Tough Choices

Mamma read an interesting article on overprotective parenting. We need to ensure as parents that we do not unknowingly and unwittingly hinder ur development by being overprotective and extra careful. How else would we see u walk with complete confidence? True, you would pbbly have a few falls and even hurt urself ... but that does not mean we kind of hold your hands at every step and don't allow you to walk independently right?That wud stifle ur development. We need to ensure that while we try to protect u from falls by being alert, we shud let u walk and do stuff on ur own.For example if you are working on replacing the lid of a bottle , unsuccessful though you may be couple of times, we shud not immediately get down to helping you for there is no pleasure greater than discovering things on ur own... thats the joy of learning .
In fact seeing Shriya on ur birthday party made me feel like its not merely genetics that manifests itself in the behaviour of the child but its the behaviour and attitude in parenting that shows up in the attitude of the child.Shriya was as bindaas as her mom was ... to put it simply. Her mom was not too concerned when she fell off and said "Oh well .. this happens all the time" and Shriya reflected her moms attitude by giving a damn to the fall ..
Mama and pappa need to loosen up definitely... but its so difficult to draw a line .. I mean how cautious is too cautious and how cautious is overprotective ? Who decides this? I guess this is something that is subjective but what the results are in terms of the childs learning and ability to cope with life and its vagaries will definitely vary depending on the choices ...
Thats the crux of parenting ... tough choices ... and choices that wil shape and mould the childs future .. as good or bad ..