“Lots of love, lots of attention, lots of time “is what Sir Richard Branson had to say on parenting, which is true. The number one rule on parenting I got from my parents is “do not criticize”, do not ever criticize, be very mindful of what you say to the children. The first eight years of my life as a child, I do not remember ever being criticized at all. I sincerely mean it. I was the youngest child in the family and all I could remember growing up was, my Dad would completely be flattered by everything that I did. My father just adored me, he would praise me for every simple, silly thing I ever did, like learning something new, singing a new song, playing cricket, everything and anything I did. I remember that there was just one occasion when he was upset at us, I don’t remember what we did he asked all the four of us to see him and was angry. And when I started crying he suddenly stopped, said he is done with it, asked everyone to leave and then he gave me a hug and said he didn’t mean to do that again. My mother has always been my primary teacher, spent a lot of time, gave a lot individual attention, is very encouraging and was always very careful what she would say when I made mistakes. This is number one rule I try to follow diligently. I am not perfect, I lose my patience occasionally, very rarely, but I apologize to my boys and say mom is not perfect you know.
The rule number two of Parenting I got from my parents is to teach us to “be fearless”. I remember both my parents wanted me to feel free and fearless. I was always encouraged to try to attempt doing something new. I just cannot figure out how many occasions my mom would encourage me to do something new something I was afraid of doing just by saying if your Dad was alive, he would never want you to fear. That was her final weapon by the way, to get me into doing. I am never afraid of failing and falling as my mom would say how I will learn anything unless I attempt it. And so I now practice rule number two, very sincerely with my boys. My boys understand that they will always have my unquestionable faith in all the projects that they are trying to do and my 100% commitment and support to every creative idea that they want to try. When the two of them are together my living room is sort of mini lab, with a couple of science projects we are trying out, we are all sitting around happy, in a total complete mess, smiling, giggling, talking , excited about the projects we are doing and what we plan to do in future.
To be continued…
You are very welcome to share your thoughts …..I would love to hear from you ……
Radhika Bauerle Radhika Puranam 