Several years ago there was a terrible press report about a murder in a posh apartment in Mumbai. A little boy of about 7 years had the habit of playing a regular prank with his mother. Every evening, when he returned from school, he took the lift to reach his floor. Upon reaching his apartment, he used to ring the door bell repeatedly, and then nagging the lift-operator to carry him, the little fellow would cover the peep-hole fixed on the door with his palm, excitedly. He wanted to ’surprise’ his mother every evening, presumably by not letting her see him before opening the door. Laughter and excitement usually followed and were soon forgotten.. only till the next evening.
The horrendous thing happened one evening. The lift-operator himself played the prank- ringing the doorbell several times and covering the peep-hole. The woman opened without a second thought, thoroughly convinced that her son was back home. But what actually happened is now anybody’s guess.
Come to think of it, the life could’ve been saved and things could’ve been normal in that family. How? If the mother had nipped the habit at the very beginning. ‘Love is blind’ some say. But in this case, love turned to be the killer - just because it was blind.
You and I, we all tend to commit such grave mistakes too often, yes! We call it ‘pampering’, as long as there are no side effects. Well, anything in excess is injurious and parental love is no exception! Let us do some introspection in a few situations: With the child by our side, don’t we (not frequently, of course) -
- over speed in our vehicle so as to reach in time?
- stuff him with his favorite junk food so as to quieten him?
- put him before the TV and peacefully finish off our personal (urgent) work?
- talk ill about someone known to him and still expect him to respect that person?
- let him play with expensive and breakable things, just because we are in an extremely happy mood?
- ignore the pile of leftovers in his plate, simply because we are in a hurry to go out?
- bribe him with goodies in order to hide our mistakes?
- forego some very important routines (like putting off the lights when leaving the room) as we are too tired?
- tolerate his undisciplined conduct lest he would scream and bring the roof down?
- allow him to watch the TV late into the night saying “anyway tomorrow is a holiday”?
“Arise, awake, stop not till the goal is reached!” said Swami Vivekananda, the great Hindu missionary of India. Let us wake up, too, to these small details of child-upbringing. Very soon, your child’s school, society and later the world at large will shower admiration and praise for you by awarding him a commendable rank.
Results guaranteed.