IT MAGAZINE - JUNE ISSUE | Page 20

Q U A R A N T I N E S T O R I E S activities to play dates, from school snacks to lunch menus, from outdoor attire to sleeping pyjamas, everything was decided by me. I reckoned my preferences as theirs without thinking of any consequences. My perception of parenting became more achievementoriented as I felt into a trap of raising perfect children. It is a shame that because of my work and social commitments, I disregarded many small but significant matters. Projecting my own expectations on them became a norm. For instance: I pushed my elder son to start soccer lessons as other kids from his class have joined them too. I have never asked him whether he actually wanted to join or not. However, during the quarantined phase, I got to know more about my children’s likes and dislikes, their fortes and weaknesses. Deep down in my heart, I have realised that, as a parent, the first thing we should do is to stop hurling our dreams on them and allow them to grow up as individuals. Sometimes, we are so engrossed in making our children perfect, we forget about their happiness. The pressure of “being a perfect child” will not only burden their tender heart, but will also jeopardise their future wellbeing. My take-away would be allowing my children to be themselves instead of being someone else. Embracing insecurities in a positive way: I would like to share some events from my childhood. I was bullied a lot in my school and college life for some personal reasons which was one of my biggest insecurities. I was ending up bunking schools to avoid my insecurities. For being feminine, I was told not to complain as it might jeopardise my reputation. In school, I was rather a laughing object and hardly anyone wanted to be my friend. At that time, I always pondered what was wrong with me; what made people critical about me. We grow up in a society which taught us to hide our insecurities rather than khjdjh IT Magazine / June Issue 18