Nurturing Your Young Ones

Have we ever paused to think about the plight of our young children during and after lockdown?

- Manjula Shukla

These days children are very smart, even those as young as pre-school Kids in kindergarten often amaze us, adults, with their intelligent observations and comments. Their small world, comprising of their parents, perhaps sibling and grandparents, has become topsy-turvy in the recent past. The comforting routines and rhythm of their life have been disturbed.

They can understand that something is drastically wrong but can’t grasp what it is.

The most important factor in their tiny world is that they are not allowed to go out at all. It’s been a long time since they went to school or met their friends. Their natural energy has no outlet as gardens and parks are out of bounds. They feel bored at home. Most often, in the absence of domestic help, mothers are overworked and exhausted and find it a challenge to deal with the child in a constructive way. This is even tougher for working mothers who have to log in to their computer and attend to calls for the whole day. Hobbies and creative activities have been exhausted in the last two months, along with patience.