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