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Are We Watching Our Children Too Closely?

  The other day, I came across a post from a parent who had taken their child for a routine vaccination. During the visit, the healthcare provider called the child's name. The child didn't respond immediately, and the parent was advised to consider an autism assessment. Now, developmental screening is important. Early identification and intervention can make a meaningful difference in a child's life. This isn't an argument against awareness. But the story stayed with me. Not because of the assessment itself, but because of what it revealed about modern parenting. A child doesn't respond when their name is called. Twenty years ago, a parent might have thought: "Maybe he's engrossed in what he's doing." Today, many parents find themselves spiraling through a different set of questions: "Is this autism?" "Am I missing a red flag?" "Should I be worried?" Parents have always worried. That isn't new. What's new is th...
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An Uncomfortable Parenting Truth

​ Your child is not responsible for your happiness. And that might be one of the most uncomfortable truths in parenting. Many of us were raised to believe that good children keep their parents happy. That gratitude means sacrifice. That love means putting someone else’s needs before our own. But healthy family relationships don’t ask one person to carry another’s emotional well-being. Children are not born to fulfil a parent’s unmet needs, dreams, or expectations. They are born to become fully themselves. When children feel responsible for a parent’s happiness, they learn to monitor emotions instead of expressing their own. They learn to please instead of connect. They learn that love is something to be earned rather than experienced freely. The goal of parenting isn’t to raise children who feel indebted to us. It’s to raise children who know how to build relationships rooted in empathy, respect, and choice. Ironically, when children are free from the burden of keeping us happy, they a...
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Parenting: The Only Job Where Everyone Has an Opinion

Parenting: The Only Job Where Everyone Has an Opinion Parenting… Something you can never quite seem to get perfectly right. I mean, have you ever actually met the perfect parent? Because if you have, please introduce me. I’d like to ask them a few questions… and possibly check if they’re human. Most of us grow up noticing the little things our parents did wrong. And then—almost magically—when we become parents ourselves, the previous generation starts noticing everything we’re doing wrong. It’s a cycle, really. “Humne toh aisa nahi kiya…” “Humare zamaane mein toh aisa nahi tha…” “Tum log social media pe bahot dependent ho…” “Chocolate nahi dena kya matlab hai?” And my personal favourite: “Itne restrictions rakhoge toh baad mein tumhari ek nahi sunenge ye log!” That last one always makes me laugh a little… mostly because the same people once had very clear rules about TV time, outdoor play timing, and the exact dinner time we had to follow, the friends we were allowe...
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