Balance your child in a teeter-totter world

There are two essential elements in the process of child-raising:
Nurture,
and Nature.

Women are uniquely equipped (whether by God or by evolution is for you to decide) to provide the nurture component, which births the child and teaches the child that he/she is loved.

Men are uniquely equipped (whether by God or by evolution is for you to decide) to provide the nature component, which initiates the birth, and subsequently teaches the child that he/she is not loved, and that the world doesn’t give a dam about (you), and you better find a way to provide for yourself.

These two put together–motherhood and fatherhood–equip the young person adequately for life in a hostile world.

Can a single parent do a great job at raising the child?
Absolutely, yes.

But the dual administration of those two balancing principles–nurture and nature–has to come from somewhere.
That’s why somebody said it takes a village to raise a child.

If you’re a single mom, get linked up with a functional community so your child can obtain the nature  balance that you alone cannot provide.
If you’re a single dad, get linked up with a functional community so your child can obtain the nurture balance that you alone cannot provide.

Please excuse my quaint perspective on this matter, but that’s what this father has noticed over the years.

Tags: nurture and nature, parenting