Gone are those days where grandparents used to fully babysit their grandchildren and develop a bond with them. Now they have started hiring people to help them with the newborn. The world has now become a commercial place and we all have become busy tackling our own lives. “I did not have much time to take care of my grandson since I was having other issues in my home and I also did not know the techniques to take care of a newborn. Then I came to know about few people sending nannies and I heard positive comments about them despite them being expensive. So I opted to avail their service” says Arulmozhi.
“My parents are there to help me but they also have their work to do and commitments to attend to. Despite my mom being always ready to take care of my kids I feel guilty asking her to sit at home babysitting them while I want to go out and have my social life. To come to a conclusion we take turns in going out. She takes care of my kids when I have work and I do the same when she has work to attend to. Babysitting has now become more of grandparents their son or daughter when the need comes,” says Shruthi Aishwarya, mother of two kids.
Our life becoming hectic has adverse effects on our kids also. We don’t spend much time with them and join them in a créche at a young age. “Early schooling in the form of créche should be modelled based on age appropriate level of development of the child where it caters to the need of the children rather than being a more demanding academic exercise like routine schools. Only then it can help the child form positive peer relationships and have better cognitive and attention skills. Otherwise it will only be counterproductive to the child’s holistic development” says Dr.Vivian, a city psychologist.
He goes on to say how parental support plays an important role in the development of a child. “Parental support in the form of positive response fosters learning and results in trust development and bonding between the parent and the child. Absence of parental support during the crucial period of emotional, cognitive and social brain development may have other effects on the child in the long run,” he adds.
In today’s world it has become mandatory for both the parents to work but isn’t it our duty to give the same amount of time to our children? After all the best we can do is listen them out and give our time to them. Initial few years are precious and lots of developments happen inside the child so should we be enjoying that period or send them to créche? Even if situation demands so shouldn’t we be developing a bond within our trusted relatives who can take turns with the child? Won’t it develop family bonding within the child? Isn’t it so much more fun than living in a commercial nest with no one to talk to? Let us all think.
