Knowing The Needs of Children

Knowing the needs of children is an essential part of parenting skills. For a child to grow up into a mature individual, his day-to-day needs must be adequately met. Children's needs are interconnected and interdependent in a complex and continuous way. This means that their physical, emotional and moral needs must be sufficiently and simultaneously met for their total wellbeing. This principle implies that a child's needs cannot be placed in cold storage while parents busy themselves acquiring wealth. A child's need for love and security cannot wait till the parents are well off. It has to be met right from birth onwards. An important characteristic of the child's needs is that they must be met in the here and now. Children cannot wait for the parents to acquire the 5 Cs of cash, credit cards, car, country clubs and condominium. Obviously parents also have material needs, but theirs can usually wait without harm to themselves.