Normally it's the parents' job to inspire their kids, motivate them, and help them to remain focused to perform their tasks successfully. I try my best to fulfill this responsibility, but many times it happens that my kids give me a lot of inspiration and courage to improve as a parent or mentor. I know that every parent loves their kids and likes to do their best to make them a better person in their own way and I am no different. The only difference is I am equally involved in this journey along with them. I am learning along with them and trying to get better. No one gave me any set rules or guidelines for parenting, and I didn't look for any. Actually, I didn't want to use the same rules and restrictions that were imposed on me while growing up. I thought those rules and restrictions were too authoritarian, where parents (or elders) have full control over the child's life and the child is the last person to decide what he or she wants to do in his/her life. I did not want to do this with my kids. I don't have any social or family pressure here in the US, I don't think it matters that much but I think being in the US definitely helped me to follow my own way of parenting.
I am enjoying my journey of parenthood along with my kids. I think most parents will agree that parenting is not an easy job. There is no written manual that can guide us to become a good parent. There are so many books and online articles that can help people figure out how to take care of infants and how to deal with certain issues of kids but they are helpful only to a certain extent. After all, every child is unique and special so parents need to figure out what works best for each child. No book can tell that, even two siblings react differently to the same situation or instructions, so, forget about following some book or manual for parenting, we are dealing with humans, not robots. At times parenting can be very stressful and frustrating but at the same time, it can be a lot of fun. It depends on how we want to look at it. Once we become parents we tend to look at things differently. Most of us forget everything we did as kids. Parents tend to forget all their mistakes, pranks, and confusion. They expect that their kids should not or are not allowed to do the same things. They expect their kids to be ideal human beings. Nothing wrong with having such expectations but some go too far that they want to engineer their kid the way they want, just like building a robot, but don't care what that kid wants. I know that many times kids are not mature enough to decide what they want to do in their life but that doesn't mean their opinion should not be considered at all. After all, it's their life. As far as I am concerned I never forget what I went through when I was their age. I always take into consideration that perspective, and because of this, I understand their frustrations, failures, pressures, confusion, anger, dismissive attitude, and problems. I very often remember my own childhood days when there is some disagreement between us. I agree that times have changed and today it's a totally different world for kids but still the problems are more or less the same. This journey is like a roller coaster ride very rewarding many times and a little frustrating sometimes but this is true for any journey and that's what makes them interesting and enjoyable.
Today's kids live in a much more technologically advanced era than their parents. This gives them a lot of advantages as well as poses many new challenges in front of them. Not only kids but their parents also face so many new challenges in this new technology-controlled era. Both need each other's help and support to face these challenges. So, it needs teamwork to face this challenge and that's what I try to do in my home. My kids learn something from me (at least that's what I think) and I also learn many things from them. I don't know how much I inspire them but I get inspired by them a lot. Actually, I see many kids around me who do so many inspiring things, they all amaze me with their talent, knowledge, and enthusiasm. I am talking here about my kids in particular just because I spend more time with them compared to any other kid. No doubt that experience matters a lot and the younger generation should benefit from the elders around them, at the same time elders can learn a lot from young people around them. Learning and sharing is more fun when it's a two-way process because the one-way process often gets boring and sometimes condescending. Thanks to all the kids around me, please keep up the good work.
Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.
(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)
I am enjoying my journey of parenthood along with my kids. I think most parents will agree that parenting is not an easy job. There is no written manual that can guide us to become a good parent. There are so many books and online articles that can help people figure out how to take care of infants and how to deal with certain issues of kids but they are helpful only to a certain extent. After all, every child is unique and special so parents need to figure out what works best for each child. No book can tell that, even two siblings react differently to the same situation or instructions, so, forget about following some book or manual for parenting, we are dealing with humans, not robots. At times parenting can be very stressful and frustrating but at the same time, it can be a lot of fun. It depends on how we want to look at it. Once we become parents we tend to look at things differently. Most of us forget everything we did as kids. Parents tend to forget all their mistakes, pranks, and confusion. They expect that their kids should not or are not allowed to do the same things. They expect their kids to be ideal human beings. Nothing wrong with having such expectations but some go too far that they want to engineer their kid the way they want, just like building a robot, but don't care what that kid wants. I know that many times kids are not mature enough to decide what they want to do in their life but that doesn't mean their opinion should not be considered at all. After all, it's their life. As far as I am concerned I never forget what I went through when I was their age. I always take into consideration that perspective, and because of this, I understand their frustrations, failures, pressures, confusion, anger, dismissive attitude, and problems. I very often remember my own childhood days when there is some disagreement between us. I agree that times have changed and today it's a totally different world for kids but still the problems are more or less the same. This journey is like a roller coaster ride very rewarding many times and a little frustrating sometimes but this is true for any journey and that's what makes them interesting and enjoyable.
Today's kids live in a much more technologically advanced era than their parents. This gives them a lot of advantages as well as poses many new challenges in front of them. Not only kids but their parents also face so many new challenges in this new technology-controlled era. Both need each other's help and support to face these challenges. So, it needs teamwork to face this challenge and that's what I try to do in my home. My kids learn something from me (at least that's what I think) and I also learn many things from them. I don't know how much I inspire them but I get inspired by them a lot. Actually, I see many kids around me who do so many inspiring things, they all amaze me with their talent, knowledge, and enthusiasm. I am talking here about my kids in particular just because I spend more time with them compared to any other kid. No doubt that experience matters a lot and the younger generation should benefit from the elders around them, at the same time elders can learn a lot from young people around them. Learning and sharing is more fun when it's a two-way process because the one-way process often gets boring and sometimes condescending. Thanks to all the kids around me, please keep up the good work.
Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.
(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)
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