Adventures in Parenting

Compounding is often referred to as the 8th wonder of the Universe. And it has been studied to death in the field of investing, and wealth creation. However, I think the most powerful example of compounding is actually seen in parents. We have a long time on our hands - say 18 to 20 years. Whatever we do consistently with the child or get the child to do consistently, compounds. Whatever we consistently fail to do creates an ever-growing wedge.  Eventually, every parent has to come up with their own list. It is the things we are particular about which creates a sense of direction for the child.  For instance, I am fanatical about keeping the promises I make to my child. Unless there is an emergency of some sort, I keep the promises I make. This is essential for me to build trust with him. He is still learning, but I am teaching him to keep the promises he makes.  I am particular that he makes sports a part of his life. This is something I did not do, and one of the few re...

 A few weeks ago, our son broke something in my presence, and I got unusually annoyed. I gave him an earful, felt really disappointed with the turn of events, and was sulking. After a minute , he came up to me and said " Appa, next time I will not break things... Can we be happy again now ? " :)   Have you set a timeline on how long you need to remain morose to do complete justice to the bad stuff that just happened to you ?  There is so much I need to learn from my child.. Here is his routine  Be happy Bad stuff happened. So, be sad, angry, annoyed for 1 to 10 minutes  Be happy

 It was dinner time, and it was one of those days. Our son refused to cooperate. I had to convince him somehow. With something interesting...  We usually keep the TV off during dinner time, so that was out of question.  Even the promise of super-boy stickers didn't work..  And that's when I got this Brahmastra ( all powerful  :) idea ! I told my son " If you come for dinner within the count of 3, I will tell you a story about a dinosaur and the magic carpet. If you come after that, I will tell you a story about tomatoes and potatoes " :D He appeared in a flash, and to make sure I could see it , he said " Appa, please start the story of the dinosaur and the magic carpet "  My thanks to tomatoes and potatoes for their dull story potential.

 One of the challenges we have been facing is getting our son to be cooperative, especially when we are in a hurry. Invariably, we sometimes get to the point where we end up telling up " You have to do this right now, or else...".  We don't like using this approach, but when we are stressed, and the child turns rebellious, I'm sure most parents end up getting into this mode.  I finally have found great solution for this, which has been working quite well this past week.  It is this wonderful book called "1800+ Reward Stickers - Ideal For Teachers And Parents". The book is filled with small stickers which say things like 'Awesome' , 'Excellent', 'Great job', 'Fantastic'.. It has some star stickers, some of animals etc. The sort that would appeal to any kid.  So now, when we want him to do something, but he's not in the mood to cooperate, we try to tell him 'Do this like a superboy, and you will get a superboy sticker on...

 When our son turned about 3, we got him a real bicycle with support wheels. After about 6 months, my wife felt it was time for us to remove the support wheels  and that it was time to teach him "proper' cycling :) I felt it was a bit too early, but my wife was confident.  So,, she took off the support wheels, and took him out to cycle every evening. This was also the time I no longer had work from home, and I was flooded with work. After about a week of trying to teach my son to cycle, my wife came back to me and said " It's only the men who are teaching the kids to cycle. Women can't handle this. So, you teach him ' ;p  So, I started. The trouble was figuring out where to hold the cycle while he pedalled the bicycle. I tried holding the handlebars for a while, but quickly realized it was too intrusive. Pretty much the only other option was holding the backseat. Now, this required me to bend down a lot, and I was struggling with backpain in about 10 minutes....

 I had been waiting to teach my son to play the keyboard. Until he was about 3, it was almost impossible - his fingers were too small, and his attention span even smaller :) He was almost always in a playful mood.  But once he turned about 3 and half, I thought it was time to try giving it a shot. I started teaching my son on my 'big' keyboard, as that was the only one we had at home then. He was moderately enthusiastic, but seemed more interested in turning all the knobs and buttons on the keyboard than he was in learning to play. This was frustrating for me - I wanted him to play a song himself ; not press the buttons that played pre-recorded songs on the keyboard.  But all this changed because of something unexpected. My wife's nephew had recently outgrown his small keyboard, and had given it to my wife for our son to use. My son was thrilled to have his own keyboard. He said to me, with pride ' Appa, you are big, and you have a big keyboard. I am small and I have a ...

 Did the title catch your attention ?   It did catch mine. I clicked on the article. Almost, that is .  Until it dawned upon me that no one becomes a billionaire without obsessing about money. Surely, anyone who has obsessed about money to that degree, has severely neglected many other parts of their lives, likely, including parenting.  I don't need any parenting advice from a billionaire. Thank you.  The next door 'regular' family with well-mannered, well-adjusted, resilient kids will have more to teach me about parenting than a billionaire ever will.