Parenthood is one of the most exciting and beautiful journeys. Throughout their lives, parents make sure to provide their children with the best but it’s also important to realise that one can’t master parenting just by reading a few books or attending a few seminars. It’s an ever-learning process.
It is absolutely fine to make mistakes, as parents since they are also humans. What they actually can do is to learn from them, and also teach others from their experiences. Here are some tips and lessons to sway through this journey by Author and Educator Sudha Murthy.
Sudha Murty emphasised the need to not compare children with others. During an event in 2017, Sudha said, “Most parents will have competition with their children. ‘What is your son’s score? I never ask that one – how much your son scored and how much my son scored and compare. Don’t do that. It is not good for you and worse for your child.”
Accept Them As They Are
It should be understood that children are also individuals and they will have their own personalities. Parents should accept and love them as they are. Referring to children as flowers in the same event, Sudha Murty had said, “Every flower is beautiful but in its own way. You cannot say the rose is better, hibiscus is not. NO! Hibiscus has its own properties, its own colour, its own volume and it looks different.”
Teach By Example
Sudha Murty advises parents to lead by example whenever they want to do something. For instance, if parents want their kids to read, they should switch off their TVs and phones and sit down to read themselves. Kids learn more by example than by sermon.
Give Respect & Take Respect
In conversation with a YouTube channel called Momspresso, Sudha Murty explained how she taught her children to respect everyone irrespective of their class or profession by using the example of their family driver. Everyone deserves respect, be it a driver or a gardener.
Sharing Is Caring
Children should be introduced to the idea of sharing. This makes them empathetic towards others. Sudha Murty suggested this while giving an example of how she once gave her son 50,000 for his birthday party but then asked him to have a small celebration and give the rest of the amount to their driver’s children for their education.
Philanthropist Sudha Murty is also a mother of two. She is looked up to even by new-age parents since she keeps a balance between modernism and traditionalism. Her parenting advice, therefore, remains timeless.