So, early mornings are nothing but full of chaos. Though I wont call myself an early riser, there are things to be done and unfortunate as it may seem, they need to be done in the morning. There are toys from the earlier night to be stacked, lunches to be packed, laundry to be done, and many more. While you are busy juggling a basket of laundry and packed lunches, you feel something crawling near you feet. No need to freak out, but yay, the toddler is up. Now, imagine doing all the remaining to-be-done things done with a toddler being dragged at your feet. You loose you patience and go all crazy mama on your baby. Now, you are left with not just all the amount of piled up work, but also a crying toddler. What an awesome start to the day! Amidst all this madness, you pick her up and wonder if you are the worst parent in the world – I would want you to really STOP at that thought.
Why? I was reading this article about crazy parenting practices that go around the world in the name of parenting. It says that in Norway children are often left to play to in crazy cold weather. It doesn’t matter if it is snowing or that you are cold, deal with it is what they believe in. I don’t mean to question age old parenting tradition, but it defies logic to me. To justify the tradition, it might be to ensure that children get used to this blasting chiller that they need to survive with.
Another crazy method or philosophy comes from Vietnam, where mothers train their offspring to pee before they complete their first year of life. Scientifically speaking, children don’t learn bladder control until they are around 3. This means potty training here means taking your child to the potty every 2-3 hours and calling it potty trained. I refuse to call a child potty trained until they can wash their bottoms on their own – less trouble for me!
Then to research further, I stumbled on this article. It talks about some more parenting philosophies that are about to gain exposure in the future. Germ exposure is one such trend. Germ exposure and Indian childhood can go hand in hand very easily. I am proud of my nationality, but germs are something we get along with really well and not something we need extra exposure to. This is one trend in which India is way ahead world!
Another trend it speaks of is sleep whispering. What it means is a sleep expert who will visit your house, study your daily routine with the baby and help you attain a schedule to ensure you get a well adjusted baby at the end of it. If there is an ounce of truth in it and if future babies are pretty much in sync with their feelings, life is about to become easier for future moms. No more screeching babies at 3 in the morning to tend to – Dream or Reality far off?
Parenting is in itself pretty crazy, but such extreme philosophies and upcoming craziness makes me wonder how the future generation is gonna be shaped. Not that we are doing everything prim and perfect, but the craziness has got to calm down somewhere. I already blogged about Helicopter parenting and the upcoming trends show that parents want to keep hovering as much as they can when it comes to their child.
What is the most craziest advice you have received about parenting?
P.S: Oh did I mention, I have a neighbor who insists I make my 2 year old drink her own pee to cure her dry cough!!
