Gone are the days when parenting used to be just about giving education and food for kids. Today we as parents want the best of the education, healthy food, best activities and best of bla bla bla..
In return we are ending up cribbing, OMG my child is doing this, OMG my child didn’t do that, OMG bla bla bla etc, etc and finally becoming as I term it OMG Parents! or more popularly known as highly sensitive parents.
I remember my elder sister telling me to cover knees and legs of my toddler when she started crawling and I use to keep telling her, “stop kijiye, usey naturally grow hone dijiye, chot lagegi tabhi jaldi sikhegi”. Though my eye was always observing what she wants to do, pick , throw or eat.
I personally thank my parents for making me an independent individual because the biggest thing that they gave me apart from the necessary things is freedom to think, speak and act.
Every parent is concerned about their kid however over shadowing them all the time hinders their growth mentally, which in turn effects their thinking and decision making abilities.
Personally I believe that let them be independent, at an early stage. Let them start thinking and take decisions for themselves.
Mere presence of parents for them is the assurance as well as protection that they need from parents. Falling and getting little bruises is a part of growing, learning and creating memories.
Recently I met a friend of mine in a park who was talking to me but at the same time constantly keeping a check on her 7 year old kid. I mean, she was continuously instructing her kid not to play in sand, not to get dirty, not to get hurt, don’t go here and there.. I mean too many No’s and absolutely no encouragement.. Is it right? Isn’t she as a parent hampering the confidence of her child? I’m no ways saying that we should not say ‘No’ to our kids or she is not a good mother . However there is a different article all together on ” Saying ‘No’ to your kids in the right manner”.
Once we are a mother the most precious thing to us is our child, I too panic when situation calls for but there are many parents who want to protect their kid when there is no harm around. Just a food for thought. Why can’t we say,”it’s OK dear, you do whatever you want to do, I’m there for you”.
Another incidence was when I was packing my stuff for visiting my in laws, when my domestic help said, “pack this jam for Vaidehi, she might not eat without this. I told her I don’t want to make her so fussy that for couple of days she can’t adjust. “ Insaan ka bacha hai ,bhuk lagegi toh khud mangegi ”.
Another thing that I haven’t done is comparing my child to any other. Every child is different with different interest and grasping power. I don’t even ask her class teacher what is the rank of my child in class? All I’m satisfied, if she does her homework in time and writes in her answer scripts. I seriously don’t want her to be part of this rat race since her childhood. I want her to be happy. I was telling my friend Kamna, “ kyon itna mar mar kar padana hai aur uski aur apni expectations badate rehna hai, let her enjoy her childhood”.
I’m sure many of the readers may not agree with me but I feel the best way for them to learn is,let them free….
Let me discover... 