McGrath, I think I'm inclined to agree with you, "parenting" is more specific than "bringing up". But I'm not completely convinced. You're saying many people can be involved in "bringing up"(OK it does mean vomiting, but lots of things have two meanings, one of them unfortunate): but only one or two can be parents. I think there might be a grey area here. What happens if mum and dad day(or mum and mum in the lesbian case), and Auntie Edna takes the kids on. Is she then "parenting", or only bringing up or raising? And would this change if she formally adopted them? Anyway, I just find "parenting" unaesthetic, and I don't use. Especially in the context of "parenting skills". For much the same reason I'm happy to show a kid how to juggle but I dont run circus skills workshops. But I digress.