Let Your Kids Have An Unspoiled Childhood. Stop Deciding Their Future For Them!

If you’re guilty of trying to mould your kid’s future without their participation, or even before they can say future, this post is for you. Read on.

I recently saw a question on Quora where a parent had asked what they should do to make sure that their 4-year-old kid becomes an IAS officer. My only advice would be to leave the kid alone! Stamping a kid’s future at an age when he/she should simply be running around is ridiculous.

Life expectancy of 80 is not very rare these days, isn’t it? Children enter full-time schooling by the time they are 6 or 7 years old. Not giving the kids even these first few years to fool around is the most inhumane behaviour I have ever seen. It pains me to hear parents of play school toddlers discussing mental math and languages. Why would you ever want to push your children into the rat race this early? Is it peer pressure? Or are you forcing your dreams on your kids? Do you think those frail shoulders have the strength to bear this heavy burden when the word ‘responsibility’ isn’t even present in their dictionary yet?

I have a one-year-old daughter and watching her grow gives me an immense sense of peace and satisfaction. Her smile when she flexed her fingers for the first time, her excitement when she found out that she could roll over, the sense of achievement on her face when she could hold an object – everything out of innocence and nature’s way of working. The things that we take for granted are huge milestones for them. Rather than tending to these warm-hearted souls, why is today’s society bent on crushing them? Haven’t you ever wished to go back to your childhood after a tired day? If you make that period a hell as well, what memories will today’s little ones have in the future to soothe their minds?

You, probably, didn’t get a lot of chances when you were growing up, for various reasons. Trying to provide those opportunities to your children is definitely a good thing. But it should be in a field that they are interested in. Let them explore the world. Let them dirty their hands in everything purely for fun. You will slowly be able to see what they are more interested in. You can then focus on helping them achieve their best in that field.

Let your kids enjoy their childhood before they are burdened with the responsibilities of adult life. Learn to savour every moment of their innocence now and support their choice of career when they grow up. Learn to live and let live because being “school-ready” is not a skill for toddlers to be endorsed.

Published here earlier.

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