Forget About Fussy Kids...Who's Fussy Now??

A moment of silence for the child fraternity of today. However more sick could life ever get for these tiny tots? It amazes me when I hear people discussing about sending their two year olds for pre KG admission coaching. Common, there ought to be limits, parents.

Actually the saga begins way before the child is born and continues until it produces a successor. And Alas! the vicious circle continues. Here are some of the most common issues faced.

How to name the kid?

The latest trend is, choose a name that begins with any of the first few alphabets in English. Why so? So that the kid comes first, at least in the attendance register, if not anywhere else?? Again a whole lot of excuses being given for the same, the most common being, “My child’s turn will come early enough everywhere. Why take a risk by waiting too long. You never know how the resources can run out anytime, the situations/environment/a person’s behavior can change any time.” And when these poor kids grow up, they curse themselves for being first in the list. But thanks to some intelligent people, they are here to make everyone happy (or is it sad? Whatever!). Anyways most teachers and professors go by random number generation or similar methods these days. Hence, sorry to say, that logic for choosing names stands defeated.  

Who will look after the kid?

Well, doesn’t help these days if only one person in the family is working, especially in case of a middle class family. Then what to do with the kid? Either send him/her to your parents (poor parents must have had enough of it bringing you up, and now in this old age, here comes an even tougher task). The second choice being, if a babysitter is affordable, go for it. Else send the kid to a day care. Fair enough.” You only understand the intricacies of the issue after you become a parent.” So, no comments. And yeah, forgot about the worst case, what if the mother and father are working in two different cities? Again some of the earlier options might work, provided the child does not get to see either his/her father or mother for a pretty long period. No comments again, but just one polite question. Why make all this money that you will get to enjoy only in the grave? And FYKI, you do not really get to enjoy anything in there. Stay together with the kids. It will cost you very little compared to what mode of payment you might have to use otherwise.

What if you decide to have a second kid?

God save the poor soul, whoever that may be. 

What about the kid’s schooling?

The million dollar question that gets parents debating every now and then. Some schools do that, some do this, some make kids cocky, some make them pakka studious, while some have the infrastructure. It could be a varied mix of the abovementioned too. Wonder whether there exist anymore schools that could simply make sure that the child would grow up to be a normal, sensible human being, who is wise enough to imbibe the appropriate information at appropriate stages or moments of his/her life. But I wonder how, I wonder why? When there is a bandwagon of parents sending their kids to particular schools for all the wrong reasons, why go back to the good old school systems? Why keep best of the past and add to it the best of the present? Nobody even cares.

Another piece of information, the kid will lose nothing on missing a day’s class. Life is too long and the ocean of knowledge too vast. You don’t miss out on all of it in one day, neither do you get to gain it all in one day. So why fret? Take a chill pill Moms and Pops.

Yet another piece of info, please do not start training the kid for an Engineer or Doctor while still in the womb. Give them some free space where they will get to decide what they want to do. Do not decide right away that he/she would be the class topper, the university topper and the most appreciated employee/employer or whatever. Instead prepare them to take failures just as they do successes and let them feel the joy of emerging out with flying colors and having and giving their respective bests in life.

Which competition should my kid win?

Now what sort of a question is that? No matter what his/her talents or abilities, he/she is supposed to win every competition anywhere and everywhere and at anytime, even if it be held at stark midnight. How many kids are genuinely interested in what they do or rather, in what they are made to do? Is anyone even bothered? Hope somebody is, else these kids are gonna get hurt real bad someday.   

Now another moment of silence for all those parents who find all this total crap. But trust me, if the present trends catch on, we might someday need NGOs to vouch for cruelty against children. NGOs to please consider starting a new branch for the same. Being a child is so beautiful just like any other stage of life. Please do not douse the curiosity, the inquisitiveness and the enthusiasm. Let them enjoy every moment of what it means to be an innocent tot.Hoping for better times and a wonderful  new year. :)