We feel a tremendous gratitude towards people who wish well for us and
our children. They watch us, our actions and decisions with a great deal of care and concern. They keep track of our lives and are always there for us.
At times however, our behaviour or our reactions appear to hurt, annoy or cause sorrow to them. Talking it over again hasn't helped. The more we talk, the wider the gap becomes, or so it appears. Every time I think it over, I realise that the gap is at a contextual level.
Education of children is one such area. My attempt to articulate the context is as below.
At times however, our behaviour or our reactions appear to hurt, annoy or cause sorrow to them. Talking it over again hasn't helped. The more we talk, the wider the gap becomes, or so it appears. Every time I think it over, I realise that the gap is at a contextual level.
Education of children is one such area. My attempt to articulate the context is as below.
- We’re not trying to make our children like us (or like anyone else for that matter). They are of their own type. Every day we get to know them better. We try to disassociate our likes, dislikes, beliefs and ideologies from their characteristics and traits. That way, we are able to accept them the way they are.
- We’re living among people who do a lot for their children and their ‘bright’ future. We are still exploring what ‘bright future’ means and whether brightness is so critical. They seem quite confident about what is good and what is not. We are not confident; in fact we don’t know. Our children may not fare too well on the measuring scale used by most people. We’re yet to understand the relevance of that scale. The situation is not very easy for us, but our commitment for our children is utmost.
- Some people sometimes feel sorry for our children. They’re angry with us. We and our children get to know of this. It’s quite a strange situation. While we’re thanking God, feeling happy for our children; they pity our children, accuse us of being irresponsible parents.
- Some learning happens through experience. Experience may cause hardships & pain. It may seem like we’re pushing them into pain or inviting hardships, but as we see it, they’re learning.
All the points I made above may appear theoretical, even cliched. In my subsequent blog posts, I will try and illustrate the application of these points in practical situations.
