Yesterday, I attended a lecture on “Happy Parenting” by
Swamini Vimalananda of
Chinmaya Mission, and I must admit, the talk was highly educative and enriching. Here are some points from the lecture:
1. Absolutely pamper your kids till they are two-and-a-half years. From 2.5 years till 17 years educate them, and from 17 years be friendly with them, but never be a FRIEND.
2. Every human being has four layers to himself – physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. To feel contented and satisfied, all the four layers must be tapped or channelised in the right direction.
3. Investing ‘in’ the child is more important than investing ‘on’ the child. Investing on the child is providing him worldly comforts, while investing in is teaching him values of life and making him/her a better human being.
4. Kids tend to ape the actions and behaviour of the parents than their words. Parents must exercise caution in their day-to-day behaviour and set a right example.
5. Allow your kids to tune themselves to the nature’s way of living. Just because they are ‘bored’, don’t go on and on to satisfy their needs by mindless investment on toys, activity classes, etc. They must realise to have fun you don’t have to necessarily pay all the time. When we were kids a lot of games would be played outside the four walls of comfort and that too most of the games like lagoori, gilli danda, kabbadi, and marbles were played free of cost or at a minimal cost, and with maximum fun. But, these days, fun is associated with money.
6. Teach the kids that money is important but not everything in life.
7. When kids are young, allow them to follow their instincts. When a kid wants to climb a chair, or do adventurous things, just allow that to happen. Scary parents restrict these natural movements, which will pave way for fear factor to develop in the kid, and ultimately he will end up being a scary personality for the entire life.
