Parenting: The Skill We Are All Naturally Endowed With
Enabling or suffocating parent? The choice is yours!
In two independent houses separated by a compound wall two people were staying, in one a retired person and in the other a techie.
They had planted identical saplings on either sides of the compound.
The techie used to give lot of water and manure to the plants.
The retired, just a small quantity of water and little manure.
The techies plant grew into lush green, leafy robust plant.
The retired person’s plant was fairly normal but not as luxuriant than his neighbor’s.
One night there was heavy rain with gusty winds.
Next morning both came out to see the fate of the plants.
To the techie’s surprise, his plant had got uprooted whereas his neighbor’s was unharmed.
Techie asks the retired as to why his plant was uprooted despite such great care whereas the neighbor had hardly cared.
The retired person’s answer should be a lesson for all of us….
Look young man, you supplied everything a plant could need, in abundance… and the plant did not have to go in search of it… the roots did not have to go down.I was supplying just enough to keep it alive. For the rest, its roots had to go down into the ground to fulfill its needs.
Since your roots were superficial and not deeply rooted, the rain and wind could easily uproot it.
Since my roots were pretty deeply grounded, they could withstand the onslaught of the nature.
The same applies to your children too.
Isn’t this story similar to the way today’s parents are dealing with their children, with their youngsters?
Sometimes, parents are so possessive and over protective of their children and end up over pampering them, not giving them their space, the facility, the opportunity and the impetus to grow by taking responsibility.
On the other hand, some parents just leave children to themselves without proper support and help, and thus they end up making wrong decisions due to lack of maturity.
Parents caring for their children is exactly like caring for a plant. Neglect will make the plant die, but over pampering will make the plant weak.
We should all endeavor to find the right balance so that their children grow luxuriantly and bear flowers and fruits in the form of experience, wisdom and maturity.
PS: As adults we have people looking up to us such as mentees, work colleagues, people we inspire that we have never met, etc. The term Children as used in this story also representative of these people.
