CHILDREN’S PARENTS
Written By : Bakhtiar Hakeem
PARENT’S CHILDREN
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love my children. I have deep commitment to help them in all possible ways. I possess and nourish in me a deep desire to be amongst the best of parents. I just want my children to be the best. Obviously what I think is best for them is the best. My sincerity is beyond any shadow of doubt. No one else knows better than me, what is best for my children. All parents in this passionate and love ridden blind pursuits assume the role of almighty for their children. Obviously they are not god almighty, but they falter to become one.
A near hundred percent majority of parents fail to believe what they desire for their children, can be plagued by many ills. Many are short on knowledge, either in absolute terms or relatively. They are deficient relative to the subject, issue, as well as their children. Some are short on the skills. What they desire they can not do themselves even if they have the knowledge. Usually the deficiency in skill is compounded for being short on knowledge. The third trouble; which many, fortunately acknowledge also, is their list of failures. Over the years which they have lived, their list of failure is correspondingly long; far longer. It is minimum a decade longer than their children’s. Now they want their children to turn that list of failures into achievements.
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et me shift the focus onto more lucky pairs. I refer to the parents, who are favorably placed with reference to knowledge and skills. They are in better position to offer suggestions and recommendations to their children. Great are the parents who first win the initial credibility. And maintain it over the years. They are certainly lucky to develop a sound base to move forward. In fact this is the position of strength to consolidate. Weak are those who have to tell their children that listen to us we are your parents. Here are a few more words to help parents to review and enrich their initial credibility. Parents should be interested in the things their kids are interested in. It could be a hi-tech hard ware, or a computer game. It could be a toy, a cartoon program on TV or a piece of junk food. Learn about it and thus be more knowledgeable. Improve the faith in equality of human beings. It will be hard, but you will enjoy the change once children turn into co-partners in every sense rather than liabilities and dependants.
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evelop the communication skills to talk to children. A rude, indifferent wayward teenager is a good test for your communication skill; and not the opposite. A well polished, well behaved and a civilized kid is otherwise an asset to have in the house. Some simple basic rules can help tight and tense parents. Depending upon the desire to improve and ready to take some corrective measures; look at the list of points below.
o He or she belongs to Him- the Creator. You also belong to same Lord and Master. You are a humble being first and a father or parent later. He is the in-charge; the sustainer of all.
o Your kid is as good or bad as you are or you were in his or her age.
o If he or she is not as good as you wish or conform to your standards, then help the kid attain that. Remember help works the best when asked for.
o Act and do not react. If you are in any way senior to kids, who you are by age, then do not be reactive. Act and act based on positive mental attitude-PMA. Act for the sake of positive end. Keep the end in mind. If you are senior you will keep the end in mind.
o A positive end can be measured by many criteria. One of the most significant and relevant criteria to adjudge a chosen end is its ‘win-win’ potential. A child must see a ‘win; for him or her in the ‘ends’ you suggest or recommend.
o Do not be a judge where you are a party. Let someone else be the judge. Best thing would be to allow your rogue to select a judge. In the presence of a judge you would be at far greater ease to plead, suggest and recommend, as forcefully and as openly as possible. If there is no judge and the situation do not permit to have one, then evaluate and defer your judgment. Defer it for as long as possible.
o Learn to present your opinion to your children and not the judgment. Avoid calling your statement the last word of wisdom. Let them appreciate it.
o Be a leader of your children rather than manager. Before I highlight the deficiencies of manager’s paradigm I will conclude to say learn to lead from behind. Knowing this change in position and mastering this art is the crux of this effort.
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f course babies are managed. Some one has to feed them, change nappies, roll them, giggle with them and sing lullabies. Nothing like mother but let us face the truth. Can’t a nurse do all this? Can’t a qualified baby sitter do all this? Don’t nannies do all this? Sure, as the children grow they would look up for your finger to hold. They need it then to straighten their feet and steps, to walk. He or she would ask you to lift him or her and put on the horse back or high bench nearby. He or she might ask you to hold the bike from behind as young rider peddles out into a straight ride. As the years pass by they need lesser and lesser of the management. These are the years when you should grow in the best sense of the word to be a leader parent. Learn to wind up your role as manager parent. What are the functions of leader parent? Leader parents first identify themselves and then help the children identify purpose and goals of life? The individual child goals come next. Then the leader parents stand behind their children to see them tread for their (children chosen) goal. They do not manage them to walk the father’s (or parent) chosen course. Leader parents harness family feelings. These feelings provide a strong canvass for the family, all of them, including parents, to make mistakes, laugh on them and grow together. Thus they all contribute to each other‘s efforts, enabling the family to expand both vertically and laterally.
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anager parents are involved in managerial paradigm. They remain operational both in their approach and in hour to hour handling. They remain locked up in petty matters and therefore fail to see the end of even their own life goals, what to talk of their children’s. They do not let heir young ones and loved ones grow; grow beyond what they can see. Whenever and wherever children want to adventure out they interfere heavily. To grow and yearn for success is a natural process. It is His process. Tragically the petty almighty picks up the fight with the Almighty for the sake of his or her children. The consequences are never good. The troubles are both complex and extremely varied. Human being can be either proactive or reactive or be anywhere in between these ends of continuum, otherwise close to each other. Proactive people can be reactive sometimes and reactive people turn proactive occasionally. However, they quickly shrink back to their shells. Reactive persons, who otherwise fail to be leader parents, become over reactive towards their children. They tend to behave with their children as equal rivals. The tragedy is compounded when they use their parenthood as their soul superiority. This amounts to begging. And such parents, obviously, fail to feel the pain of their children. The pain, children undergo seeing their parents in beggar’s role.
Some parents gather their superior size, louder voice, skill to yell, possession of authority and financial superiority to win battle against their children. This is the worst exhibition of managerial paradigm of reactive parents. At the end of such episode, parents, usually fathers, “stand victorious in the middle of debris of shattered relationships while children stand smashed, outwardly submissive but inwardly rebellious”. Many of wise children successfully suppress their reactions. However, continually put through such trauma the pile of suppressed feelings can surface in yet uglier forms.
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