Parental Support: A Pillar for Family Flourishing

Being a parent is a demanding, challenge-filled adventure, requiring essential functions for a child's development. This is why parenting support services, like those offered by A.D.E.L.F.E (Adoption et Droits des Enfants pour une Liaison Familiale et Équitable.), have become crucial for the well-being of children and the entire family.

Every era brings its own set of challenges for parents. Today, between the pressure to "do everything right" and isolation, stress is palpable. Fear of making mistakes, guilt, and anxiety about not being good enough are legitimate emotions. It is in these moments of understandable fragility that parental support makes all the difference. It does not provide ready-made answers, but offers a space where parents can be listened to, acknowledged, and supported. This conviction fuels A.D.E.L.F.E (Adoption et Droits des Enfants pour une Liaison Familiale et Équitable.)'s programs.

What is Parenting? A Multifaceted Definition

Parenting can be defined as the set of functions, responsibilities, and competencies a person exercises in caring for a child, contributing to their physical, emotional, social, and cognitive development. It is not limited to biology but is built through relationships and educational choices. Parenting includes:

• Biological: related to physical motherhood and fatherhood.
• Affective and relational: the ability to create a stable, secure, and loving bond with the child.
• Educational: the guiding role in the child's growth.
• Social and cultural: helping the child integrate into society.

Parenting Styles and Functions: Understanding to Act Better

Parenting styles describe how a parent interacts with their child (emotional warmth and educational control). Four main styles have been identified:

• Authoritative: High warmth and high control (promotes autonomy and self-esteem).
• Authoritarian: Lack of warmth and high control (can generate insecurity).
• Permissive: High warmth and low control (difficulty managing frustration).
• Neglectful: Low emotional and normative involvement (most dysfunctional).

Parental functions (Gianluigi Visentini) detail what a parent does to support their child's development in various dimensions:

• Protective: ensuring physical and emotional safety.
• Affective: building a stable and harmonious bond.
• Regulating: helping the child manage internal states.
• Normative: setting clear and age-appropriate limits.
• Predictive: anticipating the child's future needs.
• Representative: seeing the child as a distinct individual.
• Meaningful: helping the child make sense of experiences.
• Ghost: integrating the real child with the imagined child.

Understanding these interactions is essential to provide appropriate support to parents.

My Adoption Site's Commitment to Parenting Support

Supporting parenting means investing directly in the health and stability of children. Every parent, regardless of their history, can experience moments of fatigue or loneliness when facing educational challenges. This is why parental support is recognized as a key intervention in promoting child well-being. It's about creating spaces for listening, discussion, and support where families can rediscover their resources.

At My Adoption Site, we work daily to achieve this through targeted interventions rooted in local communities. Here are some examples of our actions:

• Parental Listening Centers: Offer a place for listening and support for various difficulties.
• School-Family Meetings: Facilitate exchanges to prevent learning and relational difficulties.
• Thematic Workshops: On child development, communication, emotional management.
• Socialization Spaces: Playful and educational spaces for children (0-5 years) and parents.
• Individual and After-School Support: For children with specific needs or to strengthen parent-child relationships and academic support.

In short, supporting parents in their journey means creating stronger conditions for every child to grow up feeling welcomed, supported, and recognized.