Family Relationships – Parenting Matters

How family stories enrich children

Many of us remember the time we spent with our parents and grandparents where an idyllic hour would be filled with family stories. Each story would be a wealth of their experiences and perspectives of certain events, incidents and people. The stories, depending upon the teller would be filled with mirth, learning and eventually got...

Fatherhood- The struggles of new dads

One of my favourite childhood stories, is one about how my Uncle rushed to the local post office to send my Dad a telegram about my sister’s birth many decades ago, when phones were almost non-existent. My sister was born in a small town in Tamil Nadu where my maternal grandfather worked, while Appa was...

Special time: A tool to bond with our children

Amidst the hustle and bustle of daily life, parents have a lot going on, with their work, family, chores, bills and the list goes on. This makes it difficult for us parents to connect with our children, even if we spend the whole day at home. Special Time is an antidote to this. The concept...

Parents and grandparents

A baby is a bundle of joy. Parents are excited and filled with love for this new journey and want it to be perfect. They feel protective and possessive about their newborn. A child comes into this world with a family, well-wishers, and lots of advice! Amma says, “We cannot allow a baby to cry...

Keep Calm and Daddy on

Traditionally,in the past, raising a child was considered solely a mother’s job. Father’s role would be minimised to being strict disciplinarians to their children. This created an abyss causing both children and fathers wanting more of the relationship. Today,many fathers long to play an active role in raising their children although they may not be...

Healing ourselves to be better parents

“I just lose it when my daughter doesn’t obey me” “My son’s behaviour drives me up the wall.” “I get angry when my son’s homework is done at the last minute.” Very often in our parenting workshops, parents talk about how their children’s behaviour triggers strong feelings in them. We urge them to delve deeper...

Our experiences with practicing gratitude

Around the time when my older daughter turned 6 years old and I was pregnant with my second child, I introduced the practice of gratitude into my daughter’s bedtime routine. It was a period where she was experiencing a lot of transitions – a new school, new home and the idea of a new entity...

My child’s self esteem and mine – whats the link ?

If there is one thing that every single parent wants for their child- It is a healthy self esteem! When we ask parents in our workshops what self esteem means to them, these are some common responses we get to hear. Confidence Believing in themselves Feeling worthy Not getting easily affected by what others say...

When your child says ‘I hate you’

A participant in my workshop Sameera shared this incident. “The other day when I took the phone away from my 6-year-old who had been playing for a long time, he said, “ Amma, you are so mean. You are the worst mother. I hate you!” I was so shocked and hurt I just didn’t know...

Healing the connection between parents and adult children

When children grow up, get married and have children of their own, most people think they are done with parenting, right?? Apparently not! Listening to some experiences shared by parents of adult, middle aged children, one realises that parenting is a lifelong journey and one can face hurdles at any stage. Sometimes we encounter parents...

Do Amma and Appa love each other?

In our culture, we are conservative about public display of affection between couples. Even when married couples get affectionate with each other, people around start feeling awkward. Is it really bad for children to see their parents hold hands, put an arm around each other or hug in front of them? Wouldn’t this actually help...

The goodness of family meal times

Eating together as a family is an age old tradition. It is a simple way for the family to bond on a daily basis . Though eating is essentially a communalactivity yet these days because of our fast pace in life, it often becomes a solitary activity for children -whether it is a little child...

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