FASCINATING THINGS I LEARNT FROM 2 YEARS OF PARENTING RESPONSIBILITIES

Often simple things in life attract us the most. May be that’s why everyone has soft spot for kids. They are purest and simplest souls. But raising a child is out-and-out different from just interacting or playing with a child. I am mother to a 2-year-old kid. And here is my insight on how parenting responsibilities of 2 years old feel like, and what I learnt in the process.

Say yes for a girl child

I wonder why in some part of world gender predilection for a baby is still there. Birth of a baby boy is cherished whereas a baby girl is mourned over. Being a mother of a girl child, let me confess that, she is the best thing ever happened to me. Her presence is one of the 4 things I am thankful for in life.

She is sweet and shavvy. Her innocent looking eyes can purposely read lines of expressions on someone’s face. And guess what!! She will then act accordingly.

She would make new discoveries every now and then. Her latest discovery is crying without tears. At times her tantrums will annoy me, and the next moment she would do something so silly that I can’t stop laughing.

Probably she knows how to lift someone’s mood instantly at any time. Her one smile can flip a bad day to a good day just like that.

What is special about a toddler (parenting 2 year olds)?

A child between 1 to 3 years of age is titled as toddler. This is an eventful age for a kid. At this age physical growth loses pace compared to infancy (less than 1 year baby). Nevertheless, rapid mental and emotional development comes forth.

Around toddler age a kid begins to express her/his mind through rudimentary words. S/he responds to rhymes and stories and identifies colours. Further, s/he names her/his toys and plays with them. Most importantly, at this toddler age a kid initiates meaningful social interactions.

During this tender age between 1 to 3 years brain is still maturing. Hence a toddler will be exploring each and every new thing and mastering innovative skills. Sometimes s/he picks up even faster than an adult.

It’s around this toddler age, very foundation of future values of a child is being laid. A kid will imbibe whatever passes through her/his senses. Thus, a little bit effort from family members will act like a catalyst to promote further development.

What is difference between 80’s parenting and current parenting? What changed in last few decades?

• Parenting is not the same, what it used to be few decades back. Partly because kids now a days are smarter, owing to process of evolution. They grasp things very quickly. They have such a keen sense of observation that you can barely fool them. If you try to distract them by telling ‘ghost’ and ‘zombie’ stories, the next moment they will apply the same trick to divert your mind as well.

• Secondly now a days parents are extra cautious with respect to their kids’ health. I remember one day parents brought a child to emergency room at zero hours, just because he sneezed few times. Though I support the idea of over-doing it instead of under-doing when it comes to a kid’s health. Nevertheless, a line should be drawn somewhere on overprotectiveness.

• Thirdly there is a huge difference in monetary expenditure related to a kid. Financial burden has taken its toll on middle class people so much that, to have a second child or not is a big decision in itself. Rather most people are thinking highly of having only a single child.

How is parenting in post covid era?

In post covid time kids started spending greater part of day indoors. Paucity of outdoor activities lead to childhood obesity. Further increased screen time made them vulnerable to autistic spectrum disorders. Meanwhile failure of parents to find a work life balance, contributed to ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) as well. Now a days ASD is rampant just like a pandemic.

After seeing so many autistic kids in OPD, we physicians know that healthy interactions with a kid is as much vital as diet and hygiene. Reading stories, singing rhymes, showing picture books, toys are some ways to engage them positively for speech and social development. These are the small changes that bring a big difference in life of a child.

Normal speech milestones for a kid

Below is normal speech milestones or linguistic milestones for a baby.

To stimulate development of speech, I make an attempt to communicate with my kid as much as feasible. Even when she will pronounce butterfly as ‘butter byte’ and crocodile as ‘gutter gyte’, still I am a happy mother.

Pampering a toddler ? Should you or should you not?

Now a days families are limited to just one or two kids. With increase in purchasing capacity, parents these days feather-bed kids by adhering to their each and every demand. This over-parenting needs to stop.

Showering love on kids all the time and pampering them too much spoils them sooner or later. Therefore, it is all-important to say no to irrelevant demands of kids whenever necessary.

How good a mother you are?

The word ‘mother’ gives a mental picture of perfection. But ‘motherhood’ is as much flawed as any other thing in life. If you are a mother, you can very well relate to what I am trying to convey.

As a mother, when you don’t sleep enough for days, you begin to loose your cool. It feels like testing times to maintain a proper mental health. Also, at times you feel insufficient and guilty of not doing enough for your kid. And, even after holding patience for so long when things won’t turn out well, weariness strikes in.

Every mother lives through these thoughts at least once in her lifetime. But again, she keeps on pouring her heart and soul into taking care of her kid. So, if you ask me, a mother is just a mother without any judgement or tag of ‘good’ or ‘bad’.

Conclusion

Life is all about finding purposes. And as it happens, arrival of a kid in home, gives a bigger purpose to life.

To me, these moments with my little girl are too precious for words. in my previous blogs on my pregnancy days and celebrating first year of parenthood, I have shared how time flies like a whirlwind when we are around kids.

With a blink of eye these days will also pass by. And once gone, her childhood is never going to come around again. Thereby I wish to live in this moment and embrace every tiny bit of it with open arms.

How have your experiences of parenting been? What did you learn till date. Share your thoughts in comment box below. Share this post and subscribe below to receive updates on more such interesting blogs.