To do it or not is the question.

A child's healthy development includes a plethora of factors. The very well known and accepted are nutritious food, water and healthy environment. Now, the last two worlds are merely an umbrella term for another list of factors , which in our Indian society , not very delved into. Today we are going to dig that up.

As a child successfully completes the one year mark , they transition into toddlerhood . This is the time when most of their brain developments begin. It is safe to say that anything and everything happening around them can and will shape them as a person . It is also a proven fact the childhood crafts an adult. However, in our Indian setting things are a tiny bit different which evidently makes a huge difference in the child's life ahead.

By reading so far one might expect me to criticize our society or its norms in parenthood, but its quite the contrary. You see, things like co-sleeping with parents, and keen attention to their upbringing are actually very beneficial for the child. However, few things ARE NOT, they include : constant bickering in front of the child without proper resolution of the fight , slandering remarks of parents towards each other and relatives , comparing the child with their peers, hitting one's child . Does it sound familiar?

To me, it does. Then what should be done? Before answering that question, you should know that children aged 4 to 7 and above do understand changes in family dynamics very well, and also most of the topics discussed in front of them in sheer negligence, they can AND WILL remember it all. In that case negative actions projected towards them by anyone especially parents get stored in their brains as trauma. We do not want that happening as further in life those traumas will manifest itself as serious mental health problems hindering their quality of life.

Now to answer our last question, parents and caregivers have to be extremely careful of their every action in front of them. That includes what and how they speak to the kids . Fallouts between caregivers is natural but resolving them should be too. Comparison of the child with their peers should be absolutely refrained as it causes irreversible harm to their self esteem and does more harm than good. Need I say how bad it is to hit a child? I cannot emphasize more on conscious parenting. And no it is not equal to letting the child have its own way rather its quite the opposite. Studies have shown that a calm and emotionally available household raises confident and intelligent adults. In the end its better for a child to watch their parents hugging and kissing rather than hitting and disrespecting each other on a daily basis.