JOIN USDoing a balancing act
For people, surviving in this new digital and competitive age is hard enough and when they are parents, the hurdles are doubled. Metrolife spoke to some parents living in this ‘new-age’ and asked them how they overcome the challenges they face.
One of the most common things faced by many parents is giving enough time for their children and their work. Suresh, who has an eight-year-old daughter, talks about how important the role of a parent is in forming the personality of the child.
“It’s very important that once I get home, my entire attention is towards my daughter. Even at work, people know that only if it’s a dire emergency should they contact me at home. One should find a fine balance and be clear about where work ends and where family life begins,” he adds.
Rudra, who has an 11-year-old son, says that due to his hectic work schedule, he and his son have struck a deal on making weekends solely family time. “I feel this era of parenting is all about being your child’s friend. While I like to indulge him, he needs to learn to value things too. So once in a while, I sit with him and instill values through simple examples and easy-to-follow stories,” he adds.
Maya, on the other hand, says that what really takes a toll on her while taking care of her seven-year-old daughter are the little projects that her child comes home with. “Many times, it is actually the parent who is sitting and doing the chart projects or helping the children with their homework.
Once my daughter had a project where she had to make lemonade at school and her job was to bring mint leaves. I came back home at eight to find that there were no mint leaves at home and we went hunting all over town for them. But when we finally found them, the smile on her face was totally worth it,” she adds.
When it comes to teenagers, Shwetha says that it is best to just leave them and trust them to make the best judgement. “It’s a scary world out there but at the same time being overly protective parents will only hurt the child,” says Shwetha, who has a 13-year-old son.
So how does she overcome this hurdle? “There are times when one needs to put one’s foot down but at the end of the day, I make sure he knows that I am there for him no matter what. That way, no matter what trouble he gets into, he comes out and tells me the truth. And then we figure out a way to deal with it,” she says.