Positive Parenting

By Dickson Tumuramye Public speaking is a vital skill that everyone should master. In this digital generation, you can’t afford to raise a child who can’t ably express him/herself. Gone are the days when such skills were not important. But these days with a lot of exposure, social media engagements, and virtual conferences, a generation where schools no longer select leaders but children campaign even to be a class monitors, schools and churches have a lot of activities that involve them, among others, your child/ren need to be on top of the game. Public speaking is not only a challenge for children but also for adults. There are some old people that even giving a prayer in a small meeting is a hassle. Public speaking promotes skills like communication, presentation, self-confidence, leadership, self-esteem, negotiation, networking, and interpersonal and reduces the chances of your child being bullied by other children/adults. It has now become a career for some people and th...

By Dickson Tumuramye Every marriage prospers well when a couple lives together without anything separating them at any moment. But certain circumstances may be beyond their control and they end up staying apart for some time. The common reason for this may be a far way job, career advancement, and health issues, among others. Whatever the reason for it, it leaves one feeling lonely and physically missing the partner. It can be challenging if a couple is not in touch. Out of this, some may end up in infidelity, as we have heard about such circumstances happening. But if well managed, the marriage relationship may remain flourishing. One of my friends experiencing it told me that long-distance  marriages are indeed a very great challenge for both  spous es. This creates a gap that may never be easy to fill. It affects your relationship and that of the children if you have any.  She added that with e ach passing day; the gap grows bigger.  It also affects  a great ...

 By Dickson Tumuramye It is so common to start a conversation about another person in the presence of your children. This can even be a phone rumor/gossip that your children are hearing. It is worse when this is about your spouse or relative. You go on and undress your partner when children are listening to how your husband/wife has become useless, stupid, irresponsible, how you fight every day, and how he is very mean, among other words. You don’t care that children are paying attention, not bothered about what the information they are consuming and how it affects them.  Doing it in their hearing about that person they know affects them and creates much bitterness, anger, hatred, and suspicion, and leaves children in jeopardy. You have instilled a spirit of all the above and they live with a different picture of that person, including losing trust in him/her. Moreover, all you are saying may be hearsay; when the truth is later revealed that it was false, your children will ne...

By Dickson Tumuramye Every parent's desire is to see his/her child grow into a successful man/woman. We all wish to be wealthy as well as our children. This is a reason why we work so hard to save and invest for the future. But few parents become intentional in teaching their children how to make and manage money from childhood. We only focus on academic excellence and we think that if children are exposed to money when young, they will be spoilt. Some young children learn how to count money in class, yet we have money in our pockets daily. We don’t think it is so important to help a child distinguish the different physical currencies. We only wait when they are old. We can start this practice when every child is very young and keep teaching them until they are totally financially independent. It all starts with teaching them to know the value of money and how we make money. Let them know that money is earned not given freely. Even a cash gift is money earned for a reason. A person...

By Dickson Tumuramye It is well known that some people don’t prepare enough for retirement. They work so hard and give it all to their employers and businesses. Some people never even have time to go on leave or days - off. Even when they are given their 30 days’ leave, they prefer to remain in the office working. Some people work from Monday to Sunday throughout the year, with no days to rest. There is little time given to their families. They claim to be investing their children in material things, but hardly do they think of investing in their children. Parenting is a holistic process that needs your total availability in all aspects of life. The children you are claiming to be investing for today without being in their lives will grow up and have no time for you because there was no relationship with them. They only know you as their daddy / mummy who was too busy working for them. They may always remember to send you money in your old days, but you will never sit together around ...

By Dickson Tumuramye Our children are going back to school amidst the economic crisis in Uganda. The prices of some commodities are so high. What you could have projected as children are going back to school next week may have been grossly affected by changing prices now and then. We have also just finished the Easter festive celebrations. You may not be in a position to provide all the necessities as has been the case before. This somehow is causing some sleepless nights. Maybe you don't even have enough school fees to pay at school on the reporting day. This is not time to be under too much pressure. The situation you are in now may happen tomorrow yet life has to go on, children must report back to school. School fees and scholastic needs can never be an emergency because we always know the schedule of when they go back to school in a year. But planning and fulfilling what is expected may never be easy. So how do you go about it? Sit with your children If you feel you are not in...

By Dickson Tumuramye During the two years of COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown in Uganda, the rate of teenage pregnancies was alarmingly high. These teenage girls were staying home with their parents, siblings, and relatives where one would expect them to be safe but this was not the case.  I recently met two mothers narrating a touching story of a 12-year-old daughter in Primary six who was engaged in lesbianism at school and the mother was devasted by the news. This girl comes from a strong Christian family.  The girl told the mother that she even does it at home with her young sister. She learned this at school and she was also training others. It is now not news that our children as young as 10 years old are being initiated into homosexuality and lesbianism. Some of these cases happen in schools without the school administration’s knowledge. The parents also cannot believe their children are involved in any early sexual behaviors. When you interact with children who...