Parenting History

Parenthood Definition

• A stage of life that involves the care and nurture of children; the job of raising children including meeting the needs of children before and after they are born and nurturing, teaching and guiding children throughout the year.

Child Care in the Past

• A lot of people lived in rural areas, women worked at home for the good of the family.

• As they did their chores, they took care of their children.

Whole family helped

• Grandparents would help also with children raising

• Older boys and girls would help take care of their siblings

• Sometimes, would hire a girl to help too• Local school would start at age 5

Expectations

• Parents were stricter with rules• Parents expected children to

obey rules• “speak only when spoken too”• Religion had big influence on

expectations• Parents learned how to parent

from their parents

Parent magazines

• 1800s saw parenting become more public with magazines

• Issues discussed: personal waste, cleanliness, vaccinations, prevention of illnesses etc

• 1800-early 1900s –giving advice became the norm

Today

• Children no longer work from dawn till dusk• Spend more time playing then doing chores• School is mandatory now• Achieve adult status later in life