Today, I feel like talking a bit about parenting.
Premith & I have different styles of parenting. They are quite contradictory. As a kid, I grew up seeing my mom frequently getting into disturbing arguments with my dad on matters related to parenting, May be because of that, I try to give in and let Premith take over when it comes to Appu.
As a modern day mother, I am constantly worried about Appu's screen time. Sometimes, I blame Premith for that because he is the one who introduced Appu to the world of internet connected gadgets & computer games.
Today, while clicking these pictures, I felt that Premith is not all wrong. Few days back, Appu surprised all of us by letting us know that he wants to practise for a 100 meters dash. He is not a morning person. Despite that, these days he wakes up at 5:45 and goes to the beach for a walk. He wants to ensure that his legs & lungs are strong and has the stamina for running. It has been almost a week since we started coming to the beach in the morning for his morning brisk walk. Kids do get bored of their screen time and want to try out other things. Supporting them when they are ready makes a lot of difference is what my experience tells me.
Now that was about Premith & his parenting. Coming to mine. Premith is again an overprotective parent. He wants Appu to grow up comfortably in the middle of all the comforts and happiness we can afford. I however believe in letting him know the hardships of life. Though I appear to be a dominant personality among us, Premith usually wins. Since Appu's 5th standard or so, I have been trying to make him switch to an ink pen. Premith never allowed this considering the inconvenience of using ink pens. He buys hundreds of gel pens and ballpoint pens for Appu. And these days, it is hard to get refills too. I get upset seeing the wastage, the money spent on pens and more importantly, the amount of plastic we use.
Appu is a papa's boy. He listens only to Papa when we have different opinions on matters related to him. But, now that Papa is not here at home, he is a different boy. He talks to me more often, cooperates with me and even goes by my opinions sometimes. I talked to him about using ink pens and he immediately agreed. I was surprised at his response.
These ink pens instilled a sense of responsibility in us as children.
We filled ink in our pens every day before going to school. We had spare pens with us to ensure that if at all we run out of ink, we have an extra one. We shared ink with our friends. We didn't need ink bottles to do that. We pumped ink from our pen to our friend's pen. There is a chance that ink might spill from the pen and we carried tiny pieces of clothes to clean our pens or any surface on which the ink might spill. Richer kids carried tiny blotting papers in their pencil boxes for the same. I am sending tissues in Appu's box. Appu is a carefree boy like his papa. Laid back. To be honest, I like that attitude. But sometimes, his casual attitude is a cause of worry.
I hope this switching to the ink pen will one day help him realise the importance of reducing wastage, reducing the use of plastic and also to be a bit more responsible when it comes to getting ready for the next day.
