she said he is sleeping with a woman or more than one. The reason why Chanel got pregnant was meant to punish her father who had had sex with her college classmate; as a result Chanel mother slept with an older married man to offend her husband. As a result, Chanel slept with a man who like her father had cheated on his wife but realized he had no choice but to marry her as Chanel father had enough connections to destroy his business. Everything happens because the parent of Chanel did not show good parental behavior. Auntie Mei when she asked Chanel what her action would make her mother feel she replied that a woman who could not keep the heart of her man was not a good model for a daughter.

Now Chanel is married to an irresponsible old man as she states, they were blessed with a child whom they are not interested in taking care. The nanny they have employed is being mistreated by Chanel as she uses offensive words towards her despite her effort to take care of their child. She is wondering who is going to protect her and not the child who was as defenseless as the other one hundred and thirty-one babies, from whom, though his parents, who had no place for him in their hearts.

Contrast between Irresponsible Parent and Responsible Parent

In one story we Chanel and her husband who have been blessed with a child and they do not have a place for him in their hearts. In the other story we have step mother and father to Cinderella who does not want to take care of her after passing away of her mother. Cinderella late mother taught her how to be responsible, sincere and prayerful like she was before she died and this helped her in her life despite the difficulties she encountered. Chanel father was promiscuous as she cheated on his wife and slept with his daughter college classmate thus showing a terrible example to his daughter. The mother to Chanel was not a good role model to her as she also slept with an older man as an act of revenge. Their child did the same and got pregnant with a friend to his father so as to punish her dad. This shows a bad parental behavior by the parents to their child, and the child ends up being immoral too.

Auntie Mei did not have children, but she treated Chanel child as if she was her own. Most of the time Chanel treated Auntie Mei badly, but she stayed because she had that love of a mother thus portraying a good parental behavior. This teaches us that being motherly does not mean you need to have children, but it is what come from the heart. Auntie Mei took care of one hundred and thirty-one babies, and she did all this not because he was being paid but she knew what breastfeeding mothers and children need most at their early stage. In the two stories it come out clearly that we have responsible and irresponsible parents and the outcomes are different in every relationship.

Conclusion

Spiritual life in parenting is important when bringing up children. It is good to teach your kids how to pray and to be sincere at all times. Cinderella did not give up in life because she believed that her mother was looking after her even after she died. She believed in prayers even when things were impossible for instance when she was given a lot of work do by her step mother she completed it even within a shorter period than she was expected because she trusted in God. Another good example is when she was not around to go to a king’s festival castle because she was dirty and did not have right clothes to wear. Through her prayers, she managed to get the most beautiful and expensive clothes and slippers even her step mother and step sister could not recognize her.

Cinderella who was hated and mistreated so much end up getting a fortune which even the step-sisters could have enjoyed if they treated her well. But my question is who was wrong, the step sisters or their parents? Of course, it is very clear from the story “it is their parents.” They should have been a good example right from the time they noticed that the step sisters were mistreating Cinderella but instead, they supported that, and this make the two sisters regret when they saw their step sister succeed in life. Parents to Chanel too should have been a good model to her to make her a good parent.

When we compare and contrast the two stories, it comes out clear that parent-child relationship consists of behaviors, feelings, and expectations that are distinctive to parent and child. The link comprises the full extent of a child’s development. Many different relationships, people form over the course of the lifespan, the relationship between parent and child is among the most crucial. Also, the parental self-confidence is an important indicator of parental competence. I, therefore, say that the parents to Cinderella should have protected her from her step sisters and this could have taken away their regrets and suffering in the end. Let parents not wait until it is too late for them to guide their children.

Every child would like to live in a family where he or she is loved right from the beginning, and this starts with good breastfeeding. If one parent passes on, the one who is left should feel that gap. Most of the times marry another partner when the first wife or husband dies, but the step mother or step father should love all the children equally to avoid regrets in future or hatred among the children. Lastly, let teach our children to pray. Prayer works a miracle as we have seen in the story of Cinderella. Your child may not be undergoing difficulties now maybe in future he may be in a situation just as that of Cinderella and he or she may need help. When parents have good parental behavior, there is no doubt their children will also have good behavior and the chain continues, that is, they will teach the same to their children too, and we find ourselves living in a healthy society where children love each other and respect one another.













Works Cited

Levendosky, Alytia A., and Sandra A. Graham-Bermann. "The moderating effects of parenting stress on children's adjustment in woman-abusing families." Journal of interpersonal violence 13.3 (1998): 383-397.

Waller, Rebecca, et al. "Early parental positive behavior support and childhood adjustment: addressing enduring questions with new methods." Social Development 24.2 (2015): 304-322.

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, "Aschenputtel," Kinder- und Hausmärchen [Children's and Household Tales -- Grimms' Fairy Tales], 7th edition (Göttingen: Verlag der Dieterichschen Buchhandlung, 1857), no. 21, pp. 119-26.