December LRF Book Reading Turns to Parenting 101 Clinic

The last LRF monthly Book Reading for the year with Efe Lisa Ifezuo on the 4th of December turned into a parenting 101 course with tips to help foster loving relationships between the parent and the child.

The session which started a few minutes after 5 pm kicked off with a welcome address and introduction of all who were present by the compere, Oladimeji Ogunnoye.

A brief overview of LRF and the new initiative, the Reading Culture Dialogue, was given by the Executive Director, Babatunde Oladele, while the Foundation’s Administrator, Mary Ogundipe, read a profile of the author of the day.

Efe Lisa Ifezuo is a writer, blogger and a graduate of English from the University of Ibadan. Her working years with companies cut across HR consulting/training, Educational Administration, NGO work, transcribing, proofreading, Health & Fitness and promoting reading/educational initiatives.

Her book, Love Is Not the Problem is her first published book and three others soon to be published are “Crying Won’t Bring Christmas Back”, “The Total and Wealthy Woman”, and “Living By the Truth”.

The book Love is Not the Problem comes in episodes and is about teenage “love” gone wrong. Tricia is 17 years old and has difficulty understanding herself and the opposite sex. She feels no one is ready to listen to her and answer her questions, especially her parents, who expect her to behave like a “good” Christian without excuses.

She bottles up her conflicting feelings and drifts in the wrong direction, making too many mistakes in the name of love and just wants to end it all.

While the reading session was on, it gave rise to comments and dialogue from the participants. Below are some of the comments and suggestions generated from the session.

Mr Oladele advised that parents should be friends with their children and that the children should also see things from their parents’ perspectives.

Nnenna Udo-Amadi also gave insights into methods of bridging the gaps between parents and their children while Ikechi Awazie also talked about children being distracted either from peer pressure or online and terming advice from parents as “old school”.

Tejumade Oke also touched on the religious aspect, peer pressure, parents not showing enough affection and why children “wallow in the poverty of wisdom and intelligence”.

Graceflora Ohwobete, one of the viewers on Facebook said, “One of the ways you can achieve a good relationship with your child is to be their No. 1 fan. Be a friend to your children. Judge less and love more. Show good examples, let them know that you are not perfect or superhuman without weakness.”

She added, “Be in tone with the current world. Know a little of almost everything. Never mind, you will get to know and learn more from them. Commend every little effort they make. When correcting, place the rewards and repercussions of each action. Be good, be patient, be prayerful, be friendly yet disciplined; Don’t ever give in your non-negotiable values just to please them.”

The meeting ended at 6:30 pm with announcements and a vote of thanks by the Executive Director.