The process of raising children and educating them from birth till they reach adulthood and even beyond at times falls under the domain of parenting. Sometimes, parents are unable or unwilling to provide such care and the care is thus entrusted to close relatives such as older siblings, uncles and aunts or grandparents. There are also cases when it is performed by adoptive parents, foster parents as well as institutions and even godparents.

Physical, Social and Moral Development of the Child

Parenting includes providing physical care, reliable shelter, education, medical care, physical safety as well as nourishment. There is also a social aspect which entails providing emotional support, love, play and physical touch as well as social skills and etiquette. The child needs to also be taught ethics and value systems and its moral and spiritual development must also be adequately addressed.

Parenting also involves a financial cost in terms of money spent in child support by custodial or non-custodial parents or by the state, and sometimes, insurance coverage is required to pay for the child's education. There are many different methods of parenting that utilize rewards, praise, as well as discipline to control the child's behavior.

Before the Birth

There is also prenatal parenting in which, during pregnancy; the unborn child is affected by decisions of the parents such as lifestyle choices. For instance, the health and diet decisions of the mother can impact the unborn child both positively and negatively. Parenting actually begins when the mother nurtures the child before actual birth, and according to scientific evidence, it is believed that from the sixth month and maybe earlier, the unborn baby can hear, feel, sense as well as be aware of its surroundings. Such evidence certainly leads one to conclude that parenting begins prior to birth.

There are several stages which begin with prenatal parenting and continue during the different life stages of the growth of the child including infancy, toddler, preschooler, elementary and middle school years, adolescence, young adults and finally, adulthood.

Faith

In addition, there is Christian parenting that is popular among Evangelicals as well as fundamentalists. Christian parents like to apply biblical principles, and some models are strict and authoritarian while others may be 'grace-based' and share methods that are advocated in attachment and positive parenting theories.

Regardless of who is the primary caregiver and what 'method' he follows, parenting is a natural process with love and compassion being the only tow pre-requisites.