Abstract
Question: Who Is A Godparent? Who Is A Third Parent? Answer: May Be The Extra One Who Not Only Helps To Rear The Child But Also Provides Respite Care To Child’s Parents.
Dialogue
DiG: Hey, Bro, I feel like an alter ego of you.
DeG: Why do you say so, Sis?
DiG: The paths of our lives and the ways of our lives always seem to follow parallel routes despite being so intertwined with each other.
DeG: This is what siblings are for, exactly this.
DiG: I understand that.
DeG: Why wouldn’t it be so when siblings share such high percentage of genes among them almost similar to the high percentage of genes shared among parents and their offspring [1]?
DiG: True. I agree. I recently heard something about “selfish gene theory”.
DeG: I was the one who told you. I always felt that to be true but I did NOT realize until recently that there is even a term called “selfish gene theory”. I have to read the most current edition of the 1976 book titled “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins who coined the term to elicit the underlying selfishness behind the all selflessness seen among those related by their genes [2-4].
DiG: Seemingly, it’s all about our genetic survival through cooperation when recognizing what’s ours to facilitate its survival secondary to our genetic urges inciting us and guiding us to make it through.
DeG: Very true, Sis.
DiG: Hasn’t it become difficult and strenuous now-a-days to just depend on your related kin to guide the survival of your genes?
DeG: Are you talking about the spouses, Sis?
DiG: No, Bro. The spouses (or in modern liberal terms, the partners and the donors) are the biological essentiality for the survival of genes. I am talking about the nurturing of human genes which needs and requires much more than just biological parents. It’s the core truth and harsh reality of mammalian life, more critically so for human offspring [5].
DeG: I understand. It takes a village to raise a child.
DiG: Very true, Bro. Beyond grandparents, uncles and aunts, the nannies of the modern world are becoming the third parent for human progeny [6].
DeG: Not “THE” third parent but “A” third parent when there are so many others who can be considered Third Parent. And don’t forget technology, Sis; may be robots too.
DiG: What do you mean?
DeG: The audio-video cameras to remotely monitor (and even talk to) the children being nurtured and to spy on (and give directions to) nannies nurturing those children.
DiG: What about the robots?
DeG: It’s too early to say but robots are being explored to be companions/friends for the “home-bound” children when they may be growing alone in the lonely households of working parents who live in scary neighborhoods occupied by unknown neighbors [7-10].
DiG: Are you trying to scare me, Bro? Are you questioning the modern information technology systems reinvigorating child supportive societies (much more beyond the financial-only child support ideologies) and becoming essential members of modern human progeny nurturing teams?
DeG: No, Sis. It’s true that systems and societies should be active partners in modern human rearing but nothing can supersede families’ well-founded and well-rounded kin support systems. So forget about replacing families’ roles in child rearing with societies’ programs. Human offspring can survive with the support of societies’ programs, but do these children feel reared and nurtured when they are surviving without anyone to call-out as family?
DiG: Agree. Bro, do animals treat their offspring differently?
DeG: It has been studied quite often. There are certain differences between us and them but we have to understand that we are trying to understand them through our perspective when they do what they do based on their own perspectives which we may never know or fully understand. Forget about other animals, we as humans are NOT able to fully understand what other humans want when they have done what they have done [11-15].
DiG: I often hear the word “Godparents”, may be because of legendary movie from 1972 named “The Godfather” [16]. And you recently introduced me to the term called “Third Parent”. What are these terms?
DeG: See, Sis, “Godparents” is a religious term that has found acceptance among non-Catholics as well. In simple terms, it’s an obligation among the followers of Catholicism to ensure that the baptized children have the obligatory support of “Godparents” who have vowed to support the parents of those baptized children in raising-rearing-and-nurturing them [17-18]. Similarly, laws in some states like California in the United States have accrued legal rights as well as legal responsibilities to the “Third Parent” or anyone besides the two parents of a child who’s as invested as a parent can be in the raising-rearing-and-nurturing of that child [19-25].
DiG: So essentially, what you are saying, Bro, is that “Godparents” and “Third Parent” act as desserts, in your own words, for the two-parents acting as the main course meal in regards to raising-rearing-and-nurturing children wherein “Godparents” and “Third Parent” sweeten the deal not only for the children but also for their primary parents. The more is the merrier because, again, it takes a village to raise a child.
DeG: Correct, Sis. Though it’s not only about being desserts or being main course meals when it comes to raising-rearing-and-nurturing children. It’s also about providing the respite care to the parents because they are relentlessly working to raise-rear-and-nurture their children, often forgetting about caring for their own selves, which can be detrimental not only to their health but also to the health of the children being raised-reared-and-nurtured by them [26-27].
DiG: Almost like “Godparents” and “Third Parent” are ensuring the occupational health and well-being of working parents because parenting itself is a big work and almost always sounds like an occupation.
DeG: Well said, my alter ego.
DiG: Who else I can be but that, Bro. On a serious note, why should I be the alter ego when you may be my alter ego?
DeG: Got it, Sis. I finally got it.
References
- Average Percent DNA Shared Between Relatives. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://customercare.23andme.com/hc/en-us/articles/212170668-Average-percent-DNA-shared -between-relatives
- Gene-centered view of evolution. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G ene-centered_view_of_evolution
- The Selfish Gene Theory and Altruism. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://explorable.com/selfish-gene-theory
- The Selfish Gene: an alternative theory of evolution. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://www.livemint.com/Sundayapp/iDYwm9HDFfPStDEVqn1IDN/The-Selfish-Gene-an- alternative-theory-of-evolution.html
- Why Humans Give Birth to Helpless Babies. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: h ttps://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/why-humans-give-birth-to-helpless-babies/
- How nanny turned into a third parent. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: htt ps://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1551575/How-nanny-turned-into-a-third-parent.html
- Emotix Companion Chatty Little Genius, Games Smartphone Enabled Robot with Parental Dashboard (MIKO). Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://ww w.amazon.in/Emotix-Companion-Smartphone-Parental-Dashboard/dp/B0773MGLJ4
- Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://www. amazon.com/Free-Learn-Unleashing-Instinct-Self-Reliant/dp/0465025994
- One Man’s Way to Create Neighborhood Play for His Kids. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/201602/one-man-s-way-create-ne ighborhood-play-his-kids
- Parenting Around the World: Child-Rearing Practices in Different Cultures. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://www.tu w.edu/content/health/child-rearing-practices-different-cultures/
- The Moral Lives of Animals. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://www.amazon.com /Moral-Lives-Animals-Dale-Peterson/dp/1608193462
- How Animals Grieve. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://www.amazon.com/H ow-Animals-Grieve-Barbara-King/dp/022615520X
- What Women Want (2000). Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0207201/
- What Men Want (2019). Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7634968/
- That’s What She Said: What Men Need to Know (and Women Need to Tell Them) About Working Together. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://www.amazon.com/That s-What-She-Said-Together/dp/0062437216
- The Godfather (1972). Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068646/
- I’m Not Religious, But It Was Important For Me To Choose ‘Godparents’ For My Son. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://www.scarymommy.com/choose-godparents/ a>
- Understanding the essential role of godparents and sponsors. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/Article/TabId /535/ArtMID/13567/ArticleID/26240/Understanding-the-essential-role-of-godparents-and-sponsors.aspx a>
- SB-274 Family law: parentage: child custody and support (2013-2014). Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://l eginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB274
- Where Can a Child Have More Than Two Parents? Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://blogs.findlaw.com/law_and_life/2015/05/where-can-a-child-have-more-than-two-parents.html
- Modern Family: More Courts Allowing Three Parents of One Child. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/modern-family-more-courts-allowing-three-paren ts-one-child-n774031
- Three parents, one family: Courts allow tri-parenting. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https:// www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2017/06/three_parents_one_family_court.html
- Are Three Parents a Crowd? Understanding California’s 3rd Parent Law. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://eastbaylevinelaw.com/2016/05/are-three-parents-a-crowd-understanding-californias -3rd-parent-law/
- Multiple Parents Legally? We could be witnessing the end of the “Rule of Two.” Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-polyamorists-next-door/201711/multiple-parents-leg ally
- Where can a child have three parents? Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: http://beyondstraightandgaymarriage.blogspot.com/2012/07/where-can-child-have-three-parents.html
- Respite Care for Resource Families. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/preventing/prevention-programs/respite/respite -care-for-resource-families/
- Respite Care Programs. Accessed on December 17, 2018 from: https://www.child welfare.gov/topics/preventing/prevention-programs/respite/
Source(s) of Funding
None
Competing Interests
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