Moving Cities / Continents

Last week in a get together,
a friend got talking. He was very worried about his children's future in India.
He was re-thinking about his move to India from US.

Main concerns were- quality
of education, effect of other children's behaviour, change in accent, health
and physical environment (in city).

His tone was of worry and I
could empathies with him, having made a move to India more than a year ago.

This has been a strange month. No less
than three times I was asked advice about protecting children from
effects of divorce. Once it was grandparents seeking help with the
issue because they were given custody by the court !

As divorce and seperations become more
frequent reality of a changing society, we need to have a clear
knowledge of protecting children from the emotional holocaust.

Dilemma

Recently a soon-to-be mother asked me-
" my mother and mom-in-law have both offered to stay with me for 3
months after my baby is borne. Who should I choose?" For a woman
who gets along well with her mom-in-law ( and her own mother as
well), it is a very tricky situation. To top it, the baby was going
to be the first grandchild on either side so both gradmothers were
very eager.

My recent activity on twitter generated
some interest. So here are all the tweets put together-

love is the best tonic u can give ur
children. there are no overdoses, toxicity and side effects if you
administer pure love. keep reading-

1. children r happier if you love
them, neutral if you MANAGE them, sad if you manipulate them,
vengeful you if u lie 2 them.

Today I came across this report on BBC website.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7861762.stm

It talks about what we can and should do improve the quality of childhood. I know that in India we are far behind international standards on education and social life, but that should not prevent us from knowing what is really good for children and society in general.

Lots of people get confused between Child Psychologists and Child Psychiatrists. Some important differences are-

1. Child Psychiatrists are always medical doctors. They typically have more than 10 years of training in medical and related fields.

2. Child psychiatrists are licenced to prescribe medications that are sometimes necessary in severe cases.

Bringing up kids is one of the most important life function for most of us. Other important things in life are - 1. integrating into society and 2. finding and maintaining a source of income.