I see many happy homes go through tough emotional times and in these times parents are under so much duress that they cannot see beyond the immediate financial or social needs of the family thus the emotional needs are swept aside. For children, this is particularly hard to understand. They don't understand mid life crises, they don't understand death, they don't understand job redundancies, they don't understand migration and its challenges, or most other causes of distress. All they understand is that their parents either don't have time to spend with them or the parents are not talking to each other or worse are fighting all the time and they assume that it is their fault. Even if the children don't feel it is their fault, it is so wrong to make the only place they can call home a living hell. Whether they are blaming themselves or not, the fact is that they are too weak and lack the knowledge and means to influence the situation in any way. It is up to the parents to provide a peaceful and loving environment to the children at all costs because it is after all their home too! Parents need to ascertain how much of the struggles are for the well being of children and how much of it is for personal gratification. Which is not always a bad thing but then in that case, honest efforts must be made in areas which can directly benefit children. And emotional is a very integral aspect of a child's nature which is mostly neglected. Please, no matter whether you are young, middle aged or old parents, create and maintain a 'home' for the family. Don't make it a hell! You don't owe your kids IPads, but you do owe them peace and security!
Naseem, is a six year old girl. When I met her she was sitting on the charpoi with her mother and constantly clapping but without any mirth. Her hair was cut almost to her scalp. I was told that she was a miracle child, she had been suffering from severe acute malnutrition and her family and relatives had almost given up hope that she would survive but she had proven all stats wrong and was sitting right in front of us. Physically, she was on the mend but her mental growth had been irreversibly stunted. She did not respond to any movement, any gesture or sound, her mind was somewhere else... A little boy, hardly seven, sitting on the curbside on an otherwise busy junction but at 0100AM he seemed so out of place on that dark, deserted road. As we stopped at the traffic signal, on the road perpendicular to where he was sitting, my attention was drawn to his posture. His slumped back was towards me and as I watched, two cars stopped on the lanes furthest from him. He made an ...
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