Positive Parenting

Author: Prim K. Tumuramye Forty years sounded like a century back then. This year (Feb 5, 2024), I made four decades on earth and how grateful I feel. I am filled with gratitude for the journey so far trodden, through the different seasons of my life. Looking back, I can only be grateful. Born to and singlehandedly raised by a single mother, amidst great limitation yet unimaginable contentment, many a times the future looked bleak. Poverty, nowadays politely referred to as humble background robs one of choice. That is what defined my childhood. Yet, my mother dared to dream, against all odds. When ends refused to meet, mother put the chalk down, left a would be decent primary school teaching career, hitting the trenches as an amateur petty trader. Her life took another twist – mockery, lack and the hustles of searching for daily bread. And that is the life I would grow up into.  Mother seemed never undeterred by the prevailing circumstances. She had a strange confidence that everything

By Dickson Tumuramye Absentee fathers, who can also be referred to as fathers who are not actively involved in their children's lives, often leave a father-figure gap in their children’s lives. This leaves children to live like ‘orphans’ even when their fathers are still alive. Absent fathers are those that much as they under the same roof as their children, they are not so concerned about how their children are. Some may provide all basic needs but never have time to interact with their children. Others stopped at either the time they impregnated the mothers or at birth or along the way to be active in their children’s lives. You know better how much you are active daily in your children’s lives or when you last interacted with them including their mother. The absent fathers often face criticism and judgment from mothers, children, and society. Whatever reasons that forced you to be very absent, it is important to remember certain key points concerning your child(ren). Cra

By Dickson Tumuramye The Ministry of Education released both Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) and Universal Certificate of Education (UCE) results recently. We had stories of children who did not perform well and decided to cause harm to themselves. While others were celebrated by their parents, I am sure some were being condemned for their poor performance and possibly reminded about their past performance and actions or were judged in all possible manner. Some of these children may have been best performers at school but the unexpected befell them. The experience of failure can be torturous for children, especially when it is compounded by past mistakes and judgments. As children navigate the complexities of growing up, they may find themselves entangled in wayward behavior and regrettable choices. It is a painful truth that some may ignore the advice of parents, teachers, and elders, leading to undesirable outcomes. In such situations, parents must support their children in

  By Dickson Tumuramye In this modern age, blending families are increasingly becoming a norm. We no longer hear so many marriages of widow inheritance by one of her brothers-in-law after the death of her husband. We are also seeing people leaving one marriage with their children and getting married into another marriage. Blending families also known as stepfamilies happen when you and your new partner make a life together with the children from one or both of your previous relationships. Blending families involves integrating individuals with different backgrounds and experiences. They also involve unique new family dynamics, cultural considerations and sensitivities. I have seen remarriages work among my friends who are even Christians and they are living happily than when they were single parents. Some of these families have been very successful in integrating while others have failed or struggled especially where children can’t be tolerant to each other. Blending families c