Question

Discuss early childhood developmental tasks and the impact (cost, resources, stress, time, work, relationships, etc.) of these tasks on the family system. If you have children yourself, discuss the impact it had on you. If you have not had children, discuss impact you have seen on others having children (friends, family members, or your parents during your childhood).  

Answer 1

Discuss early childhood developmental tasks and the impact (cost, resources, stress, time, work, relationships, etc.) of these tasks on the family system. If you have children yourself, discuss the impact it had on you. If you have not had children, discuss impact you have seen on others having children (friends, family members, or your parents during your childhood)

Some of the early childhood developmental tasks include:

1. Learning to crawl and walk
2. Learning to intake solid food
3. Learning to pee and poop as trained
4. Learning to talk
5. Learning to recognize faces
6. Learning to respond to emotional and cognitive prompts
7. Learning to differentiate between reality and non-existence

Cost: Activities such as food, playthings, and potty training require some kind of expenditure, therefore there is a cost involved.
Resources: The primary and secondary caregiver should be able to procure and sustain resources that aid in the child being able to successfully perform all of these developmental tasks.
Stress: As with any change, seeing an infant grow and learn from mistakes is a stressful phase because the child needs to be monitored at all times to stay out of danger.
Time: Significant amount of time is spent with the child, by significant - all the time is spent with the child.
Work: There needs to be at least one caregiver who does childcare as the work.
Relationships: When the child is growing up, there is difficulty in having social relationships and friendships, even spousal relationships take a hit because of the stress involved in bringing up the child.

Even though all these activities may seem like too much to handle, there is joy associated with each one - each one is a milestone. As someone who has witnessed others having children and struggling with parenting, the struggles seem to be momentary. Each developmental task is a celebration and a milestone that is treasured. The cost, resources, stress, time, work, relationships are all a part of the child's developmental investments and the returns sure are manifold. The impact it has had on me is positive and I am in awe of how important this stage of development is.