Empowering Parenting...

I'm not writing this post as an expert on parenting. Infact, I'm not at all qualified to advise on parenting because I'm not a parent myself.
But, I have been a kid like most of us and right now I'm just sharing what I have experienced as a kid in my growing years...

I was the laziest baby you would have seen. I never liked to fold my bedsheet after getting up in the morning.
But, I did like to make different shapes from paper... mostly square.
So, every morning, my mom would ask me to help her make a square by joining corners of the bedsheet... as I grew, I made the square out of the bedsheet myself... Even till date after I get up in the morning, I make the square out of my bedsheet and keep it exactly on top of my pillow...

All the parents have one common issue... kids fighting over toys... right???
My brother and I always got the same toys... every toy brought into the house was brought in 2's. One for my brother and one for me.
Once My brother and I (5-8 year olds) were fighting over a toy jeep... I thought it was mine and he thought it was his... We were getting pretty loud and physical about it... Just then, our mom came into the room, took the toy Jeep and just threw it out of the window... Weeeeeeeee it went out the window and into the open drain behind our house...
We were smart enough to figure out that anything we fight for will be taken away...
Interestingly we have never fought ever since...

Most of us hated homeworks when we were little... There were a lot of tricks my mom used with me when I was little, I still remember one of them...
Every evening she would give me dictation (spelling) practice... Since we were a joint family, she couldn't spend full time with me. So, she would come into the room, say 3 english words and go back to the kitchen. The challenge was to remember all of them and write them down. By the time I had finished writing those, she would come back and give me another 3 words. Over time, my memory and speed got so good that I could remember about 10 words which she would list out and go to kitchen. It strengthened both my spellings and memory even before I was 8 years...

I like all kids, was a troublesome eater... No child I've ever seen has loved eating... but I know for sure that every kid likes to win. Children are competitive by nature and love winning. I guess my mom figured out that secret as well.
Every evening, my brother and I would sit for dinner and the race would start... Mom would server half a bread (Roti) to each of us. Whoever finishes his half first wins the first round. Round after round I used to win. We had anywhere between 6-8 and sometimes 10 rounds of such half roti rounds...
Anybody who has tried feeding a kid (3-5 years age) will know what an achievement it is to have your kid eat 3-4 rotis.

For those who have just 1 kid, fret not...
Its a well known fact that kids hate rotis and rice... but, when we were kids, we just loved different shapes...
It takes just a bit of extra effort, and nowadays we even get metal stencils to cut out these shapes... instead of giving them round rotis, just try giving them stars and half moons and elephants and mickey mouses and lets see how they resist it...

Most of us didn't like veggies as kids... No kid likes tomatoes and cucumbers in salad... but they will absolutely love flowers and stars and different shapes cut out from those same veggies... All it takes is a good knife and a few youtube videos...
Trust me, it works... if you don't find anything, just catch me... I have a lot of experience with these tricks... (They have been used on me...)

Most of us who have siblings have felt this sometime in our lived - "Mom loves him more than me".
We were blessed never to have felt that...
Our mom made us a part in her parenting...
I was the first one to take my new born brother in my lap... not my dad or my grand parents... it was I who took my brother first time in the lap.... You tell me, will I ever get the thought that mom loves him more than me???

Both my brother and I were made incharge of putting our little sister to sleep everyday... My brother would take her in the lap and pat her head while I stood there like a bodyguard...
Tell me... how will any of us brothers ever think that mom loves the sister more than us???

These are just a few of the hundreds of smart parenting tricks my mom used when bringing us up.

I was never told "No". Even if it was not good for me, my mom would show me something better and change my mind instead of saying no...
Once I had my eyes set on a Hot wheels race track set... It was a 3 storey track set with 6 hot wheels cars included... My mom gave me one target... "Get within the top 3 ranks in final exams and you'll have it" I got the 3rd Rank that year... With a lot of excitement we went to buy the race set... When I was selecting the model, my mom said "But I don't know how to play this game... I'll get bored". I asked here what she knew and she showed me lots of other games which she knew...
That day I walked out of that toy store smiling from ear to ear because I had gotten a game of my choice... a brand new game of "Scrabble"... yep... thats right... "Scrabble"... and I was quite proud of it.
And thats how I got my games of chess and business.


Even when I once failed in a subject in school times, my mom said... "I know you will do it... don't worry son"... For the next few months... It was not the rank or success or respect which motivated me... it was just those words of trust which motivated me and kept me obsessed with my studies...

I don't remember ever being beaten by my mom, not scolded much ;), didn't hear too many "No"s, and I think I grew up just fine.

You might come up with some tricks of your own...

I have just one wish on my mind right now...
"20-25-30 years from today... one of your children should be proud of being your child and should be sharing a similar experience with the rest of the world"

Think about it...