The Difficult Task of Parenting
It is believed that a child learns about the outer world even when in the mother’s womb. I was told about this by my grandmother. According to the Hindu epic, Mahabharata, there was a warrior named Abhimanyu (Arjun’s son) who had learnt a war skill when he was in the womb of his mother. Till very lately I had found this story very hard & hilarious to believe.
Last week I went for my cousin’s daughter’s first birthday. The girl didn’t seem very people friendly and was in her mother’s arms most of the time. After a little while the girl started crying as she was hungry. She refused to have her milk until she was handed a mobile in her hand. I was flabbergasted to see the 12 month girl moving her fingers on the mobile. All I could remember was dear “Abhimanyu”. My grandmother indeed was right in telling me the story, otherwise how else could you justify an infant using a mobile so effortlessly.
To my surprise, not only did my cousin enjoy flaunting the birthday girl’s tech savvy skills but I could see a sense of achievement in her grandparent’s face. They all started discussing how smart the little one was. They also added with pride that the girl could not only identify the YouTube icon but also knew how to play her favourite video. I guess it was the same pride which my parents would have felt on my first identification of alphabets.
So has the ideology of parents of this generation changed?
Children learn by imitation and they learn very fast. Today’s parents are on the mobile most of the time so why do they crib if their kids want to do the same. Reading a story to your child seems to be time consuming, however giving your child the mobile to watch the same story is less time consuming and lets you do some other activity while keeping your child occupied on the mobile.
So why are we blaming our kids for mobile addiction? Rather than just sit and blame today’s lifestyle, let’s try and breed a better generation.
Being a correct role model for your child is extremely important.
Minimal use of mobile in front of kids is a small way to start this.
Never give a mobile, tab or laptop to a kid for playing or just holding.
Get up and go to the other room to use your mobile for chatting or watching some forward videos.
Reduce watching television if you have a toddler at home. Screen time in any form is not good for your kid.
Sit and eat meals together with your kid rather than putting a video in front of them while eating.
Engage your kid in productive activities and always give them toys which require manual use rather than battery operated toys.
Read a story every day to your child before sleeping. Inculcate the habit of storytelling rather than story viewing in your kid.
It is a bit difficult to follow but then who said parenting was an easy job!
-Divya Joshi
