The process of caring for and raising a child from infancy to adulthood, including providing physical needs, emotional support, and guidance. It encompasses all activities involved in promoting a child's physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development.
From parent (from Latin parēns, meaning 'one who brings forth') + -ing suffix. The term as a formal concept emerged in the mid-20th century as child-rearing became studied scientifically. Earlier cultures simply viewed it as natural family duty rather than a specialized skill requiring study.
Parenting is perhaps the only job where you're simultaneously trying to work yourself out of employment - the goal is to raise someone who no longer needs you. Remarkably, despite being humanity's most important task, it's one of the few roles we undertake with no formal training, relying instead on instinct, imitation, and improvisation.
Historically, 'parenting' was gendered toward motherhood, with fathering treated as secondary or optional. Language defaulted childcare responsibility to women while men were credited as 'helping.'
Use 'parenting' and 'parent' as genuinely gender-neutral terms; recognize that parenting roles vary across gender, family structure, and culture.
["caregiving","guardianship"]
Feminist language work established 'parenting' as inclusive; contemporary recognition of diverse parental roles reflects women's insistence on equal parental responsibility.
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