SPARE SOME TIME FOR THE CHILD

 SPARE SOME TIME FOR THE CHILD                              

Of late, a trend of leaving the child fully to his or her routine pervades our society; i.e., parents deem it enough to feed the children and entrust them to school care for the best part of the day.

This trend has its root in the present-day situation of both parents being ‘employed’. For a reasonable living, financial well-being is a must. Under this dispensation, compounded by nuclear family, children are under ‘non-parental care’ for the best part of the day.

Being so, their outlooks get shaped by most influences other than those of the parent. Slowly, the parent-child relationship is tending towards sharing a roof with very little by way of emotional bondage.

 I do not suggest that there is ‘detachment’ on either side. But, definitely, there is an eerie silence at home, imposed by mere exchange of words and acts of discharging moral obligations to and from children. Largely, it is due to non-interactive hours every day except on holidays when all members of the family stay at the same place and time. On such occasions the whole family chooses to dine in some restaurant. So, the old habit of ‘eating together’ has faded off. Besides restaurants are not places for loud chat and all are effectively silenced   This robs the children of their legitimate demand of ‘enjoying’ parental affection, care and guidance. 

With the nuclear family arrangement in place, children do not have ‘domestic’ interactions of the yester decades’ grand-parental grooming. Gradually, children get trained to be aloof, sel- dependent and are left ‘high and dry’ to face situations unexpected.

Bewildered by unexpected ‘temptations’, children fall prey to the designs of the cunning. The psychological limitation is, the kids have not been appropriately ‘tuned’ to distinguish the bad and good, as they get very little time to interact with the parents. 

Left to the care of persons who have no emotional bondage to the child, there is a tendency to accept what comes by. At a later point in life of the boy or girl, it is impossible to impose restrictions or induct values. 

Therefore, parents must spend more time with the child to make him/her recognize that parents show genuine affection which others cannot to the same degree. It is the best exercise to groom kids from childhood on, instead of trying changes mid-course..

Irrespective of any material wealth, children are the true assets of a family. To be of utility and relevance assets need to be kept well groomed and tidy devoid of blemishes. Children –as assets should matter the most to anyone and so,  appropriate attention and timely care should be bestowed on them to preclude any chance of ruining by in-attentive   care in the formative days.

                                               Good Luck

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