Parents! Have you ever wondered what went wrong with your child or blamed yourself for your children's difficulties? Have you battled with the "should haves" and the "should have nots"?
The book Labor Pain is a thought-provoking analytical search for answers to the parent-child relationship. It's the author's inner conflicts and questions raising her children in a different cultural environment than the one she was raised in, as a single parent, a product of divorce, a Christian, and in a time of big cultural change. Her book explores the roles and conflicts between culture, religion, personality, and socioeconomic factors in the parent-child dyad and parenting. The highs and lows of parenting and the many twists, turns, and rest stops on her spiritual journey as a parent.
Her book explores the real human struggles in stories, proverbs, poems, and other narratives. Using Psalm 127:3-5 that declares that children are a gift and a reward from God as its framework, the challenging questions become the following: Why is parenting hard? Who or what is to blame for parent-child relationship difficulties? What constitutes a healthy relationship? What is good or bad parenting?
Chioma A. A. Menakaya invites the readers to journey along with her, and as they do, make their own discoveries or gain insight to help them deal with or appreciate their own journey as parents. The author hopes that children reading this book will gain an understanding from the parents' perspective. The book also provides useful tools for child welfare workers, psychologists, family advocates, and counselors dealing with migrant families and understanding the role of culture and religion in parenting. Journey along.
About the Author:
Chioma is a mother of three who resides in Howard County, Maryland. She had a broad and extensive career in banking and financial services before moving into the public sector. Chioma is a member of Women's Business Enterprise. She owns several small businesses including a non-profit organization, Care Connect International Inc., whose mission is to help the less privileged in the community they serve ease some of their economic burdens.
She understands that ignorance is crippling, thus, she never ceases in her pursuit for knowledge. Adroit in researching, analyzing, and understanding the legal, ethical, political, religious, and socioeconomic environments, she uses her book series "Just from my Heart" the tales of her personal journey, in an interdisciplinary approach to seek answers to the hard questions that tug at her heart. As life happens and as the human mind is a constant battlefield, her writings delve into the core of human relationships and life dilemmas to help bring perspective to the "Why?" of how things are. As a Christian, Chioma seeks solace and serenity in God through the turbulent waters of her life and when things do not just make sense. In Christ alone, her present help in surmounting the many curve balls life has thrown at her.
Chioma wins because God always wins.
