Don't be 'The Proud?Parents'
I was on a playdate with my son when I found myself seated beside a gentleman whose sweet daughter was also part of the gathering.
Out of the blue, he commented to me, “Kiaan is not disciplined. Feels like you don’t instruct him much.”
I chose to ignore his remark.
A few minutes later, his daughter came running to him and said, “Papa, poo poo.”
He smiled as though he had received the best employee award and remarked, “She is too disciplined.”
I smiled back. She is a cute girl. As for her father, well, I had different feelings.
Later that night, I shared this encounter with my wife. I felt a little tense.
Are we raising him the wrong way?
A few days later, I encountered the gentleman again?—?the proud father.
This time, I was with Kiaan, teaching him to shake hands and talk to our security guard. The gentleman noticed and changed his direction.
Afterward, I approached him to greet his cute little daughter.
He came near to me and said, “It’s not advisable to maintain such close proximity between Kiaan and these individuals.”
In that moment, I virtually patted my own back. I felt elated. I went to my wife, hugged her, and said, “We are parenting right.”
She asked, “What enlightened you?”
I replied, ‘The Proud Father.’
What is Parenting?
I had watched many videos before Kiaan was born. I had read numerous blogs and online content.
领英推荐
But none had taught me what I had learned in these 21 months of parenting.
We all strive to give our children the best?—?the best education, environment, platforms for learning skills, and habits & discipline.
What we often overlook is teaching them how to be good human beings.
Proud fathers are content with their children’s discipline and good habits, but they overlook whether their child is becoming a good human being.
The second biggest issue is ‘The Race’.
We, the parents, are in some sort of race ourselves, and we push our children into it, fearing they might miss out.
But pushing them into the race won’t alleviate the FOMO. The problem lies within the race itself.
If a child isn’t potty trained by the age of five, what’s the issue? Apart from the extra work for the parents?
Why do we compare? Why is learning something early in life considered an achievement?
We all want our children to stand out from the crowd, yet we push them into it for the race.
There’s no singular definition of right parenting, but undoubtedly, the issues I’ve discussed above characterize wrong parenting in this era.
Observing all this, I’ve resolved to train Kiaan in one thing?—?being a good human being.
Once someone is a good soul, everything else falls into place. Success lies in being a good human, not just in securing a high-profile job.
Below are a few things that, in my opinion, make a good human:
I am working on these points as my pillars of parenting, the essence of true parenting.
I hope he grows up to be a great human being.