Prepare Tomorrow’s Parents Month is observed from Mother’s Day to Father’s Day each year. This year, it takes place from May 11 to 22. Its purpose is, as the name suggests, to prepare future parents and equip them with the skills to be empathetic and caring in the future. This month-long event encourages parents, teachers, and other adults to educate teens on the importance of good parenting skills. The end goal of each activity is to ensure that teens understand the implications of abuse, neglect, and family dysfunction on children and how they can be kind, effective, and prepared parents in the future.
History of Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month
Parenting refers to the “intricacies of raising a child,” and it can be done by any caretaker — whether it be biological parents, grandparents, step-parent, older sibling, or any other legal guardian. When a child lacks a legal guardian, the responsibility of parenting or child-rearing in this case, falls on the government. The word “parenting” entered the vocabulary of the masses only as recently as the 1970s. Before that, the common social norm was that a parent’s job is to simply have kids, not raise them. As a result, child-rearing practices have changed greatly over the course of history.
Eighteenth-century European conventions often saw infant children being sent away to the countryside to live with a wet nurse, who would then be in charge of caring for the child in exchange for money. This practice was not limited to just the rich. Even wet nurses would send their children away to poorer wet nurses. Sometimes, very young girls would pose as wet nurses and feed the children in their care a mixture of flour and water instead of milk.
Child-rearing practices got odder still. During Medieval times, children were swaddled like mummies so that they would “assume human form.” The former also prevented children from moving around due to the sheet immobilization. Sometimes, these children were nosed into fires by livestock passing by whilst their parents tended to their business.
Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month timeline
Infanticide is a common practice in the ancient world.
Babies are swaddled like mummies to achieve human form.
Children are sent to be raised by wet nurses in the countryside.
The word ‘parenting’ becomes a part of common vocabulary.
Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month FAQs
What does parenting mean?
Parenting can be defined as “ the process of raising children and providing them with protection and care in order to ensure their healthy development into adulthood.”
What is an abusive childhood?
An abusive childhood refers to “any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker, which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation.”
What does neglect do to a child?
Neglect has been found to disrupt cognitive and executive functions, stress response systems, and the functioning of the brain.
How to Observe Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month
Learn about the necessary topics to talk about
Want to contribute to Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month? Learn about the topics you need to be covering in conversations or discussions.
Talk about it on social media
Help raise awareness about Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month. Talk about the month-long event along with its subject matter on social media.
Tell the importance of empathy
Young individuals are quite impressionable. Help them understand the importance of kindness and empathy as early as now.
5 Interesting Facts About Parenting
National differences
It is said that Danish, German, and Japanese babies tend to cry the least, while British, Canadian, and Italian babies tend to cry the most.
Greek traditions
Per a Greek tradition, parents are expected to spit at a baby thrice to ward off evil spirits.
Lotus births
A “lotus birth” refers to a phenomenon when the umbilical cord is left uncut and attached to the placenta for a minimum of three days.
The dangers of hugging
In the 1960s, an American pediatrician proclaimed that hugging or cuddling a child would turn them into a Socialist.
Baby cages
In the early 20th century, parents would hang baby cages outside their windows in an attempt to provide them with more fresh air and sunlight.
Why Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month is Important
It encourages future planning
The idea behind Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month is to look ahead. It helps to ensure that the youth are equipped with the skills to become good parents.
It highlights the importance of parenting
The way a child is parented deeply impacts their personality as well as their future. Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month highlights that very well.
It aims to mitigate child abuse and neglect
Facing abuse and neglect can traumatize any human being, moreso a child. Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month attempts to prevent that by fostering a future generation of kind and nurturing parents.
Prepare Tomorrow's Parents Month dates
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | May 8 | Sunday |
| 2023 | May 14 | Sunday |
| 2024 | May 12 | Sunday |
| 2025 | May 11 | Sunday |
| 2026 | May 10 | Sunday |
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