1.3 Cost and Benefits of Parenthood

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1. 3 The costs and benefits of parenthood

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Real World
Parenting
Lesson 1.3

The Costs and Benefits

of Parenthood

Lesson Objectives:
-Identify some of the rewarding aspects of being a parent
-Describe the impact of parental stress and the importance of parental self-care
-Identify the financial considerations of becoming a parent
-The importance of financial literacy and budgeting

Open Ended

What are you MOST looking forward to as a parent? (Whether you are currently a parent or not.)

Poll

Which do you think is one of the hardest parts of parenthood?

• They are constantly having to learn about all the different stages of child development

• Less time for oneself

• More household chores and responsibilities

• Financial stress

For sure.
Being a parent is CHALLENGING and
SUPER REWARDING.

The Benefits of

Parenthood—Joys &

Challenges

•Parenting offers an opportunity to face new challenges and
overcome them. It also helps teach you new skills and adapt
old ones.

•Overcoming obstacles that arise and watching a child succeed
is a rewarding experience for any parent. However, parenting
does require hard work and focus.

•You can expect many positive experiences as a parent. Many
parents create deep bonds with their children and other family
members. They share past family traditions with their
children and also create new ones. Many parents also find
parenthood to be a truly rewarding experience that allows
them to grow personally. They learn new skills as they
support their children's cognitive and emotional
development.

•Examples: Parents may grow personally when they learn
new skills to support their children. If the child is interested in
video games, playing with them can improve your reflexes.

Hotspot

Which box includes benefits of being a parent? Click on it.

Expectations Throughout Parenthood

•Being a parent can place different degrees of mental and financial stress on you,
especially if you are a first-time parent.

•Parenting comes with a variety of experiences that you may not expect, and each
parent may have a different view of the most difficult ones to overcome.

1.Many stages of child development: One experience of parenthood is
adapting to the different stages of development that children go through.
The needs of a toddler vary greatly from those of a teenager. You can
prepare for these later stages of development before your children reach
them by learning from parents of children older than yours and using the
strategies presented later in this course.

2.Less time for yourself: Parenthood is a responsibility that will require you
to always be conscious of what your child is doing. This is especially true
for younger children and toddlers, who need constant parental supervision
and support. You may have less time to dedicate to yourself due to the
time commitment of parenthood.

3.More household chores and responsibilities: Parenthood often leads to
increased responsibilities at home. You may spend more time cooking,
cleaning, and organizing your home. These tasks can be demanding for
parents with younger children who cannot care for their needs.

4.Financial stress: Parenthood also comes with the additional financial
requirements of raising a child. Some parents may feel financial strain due
to child care, health care, educational supplies, food, and clothing.

Match

Match each scenario with the correct symptom of parental burnout.

• Alyson feels both physically and mentally fatigued from the demands of parenting her two young children and is concerned she cannot keep up with the demands.

• Peyton feels as if she is unable to connect with her daughter due to the stress of parenting and it is as if she is on on autopilot during the day.

• Anthony is concerned that he is losing confidence in his ability to parent and no longer has a sense of enjoyment or satisfaction from being a parent.

• Thomas is beginning to feel as if becoming a parent has diminished part of his self-identity as he no longer has time to engage in his favorite hobbies, such as biking and painting

Parental exhaustion

Emotionally distant

Loss of interest

Contrasting past and current self

• Parental exhaustion

• Emotionally distant

• Loss of interest

• Contrasting past and current self

Open Ended

What advice would you give to ANY of the parents in the previous situations?

• While parenthood can be fun and exciting, like helping your child style their hair, it can also come with pressure in supporting and providing for a child. 

• This feeling of pressure is a distinct type of stress referred to as parental stress. Parental stress is related to a parent's perception that the demands of parenthood are greater than their ability to fulfill them. 

When this stress becomes too much, it can also lead to parental burnout. This is characterized by feelings of complete exhaustion, distancing yourself emotionally from your child, and feeling that you have failed as a parent.

Open Ended

When helps you reset? (For example, what do you do when you are feeling overwhelmed?)

Preventing Parental Burnout

•It is important to understand how to balance being a parent and caring for
your needs. Parents experience parental burnout for various reasons.

•Focusing on self-care and time for your interests is an important aspect of
parenthood. Some ideas include:

1.time alone: Being a parent or a caregiver involves spending a lot of time
with family members, which can lead to stress. Taking time alone can help
you reflect on the day's events, parental duties, and personal needs.

2.time-outs: time-outs are short breaks that parents take when feeling
overwhelmed with emotions. It helps prevent parents or caregivers from
directing their frustration toward their children.

3.shared responsibility: Parental burnout can also be prevented by setting
limits for children and teaching them to take care of their own needs. This
can be done by teaching children to clean up after playtime.

4.date night/parent's day out: scheduling time away from children is
important for parents. This allows them to experience time away from
parental responsibilities and is key to reducing parental stress. Parents or
caregivers should schedule leisure activities with their friends and
members of their support system or allow themselves to spend time
together in a relaxing setting.

Poll

How many conversations did your parents have with you about financial management?

• ALL the time. It's a topic we talk about a lot.

• We talk regularly about it.

• A little bit.

• Almost never to never.

The Financial
Considerations of
Parenthood

•The United States Department of
Agriculture found that the average
American family can expect to spend
roughly a quarter of a million dollars on a
child by the time they reach adulthood.

•A major cost factor for many new parents
is childcare. Children, especially young
children, need supervision, and their
needs are taken care of throughout the
day. This can be hard for parents who
need to work to be able to provide for
their families financially.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following statements BEST describes the aspects of healthcare required for raising a child?

• A) This involves the ways in which you will need to support the academic growth of your child as they grow older

• B) This involves the clothing and footwear you will buy your child as they physically grow older

• C) This involves the food you will need to purchase for your child until they can live independently and provide for themselves

• D) This involves the medical checkups and emergencies that you will need to pay for as your children grows older

The Importance of Financial Literacy

•An important way you can prepare for the financial needs of
parenthood is to make sure that you receive training and
education in financial literacy.

•This refers to a person's ability to develop financial skills and
understand how to effectively manage personal finances, invest
for the future, and reach financial goals.

•A skill that is an important part of financial literacy is budgeting.
This is a person's ability to outline the amount of money they can
spend over a given time on specific needs.

•To maintain good financial health it is important to identify your
financial situation, set goals, and track spending. Parents can make
better financial decisions by defining financial goals and budgeting

oExample: Meeting with a financial expert can help parents
develop budgeting strategies and attain long-term
financial goals.

Multiple Choice

Which of the following statements BEST defines the concept of budgeting?

• A) The ability to invest time and reach long term emotional goals

• B) The ability to organize the amount of money needed over a specific period

• C) The ability to manage all aspects of children

• D) The ability to identify yourself

Summary

In this lesson, you learned:

o the rewarding aspects of being a

parent;

o the potential personal costs of

becoming a parent;

o the financial considerations of

becoming a parent; and

o the importance of financial literacy

and budgeting.

o Wednesday, 9/11/24, you will learn

about diverse parenting styles.

o Ticket out...

Multiple Choice

Ticket out of the door: Which of the following benefits of parenthood is MOST ASSOCIATED with parents sharing their unique family history with their children?

• A) Family bonds

• B) Rewarding experience

• C) Personal growth

• D) Family traditions