Three As of Parenting

It is very important for a parent to listen to the child. The child's life evolves with three important aspects around him:

Appreciation

Acknowledgment

Acceptance

This has been a daily ritual since last 4 years. Eventually, both of us have grown in our relationship and the bonding has increased twofold.

It was normal morning today and as always, I happened to be driving down my little one to school. In those 30 minutes all that’s True and Real are me and my little. That is the time we TALK and talk about everything. Everything including him being hurt by me or my better-half, or him having some complaints against his friends, or my in-laws or our cook …..

I am aware that those complaints are most baseless and surely innocent, but I ensure that I hear him out....I then try to breakdown the situation, explain the circumstance, conditions etc. and the allow him to decide what happened was right or wrong.

Much to my pride and sometimes amusement, I have noticed, that whenever I allow him to decide what is right or wrong, a majority of the times he concludes that what happened was ok ...

So, this is where the three A’s come into play:

Acknowledgement: He being able to Acknowledge his work, his behavior, his thought process, his concerns, his understanding, his maturity, him being hurt and lot more. Acknowledgement is about reassuring him that you have understood him. Acknowledgment gives the child confidence and makes him resilient.

Acceptance:  A child seeks acceptance from his parents, acceptance of what he is and of what he aspires to become. Acceptance of him as a person works tremendously on the esteem of the child. Acceptance by the parents assures his being and promises him of a better future.

Appreciation: The most important and the last in the "A" pyramid. When a parent appreciates his/ her child, the child feels confident and THAT helps him to face the world. A single word of appreciation makes him feel encouraged and special. And this feeling of being special makes his world, the most secured place to live in.

Let us, as parents inculcate the habit of 3 A's in our daily life.

For me, these 3A's are an integral part of my life, the credit goes to my parents and I am now taking this legacy ahead by implementing the same for my child.

Relationships - Nurture them

Recently, I had been chatting with my bestie...

And he casually said : loved your smile

Me : Where did you see that?

He : In the DP

And since I was joking around, I abruptly wrote a shayari which kind of represented with the situation.

"Ek zamana tha

Ek zamana tha

jab dosto ek dusre Ko milke  smile dete the

Aab ye zamana hai

Aab ye zamana hai

Ki DP dekh ke hi smile Kar lete hai".

This holds so true these days....

How often do we meet people or our friends?

We say, we are connected but have you ever thought, how?

We do stay connected but majority of the times we remember, when we need.

The need can be emotional, physical, materialistic or seeking a connect!

So, what comes to my mind is this; is this friendship? Is this a relation or just a connect?

A relation is just like a plant, you need to nurture it with love, patience, understanding and empathy. If it's not nurtured, it stays as mere connect...

And connect is always there as a means of barter, services or self benefit.

Some quick tips to nurture relations, they can be your friend, parents, spouse, child, in-laws, sisters and sister in law's ....

1..Call them instead of dropping a message.

2..Wear a smile while you talk.

3..Talk DilSe and not just for the hack of talking.

4..Plan a surprise visit to them.

5..Take care of their special occasions and moments such as birthdays, health , their personal achievements, marriage  anniversary  and sometimes cater to their  moods too, as you are a friend and remember- a friend is never judgemental.

If you find that you are not able to cope up with that, take your time , the other person understands too and remember, it's a two way traffic ....so the other person is trying too.

So let's give a hi-fi and start it anew...

Every relationship has a strong emotional bond, nurture it ...you will love to see it blossom and so will be the other person.