The Children’s Center of TransylvaniaCounty
Best Interest of the Child - The Nurturing Parent Program
My name is Amanda and I am 24 years old. I was in and out of foster care for many years with frequent returns home in between. When I became pregnant I was very excited to have my very own baby to love and to love me.
After my child was born I soon realized that I didn’t have the faintest idea what it meant to nurture a child. My background was filled with yelling and hitting and often just being ignored. In a panic, I came to The Children’s Center for a one-on-one volunteer to gain some knowledge of the parenting process. My volunteer became a wonderful friend, as well as a support person, and using the Nurturing Parenting Program materials, I began to understand some of the terms I had been hearing about. My volunteer showed me how to use this information by actually using some of the techniques when we were all together. It was a strange idea to me that a parent does not need to spank a child to enforce discipline.
My son is now three and I am still in touch with my volunteer often. I learned that there is always something else to know as a child grows. Although I feel sad that I missed most of my childhood, I am thrilled that my own son will have a better life than I had. I may not be the perfect parent but I now understand concepts like empathy, independence, and appropriate expectations. Without the help of my volunteer, I would probably have raised my son the same way I was raised. Thank goodness that did not happen.