Two years ago, on this very day, there was an anxious wait for our new bundle of joy to arrive into this world. The smell of disinfectant on hospital corridors and the restlessness of the people around made the situation more gripping. There was uncertainty in the air and the turbulent mind had its own fears. The ‘what if’ factor occasionally raised its hood and it was sheer struggle to lay such fears to rest.
The big moment had finally arrived in the midst of all nervousness. Perhaps it was the most joyous moment of my life to hear the birth of my baby. This is one experience that perhaps cannot be expounded. It just needs to be experienced. It’s like a burst of joy that emerges after sustained and patient battle against nervousness. Fear gives way to ecstasy and it’s an emotional moment to know that you are blessed with a tiny replica of you.
Two years have passed by on this journey of parenthood. It has been a mix of joy, anger, frustration, irritation, attachment, appreciation, pride and love, just to name a few. New born babies make you experience every emotion that is possibly identified with humans. They irritate you to the core by their tantrums and when you look at them in anger, they have an uncanny knack of making you cuddle them by the virtue of their mesmerizing smile. They are little angels who descend to earth just to teach us the power of love.
Kids are wonderful. Kids are innocent. The minds of the kids are not corrupted. Kids believe anything is possible. They learn early that by persistence they can get what they want (what we normally associate with demanding kids). The word impossible is not in their dictionary. If they want something, they just want it. Over a period of time adults start to put the word impossible in their dictionary. Don’t do this; don’t do that; this is not possible; you can’t get all that you want; live in your limits; that’s for others not for you etc. I feel this makes the kids believe that certain things cannot be achieved and they perhaps should not even try attempting that. Are we restricting them? Are we killing their instincts and their curiosity?
To demonstrate this, a leg of a baby elephant is fastened to pole or tree with a string strong enough to hold him from breaking free. The baby elephant keeps putting in a lot of effort to break free, but the string doesn’t yield. Over a period of time, the elephant starts to believe that the effort is futile and doesn’t even attempt to break free. An adult elephant stands captive with a weak string tied to a pole because he believes he cannot break free. We cannot let the kids believe they can’t break free. Can’t we tell them that anything is possible and work positively with their demands? Can we make kids achievers and self-believers at a very young age?
I believe we can. It requires patience to teach the right from the wrong. It requires patience to see the kids struggle to get something that they really need, and constantly motivating them and being their source of support. Criticism hurts kids at an early age. Never criticize and never stop them from experimenting. If they spill a glass of water on the floor, don’t be critical. Teach them they will need to clean up the mess they created. If they write on the wall with crayons, appreciate their art. Stick some sheets of paper on the wall and let the artist in them flow.
Encourage them for every act of theirs. You might be shaping up a genius that the world would take notice in a few years time.
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