Dear Readers
A favourite Chinese saying of mine- “ If you want to feed a poor man, do not give him fish to eat-teach him to fish!” seems so apt especially in these trying time-competing in the rat race we are caught up in ! And isn’t making our children independent in life and good human beings, our primary aim as parents and teachers???
Well, when we as parents molly coddle our children too much, aren’t we throwing the axe on their feet and ours too? Too often, I hear parents complaining about the entire system and that too in front of their children. It amuses me to think then, why they would pay fees to send their children to “good” schools !
When will we teach our children to cope with life’s challenges without developing the right attitudes-especially the “Attitude of Gratitude”?
One common complaint- “Bags are too heavy”! Instead of making our children exercise to make their backs strong, schools are lashed out against.
I remember, as a child, I was made to carry my own ‘heavy’ bag to school. My Mother used the ‘heavy’ school bag as a metaphor for the challenges life would hold for me. No wonder then, I have a strong and straight back even at age 61 years and at 5 feet nothing, I stand tall enough to successfully fight the worst odds that we as teachers have to face!!!
I am not surprised why someone rightly said – “ The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world” The foundation years 0-6 are especially dominated by a Mother. Hence, it is necessary for our young Mothers to be ‘truly educated’ enough, to handle the responsibility of nurturing self-reliant, independent, problem solving good human beings.
Above all, let’s promise ourselves to treat every child as special and unique in his/ her own right.
I quote Beverly Sill, with regard to some advice to all our students” You may be disappointed if you fail, but you will be doomed if you don’t try!”