I understand that all parents are always going to be protective of their kids but if you want your children to learn the importance of a few things in life, it is best to let them make their mistakes early on. In my case too, I feel, like all other desi children, that I was pampered till I left for college which meant being a naive kid till 18 years of age. Not that I would take any of it back but having to understand the significance of life lessons, like maintaining my finances, building self-respect, etc., a little earlier on would have definitely reduced the number of awkward situations for sure.
After critically evaluating my childhood and just how privileged I’ve been for a majority of my life, here are a few things I wish my parents had taught me a few years earlier.
1) Self-respect
A lot of this had to do with being a girl growing up in India where ‘compromise’ has been plastered into our lives as an adult goal to swear by. Ladies, stop. This is another way of brainwashing women to be docile and submissive. Walking out of toxic situations, standing up for your rights and not having to give an answer when you’re being disrespected should be the norm instead of adjusting to whatever life gives you.
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Wish I knew this earlier Mom.
2) Importance of time
My parents might have reiterated ‘time heals everything’ over a million times in life but I wish they really drove in the life lesson within it with more josh than they did. How times have changed might have been a sweet nostalgic conversation with dad but really showing the kids how much time can change a bad situation would have created less anxious, pessimistic kids in the long-run.
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3) Patience
It’s like watching Kylie Jenner do the ‘patience challenge’ with Stormi and wishing your parents had done something similar 25 years ago! Perhaps we would have all turned out super patient and collected had it been a parenting hack everyone knew forever.
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4) Responsibility
Parents have a tendency of taking over wherever they see their kids failing. Be it sneakily doing your kid’s homework or picking up the dump left by your child’s puppy. What this does is build the understanding from a very early age that our parents will always step in when needed. While that might be true, making your child understand the importance and responsibilities of responsibility are equally needed for a wholesome adult.
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No one wants to be the 28-year-old still asking their parents to ‘clean their room’ for them.
5) Financial freedom
Another super important lesson I wish I was taught earlier has to be the importance of financial freedom and juggling your expenses. Since I was back home till high-school ended and I was never allowed to get pocket money, I failed at understanding my finances when I moved out for a long time.
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Lead Image Credit: Hope Productions
