The tie between the mother and child is particularly tender and strong and in most cases begins at birth. The protective process starts with breast-feeding. Later the child is strapped to the mother s back so she can perform her daily chores. With the child on the back, the mother can walk around, carry things on her head, go to the market, dance, cook does virtually everything that she does when she is not carrying the child. Mothers also instruct their children, especially girls, in skills that are necessary for handling household chores and appropriate and acceptable social behavior.
African fathers play only a minor role in the lives of their infants and toddlers.
The participation of multiple caregivers, comprising mostly of women, limits the involvement of men in the nurturing of children in their early years. However, there are rare societies like the Kung of southern Africa where fathers have intimate and close interaction with their infants and toddlers. Fathers become more involved with their children when the children are past infancy in late childhood and adolescence. It is in the area of discipline that the father becomes a central figure in the life of the African child. In cultures where mothers discipline their children, fathers are usually the stricter disciplinarians.