96 Fun Facts About Parent

Which bird lays its eggs in other species' nests, leaving the hosts to raise its chicks?

The common cuckoo is a brood parasite: the female lays an egg in a host nest, often a reed warbler's, and the hatchling evicts the host's eggs so the foster parents raise it alone.

Which psychologist identified the authoritative, authoritarian and permissive parenting styles?

Diana Baumrind's research in the 1960s and beyond identified three main parenting styles—authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive. Later, Maccoby and Martin added the 'uninvolved' or 'neglectful' style to her typology.

Which land animal has one of the longest gestation periods, often exceeding 600 days?

The elephant's gestation runs about 22 months, roughly 660 days, the longest of any mammal; calves are born well developed and can stand within hours.

What adoption arrangement has no contact between birth parents and adoptive family?

A closed adoption shares no identifying information and has no contact between the birth family and the adoptive family after finalization, unlike open and semi-open adoptions.

In 'Centuries of Childhood' (1960), Philippe Ariès argued medieval Europeans saw children as what?

Ariès read medieval paintings of small, adult-dressed figures as evidence that children were seen as little adults and childhood was not a separate stage; historians such as Nicholas Orme have since challenged that reading.

In the original Star Wars trilogy, who is revealed to be Luke Skywalker's biological father?

One of the most iconic plot twists in cinematic history reveals that Darth Vader, the primary antagonist, is Luke Skywalker's father, Anakin Skywalker. This revelation drastically alters the narrative of the original trilogy.

How many chromosomes are typically found in a normal human somatic cell?

A normal human somatic cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, totaling 46 chromosomes. Of these, 22 pairs are autosomes, and one pair consists of sex chromosomes.

What is the name for the grief and loneliness parents may feel when their children move out of the family home?

It is not a clinical diagnosis, but it is real enough: empty nest syndrome is the grief and loneliness parents may feel when children leave for college or a place of their own.

In which animal does the female deposit her eggs into the male's brood pouch, leaving him to carry them until they hatch?

Male pregnancy exists: the female seahorse uses an ovipositor to deposit dozens to thousands of eggs in the male's brood pouch on his tail, and he carries them until they hatch.

Which of these developmental stage names comes from Freud's psychosexual theory rather than Piaget's four stages of cognitive development?

Latency is Freud's word for the quiet years between childhood and puberty; Piaget's four stages are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is almost exclusively inherited from which parent?

Mitochondrial DNA is inherited maternally, meaning it is passed down from the mother to all her children. This makes mtDNA useful for tracing maternal lineages.

Which hormone is called the 'love hormone' for its role in parent-infant attachment and social bonding?

Oxytocin plays a crucial role in social bonding, sexual reproduction, childbirth, and the period after childbirth. It is particularly important in promoting parent-infant attachment and caregiving behaviors.

Who developed attachment theory, stressing early bonds between child and caregiver?

A British psychoanalyst, Bowlby argued humans are biologically wired to seek caregivers for survival and emotional security.

What parenting style has high demands and low responsiveness, with strict rules and little explanation?

Authoritarian parenting involves strict rules, high expectations, and often uses punishment without much consideration for a child's feelings. Communication is typically one-way, from parent to child.

At about what age were Spartan boys removed from home to begin military training?

Spartan boys began their agoge, a state-sponsored education and military training program, at the approximate age of seven, leaving their homes to live in barracks.

Who is the mother of Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson in the animated TV series 'The Simpsons'?

Marge Simpson is the matriarch of the titular family in 'The Simpsons,' known for her towering blue beehive hairdo and her role as a devoted mother.

Which Nordic country made parental leave gender-neutral in 1974, the first to offer paid leave to both parents, with its neighbours following?

Maternity leave became parental leave: Sweden replaced it with a gender-neutral scheme in 1974, and Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Finland followed.

Animals that lay eggs are classified as what type of organisms?

Oviparous animals are those that reproduce by laying eggs, with the embryo developing outside the mother's body.

Which psychologist's eight psychosocial stages begin with 'trust versus mistrust' in infancy?

Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development sets out eight stages across the lifespan, beginning with trust versus mistrust in the first year and ending with integrity versus despair in old age.

In Greek mythology, who were the parents of the Olympian gods Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades?

Cronus swallowed Demeter, Hestia, Hera, Hades and Poseidon at birth; when Zeus, the sixth, arrived, Rhea turned to Gaia for a plan to save them.

What is the antibody-rich first milk a mother produces after childbirth called?

Colostrum is the initial milk produced by mammary glands immediately following delivery. It's often called 'liquid gold' for its yellowish color and high concentration of antibodies and nutrients crucial for a newborn's immune system.

Which parenting style combines high demands with high responsiveness?

Authoritative parenting is often considered the most effective style. Parents are nurturing and supportive but also set clear expectations and limits, encouraging independence while providing guidance.

Who wrote the influential book 'The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care,' first published in 1946?

Spock told parents to trust their own instincts, and the book became one of the best-selling of all time.

Which Madagascan succulent, also called the alligator plant, earns the name 'mother of thousands' with plantlets along its leaf edges?

Each leaf edge is a nursery: Kalanchoe daigremontiana, once Bryophyllum daigremontianum, drops ready-rooted plantlets from its leaf margins, hence 'mother of thousands' and 'devil's backbone'.

Which Roman goddess was the mother of Aeneas, a prominent figure in Virgil's epic poem, the Aeneid?

In Roman mythology, Venus, the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility, was the mother of Aeneas, the legendary hero of the Aeneid and an ancestor of the Roman people.

Which term describes animals whose embryos are nourished directly by the mother and born live?

Viviparous organisms are those that give birth to live young that have developed inside the parent's body, receiving nourishment directly from the mother during gestation.

Which scientist had ten children with his wife Emma Wedgwood?

Charles Darwin, the naturalist who proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection, had a large family, raising ten children with his wife Emma Wedgwood.

What is the legal term for someone who becomes a child's parent through a court process, though not biologically?

An adoptive parent is an individual who legally becomes the parent of a child who is not their biological offspring, taking on all the legal rights and responsibilities of a biological parent through a formal adoption process.

What is the custom of a father taking to his bed during his wife's childbirth called?

Couvade, from the French couver ('to brood'), is the custom recorded among the Basques and Amazonian peoples in which a father takes to his bed or observes taboos around a birth; 'couvade syndrome' names sympathetic pregnancy symptoms in expectant fathers.

Which term describes a kinship system that traces descent through the mother's line?

A matrilineal system traces descent and inheritance through the mother's line; the Minangkabau of Sumatra, the largest matrilineal society, pass ancestral property from mothers to daughters.

Which animated film follows a clownfish father, Marlin, searching the ocean for his lost son?

'Finding Nemo' is a beloved Pixar film that tells the heartwarming story of Marlin, a protective clownfish father, who embarks on a perilous journey across the ocean to find his abducted son, Nemo.

Which 'generation' label describes young adults who move back in with their parents after a spell of living on their own?

They come back like the toy: the boomerang generation is named for the share of young adults who return to their parents' home after living independently, often for economic reasons.

What label describes an overprotective parent who closely monitors their child's every activity, especially at school?

Also called a cosseter: a helicopter parent hovers over a child's every experience and problem, particularly at school, to an overprotective degree.

Which famous author wrote 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' featuring the iconic widowed father Atticus Finch?

Harper Lee's classic novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird' features Atticus Finch, a morally upright lawyer and devoted single father to Scout and Jem, who serves as a powerful symbol of integrity and justice.

What is the scientific term for the period of pregnancy in mammals, from conception to birth?

Gestation is the period of time during which an embryo or fetus develops inside the mother's body, spanning from conception to birth.

Who dipped her infant son Achilles in the River Styx?

Thetis, a Nereid, held the infant Achilles by the heel as she dipped him in the Styx, leaving that dry spot his one weakness; the earliest surviving telling is Statius's Achilleid (1st century AD).

Which country introduced the first use-it-or-lose-it 'father's quota' of parental leave in 1993, partly to fight the 'motherhood penalty'?

Sweden, the parental-leave pioneer, was the copycat this time: Norway earmarked leave for fathers in 1993, Sweden followed in 1995, and fathers' uptake jumped once the days were theirs alone.

Which musical features 'Sunrise, Sunset', a father's reflection on his daughter's wedding?

'Sunrise, Sunset' is a well-known song from the musical 'Fiddler on the Roof,' performed by Tevye and Golde as they reflect on their daughter Tzeitel's wedding and the rapid passage of time.

What is the legal term for an adoption placement that ends before it is finalised?

Disruption is the term for an adoptive placement that ends before the adoption is legally finalised and the child returns to care; an adoption ended after finalisation is called a dissolution.

Males of which bird family build and decorate an elaborate structure purely to court a mate?

The bower is not a nest; it is a stage. Satin bowerbirds famously favour blue objects, from feathers to bottle caps.

What theory suggests children learn behaviours by observing and imitating parents and others?

Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory posits that individuals learn behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions by observing and imitating models, such as parents and peers, in a social context.

Which queen of France endured 23 childless years before giving birth to the future Louis XIV in 1638?

Anne of Austria married Louis XIII in 1615 and bore the future Louis XIV only in 1638; widowed in 1643, she ruled as regent for her four-year-old son with Cardinal Mazarin as chief minister.

In Disney's 'The Lion King' (1994), who is Simba's father?

Mufasa, king of the Pride Lands and voiced by James Earl Jones, is Simba's father in The Lion King (1994); he dies in a wildebeest stampede engineered by his brother Scar.

Which future emperor gave his first speech as a boy: a funeral oration for his grandmother Julia, Caesar's sister?

Augustus, then the boy Gaius Octavius, delivered the funeral oration for his grandmother Julia at about twelve, in 51 BC; through her he was Caesar's great-nephew and later his adopted heir.

Which author popularised 'unconditional parenting' in a 2005 book of that name?

Kohn contrasts it with conditional parenting that controls children through rewards and punishments.

Which researcher argues 'trustful parenting' dominated prehistoric hunter-gatherer societies?

Peter Gray, a Boston College psychologist, argues that trustful parenting prevailed among hunter-gatherers, that a directive-domineering style spread with agriculture, and that a directive-protective style took over in the late twentieth century.

Where in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights does it say motherhood and childhood deserve special care?

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) states that motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance, and that all children, born in or out of wedlock, enjoy the same social protection.

What share of their genes do a parent and child share as first-degree relatives?

A parent and child share 50% of their genes: each child inherits half of its nuclear DNA from each parent, which is why parent and child, like full siblings, are first-degree relatives.

Which psychologist devised the 'Strange Situation' test of infant attachment?

The procedure runs through eight short episodes of separations and reunions with a caregiver and a stranger. Ainsworth's classifications of secure and insecure attachment came out of it.

Harry Harlow's infant rhesus monkeys overwhelmingly preferred which surrogate 'mother'?

The infants clung to the cloth-covered surrogate even when only the wire mother held the bottle, visiting the wire one just long enough to feed; Harlow's work overturned the idea that infants bond purely over nourishment.

Konrad Lorenz became famous for describing imprinting in which birds?

Newly hatched goslings bond with the first moving thing they see, so Lorenz's goslings famously followed him around. He later shared the 1973 Nobel Prize with Tinbergen and von Frisch.

Which US president's 1914 proclamation made Mother's Day official?

Woodrow Wilson signed the 1914 proclamation making the second Sunday in May Mother's Day; founder Anna Jarvis later fought the florists and card makers she felt had commercialised it.

Father's Day was founded in 1910 at a YMCA in which American city?

Sonora Smart Dodd, one of six children raised by a widowed Civil War veteran, organised the first Father's Day in Spokane, Washington, in June 1910; it became a permanent national holiday only in 1972.

In which penguin species does the male alone incubate the egg?

In emperor penguins the male alone incubates the single egg, balancing it on his feet under a brood pouch through about 64 days of Antarctic winter while the female feeds at sea.

The female Surinam toad 'incubates' her eggs where?

The eggs sink into honeycomb-like pockets in her skin, and fully formed froglets pop out four to five months later. The species skips the free-swimming tadpole stage entirely.

Male Darwin's frogs carry their developing tadpoles in which body part?

The father swallows the eggs once the embryos start moving and keeps the tadpoles in his vocal sac until they emerge as tiny froglets. The species is named for Charles Darwin, who collected it in Chile.

A deep-sea octopus in Monterey Canyon set a record by brooding her eggs for how long?

The Graneledone boreopacifica female brooded for 53 months; researchers revisited her 18 times between 2007 and 2011 and never saw her eat, the longest egg-brooding period recorded for any animal.

Whose 2011 memoir 'Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother' ignited a parenting debate?

A Wall Street Journal excerpt headlined 'Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior' ran days before publication and drew thousands of comments. Chua is a Yale law professor.

In 2018, which US state became the first to pass a law protecting 'free-range' parenting?

Utah's 2018 law, the first of its kind, clarifies that letting children walk to school or play outside unsupervised is not neglect; journalist Lenore Skenazy's 2009 book Free-Range Kids named the movement.

Fernand Lamaze, who popularised the Lamaze birth method, was an obstetrician from where?

He built the method on 'psychoprophylaxis' techniques he saw on a visit to the Soviet Union, where breathing and relaxation were used instead of drugs to manage labour pain.

In 2015, China raised its long-standing one-child limit to how many children per family?

China's 2015 decision allowed two children per family, ending the one-child rule imposed in 1980 and riddled with exceptions by the mid-1980s; facing an ageing population, it raised the limit to three in May 2021.

Skin-to-skin 'kangaroo care' for premature babies was pioneered in 1978 in which city?

Neonatologist Edgar Rey Sanabria introduced kangaroo care in 1978 at Bogotá's Instituto Materno Infantil, a hospital short of incubators, having mothers keep preterm babies warm against their chests; the WHO later endorsed it worldwide.

Virginia Apgar, who devised the newborn Apgar score in 1952, worked in which specialty?

The score rates appearance, pulse, grimace, activity and respiration at one and five minutes after birth. Apgar was the first woman to become a full professor at Columbia's medical school.

In Mamma Mia, Sophie finds her mother Donna's old diary and secretly invites how many possible fathers to her wedding?

An architect, an adventurer and a banker: Sophie finds three candidates in Donna's diary, Sam, Bill and Harry, in a plot that echoes the 1968 film Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell.

In Mrs. Doubtfire, where does Daniel get the surname for his nanny alter ego?

After sabotaging his ex-wife's ad with dreadful fake applicants, Daniel lifts the name from a newspaper headline about police doubting a fire was accidental and calls back as 'Euphegenia Doubtfire'; Robin Williams improvised much of the role.

The 1993 US Family and Medical Leave Act guarantees up to how many weeks of unpaid leave?

The FMLA guarantees eligible workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave; Bill Clinton signed it weeks into his presidency in February 1993 after George H. W. Bush had vetoed earlier versions.

From 2015, which UN member alone remained outside the Convention on the Rights of the Child?

The United States signed the 1989 treaty in 1995 but did not ratify it; once Somalia and South Sudan ratified in 2015, the US was the only UN member state outside the convention.

In Greek myth, Oedipus unknowingly married his own mother — what was her name?

Jocasta, widow of King Laius, married Oedipus after he solved the Sphinx's riddle, neither knowing he was her son and Laius's killer; Antigone and Ismene were their daughters.

According to Greek myth, Athena sprang fully formed from which part of her father Zeus?

Athena burst fully armed from Zeus's forehead after his skull was split open with an axe; Zeus had swallowed her pregnant mother Metis, fearing a prophecy that a son of Metis would overthrow him.

In Roman legend, which shepherd took in Romulus and Remus after the she-wolf suckled them?

The shepherd Faustulus and his wife Acca Larentia raised the twins, who tended flocks unaware they were grandsons of the deposed king Numitor; the Lupercal, the wolf's cave, became a Roman shrine.

In Pride and Prejudice, the Longbourn estate is entailed to a male heir, so Mrs Bennet must marry off how many daughters?

Elizabeth is only the second of five: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty and Lydia Bennet all need husbands because Longbourn passes to a male cousin.

How many children made up the blended family on TV's The Brady Bunch?

Six children: widower Mike's three boys joined Carol's three girls, with housekeeper Alice rounding out the household; the show ran five seasons on ABC from 1969 to 1974.

The real parents behind Cheaper by the Dozen, the Gilbreths, were pioneers in what field?

Frank and Lillian Gilbreth were pioneers of time-and-motion efficiency studies and applied their factory methods at home in Montclair, New Jersey; two of their twelve children wrote the bestselling 1948 memoir.

In radioactive decay, what is the product of a 'parent' isotope called?

When the daughter is itself radioactive its product is sometimes called a granddaughter. Uranium-238's chain runs through fourteen such steps before ending at stable lead-206.

In Unix-like systems, which system call does a parent process use to spawn a child?

fork() creates the child as an almost exact copy of the parent; every process except process 0, the swapper, is born this way, and the child typically calls exec() to load a new program.

Marian McQuade, founder of US National Grandparents Day, was a housewife from which state?

Marian McQuade of Oak Hill, West Virginia, lobbied governors and senators in all fifty states before Jimmy Carter proclaimed National Grandparents Day in 1978; it falls on the first Sunday after Labor Day.

Marie Curie and which daughter form the only mother–daughter pair of Nobel laureates?

Irène Joliot-Curie shared the 1935 chemistry prize with her husband Frédéric for discovering artificial radioactivity. Her sister Ève, a writer, was the family's only non-scientist.

About how long is the Virginia opossum's pregnancy?

The Virginia opossum's gestation is only about 11–13 days; the bee-sized newborns crawl into the mother's pouch to finish developing, and litters average eight or nine though more than twenty can be born.

Female wolf spiders carry their newly hatched spiderlings where?

Before they hatch she drags the egg sac attached to her spinnerets. The spiderlings ride on her back for several weeks before dispersing on silk threads.

The record 69 children born to one woman belonged to a peasant's wife in which country?

Valentina Vassilyeva, a peasant's wife from Shuya, Russia, reportedly bore 16 pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets between 1725 and 1765, never a single birth.

A kiwi's single egg can weigh up to what fraction of the mother's body weight?

A kiwi egg can reach one-quarter of the female's body weight; a brown kiwi egg can weigh around 450 grams, and in most species the male then incubates it for 75 to 85 days.

Male midwife toads carry the fertilised eggs where until they are ready to hatch?

The male wraps the strings of eggs around his hind legs and keeps them moist for weeks before wading into water to release the tadpoles. It is one of few amphibians where only the father tends the clutch.

A female great hornbill seals herself into her nest hole with a plaster made mostly of what?

The female great hornbill seals the nest entrance with a plaster made mostly of her own feces, leaving a narrow slit through which the male passes food for months; once she breaks out, the chicks reseal the opening.

Demeter's daughter Persephone had to return to the underworld because she ate what there?

Persephone ate pomegranate seeds in the underworld, binding her to return for part of each year; Demeter's grief while searching for her left the earth barren, which the Greeks used to explain the seasons.

In Hindu tradition, who was the foster mother who raised Krishna in Gokul?

Krishna's birth father Vasudeva smuggled the newborn to Nanda and Yashoda to save him from his uncle, King Kamsa of Mathura. Devaki was his birth mother.

Superman's adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, farm outside which fictional town?

The Kents farm outside Smallville, Kansas, where they found the infant Kal-El after his rocket crash-landed; Glenn Ford and Phyllis Thaxter played the couple in the 1978 film.

In the Book of Exodus, who found the infant Moses among the bulrushes and adopted him?

Pharaoh's daughter found the basket among the reeds of the Nile, where his Hebrew mother Jochebed had hidden him from Pharaoh's order that Hebrew boys be drowned, and raised Moses as an Egyptian (Exodus 2).

Louise Brown, the first baby born after IVF, was delivered in 1978 in which English town?

Her birth came by planned caesarean at Oldham General Hospital. Her younger sister Natalie, also an IVF baby, became the first IVF-conceived person to have a child of her own in 1999.

The 1988 'Baby M' surrogacy ruling came from the supreme court of which US state?

The New Jersey Supreme Court voided the surrogacy contract as against public policy but awarded custody to the biological father, William Stern, on a best-interests analysis, with visitation for surrogate Mary Beth Whitehead.

'Mommie Dearest' is a 1978 memoir by the adopted daughter of which Hollywood actress?

Christina Crawford's memoir portrays her adoptive mother Joan Crawford as cruel and alcoholic; Joan's adopted twins Cathy and Cindy denounced it, and the 1981 film made 'No wire hangers!' a catchphrase.

In the cartoon Bluey, what are the names of Bluey's parents?

Dad has become a parenting icon: Bandit and Chilli Heeler raise Bluey and her little sister Bingo in a Brisbane-inspired suburb, and Bandit's hands-on style is widely praised.

Flora the Komodo dragon bred without a mate in 2006 — what sex were her hatchlings?

Komodo dragons use ZW sex chromosomes, so parthenogenesis can only produce ZZ males. A virgin female stranded on an island could in theory found a colony by later mating with her own sons.

In Roman law, a father's sweeping legal power over his household was called 'patria' what?

Patria potestas, 'the power of a father', gave the pater familias control of the family's property and, in early law, even of life and death over his children; sons remained under it until he died.

Which marine mammal is among the very few animals known to go through menopause?

Post-reproductive orca grandmothers lead their pods and improve their grandcalves' survival, especially when salmon is scarce. Short-finned pilot whales and humans share the trait.

Thailand's Father's Day on 5 December marks the birthday of which king?

King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) was born on 5 December 1927, and Thailand kept his birthday as Father's Day after his death in 2016; Mother's Day falls on 12 August, Queen Sirikit's birthday.

In Anne of Green Gables, the Cuthberts had originally asked the orphanage for what?

Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert had asked for a boy to help on their Prince Edward Island farm and were sent eleven-year-old Anne by mistake; Montgomery based the mix-up on a note she had kept since girlhood.