What are your Parental lessons from the year 2020?

2020 started as the most promising year for us. My kid joined gymnastics classes 2 years back, appeared for the state-level competition for the first time, and secured a silver medal, which we never imagined. While we are happy with this success, we still had a lot of other plans for his sporting career and were working hard in the background to get him connected to a good cricket coach. He wanted to get exposed to various sporting forms before choosing what he liked.

We supposedly found the best coach in Chennai and got his admission into his cricket camp in February. My child was so very happy and started dreaming about the long summer vacation, where he could spend his full day on the grounds with his mentors.

But God has different plans, not just for him but for the entire world. The COVID-19 pandemic took the entire world into its grip. March 14th was my son’s last day on the cricket ground and school. The series of lockdowns have started and kept an ever-active and sporty child locked inside the house. So you can imagine the stress on the parents to keep him balanced, right?

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But there came the silver lining amidst all this chaos. The entire family stayed together, so we were able to catch up a lot on family time and make so many memories together. So here comes my list of parental lessons from 2020, which is very much needed in the future too.

My Parental lessons from 2020:

  • We need to remember that the kids are humans too:

Amidst this pandemic and all the chaos, the kid is the first person to get neglected in the house. Father and mother worry about their job security, house management, and whatnot. But in this whole process, the kids are left alone to survive, without any friends or cousins to play with. So they often feel neglected, which would often result in emotional tantrums. The only solution we found (of course, by accident only) is to spend more time discussing our internal feelings during our mealtimes. We started having all three meals together as a family, reducing my child’s emotional turmoil.

  • It’s Okay to change the rules at times.

In the earlier days, my child is allowed to watch the gadgets only on the weekends. But now, with the entire world shutting down and no other kid to play around with, my child started feeling lonely. Books alone can’t be his friends, isn’t it? So, we downloaded a few apps and gave him additional gadget time, which enabled him to increase his knowledge about his various interests like cricket, music, and dance.

  • Experiential Learning is more crucial.

As Montessori parents, we firmly believe in the principle that experiential learning stays with the child forever. But how can we give him experiences during the lockdown? We had to resort to gadgets again and search for various alternatives. All thanks to technology, my child is able to understand different Indian dance forms, explore different painting forms, and do a lot more stuff, which during earlier days wouldn’t have been possible. He was able to explore a little about space, too, based on the various videos released by planetariums across the globe.

  • Understanding the Value of Work Ethics:

When the entire house is being managed by parents, without any help from external maids, the child would automatically raise up to take their share of the workload. This would teach them the value of hard work and make them feel independent and confident. My child started helping me maintain the house and dinner preparations and even helped me in cooking.

  • Having an open mind is a must.

Learning can happen anywhere and from anyone. This is one lesson we successfully instilled in my child this year. My child taught his grandmom how to use Zoom and WhatsApp video calls, whereas his granny teaches him Hindi and other stuff. When we lead by example, the child would also love to follow this.

  • Hugs, Hugs, and more Hugs:

There is an age-old adage about the health of a family. It says – The family that eats and prays together stays together. But our new adage is as follows:

A family that hugs a lot and eats and prays together stays together. This is because this family would be strongly connected due to all the hugs they have together.

There is a lot more that one can learn from 2020. But the abovementioned are our top parental lessons from 2020. We intend to take them forward into 2021 and beyond. Family health and connection have become our utmost priority in 2021.

Wishing you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year 2021 with strong family bonding.

Suhasini, IP, is the Author of the book “Practical Tips for Kids Mental Health.” As a certified kids and parents life coach, she helps/guides you toward a happy family life for your kids. She firmly believes that “Emotionally Happy Kids of today are the Mentally Strong and Happy Citizens of tomorrow.” Let’s make the world a happy and beautiful place for our kids to thrive.

41 Comments

  1. This is lovely Suhasini!! Your parental milestones sounded simplified and realistic and I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Shrav’s everyday activities. Yours is a beautiful family blessed with love and care. I’m so glad you wrote this gorgeous piece and best wishes for Shrav’s upcoming cricket season. Here’s hoping, he’s able to pursue his cricket interests to the optimum!!

    1. Thank you Daisy for your warm wishes. Yes, he is also waiting eagerly for their coaching camp to open the doors for students.

  2. Heartiest congratulations to Shrav for the achievements in sports, and wishing him more successes in the forthcoming years.
    Despite a pause in the sporting activity, he has effectively utilized his time in publishing books.
    Congratulations to the proud parents too!
    The parenting learnings you have enlisted, are very helpful and apt.
    Lovely post, Suhasini!

    1. Thank you Jyoti for all your wishes. I just wanted to share what we are practicing diligently at home.

    2. How nicely you put the fact that children are human too. They were affected by lockdown and more so the out doorish sporty type. Hopefully Shrav will continue his cricketing achievements this year. Lessons to parents are absolutely something to note down.
      Hugs hugs and more hugs is true.
      Wishing you all the success
      Deepika

  3. A year of knowledge and learning… that’s what 2020 will be remembered.

    1. Yes, very well said. Thank you

  4. Your book already has so much motivation on handling the tough lockdown, and no doubt your little man is a super hero and winner of hearts. Such a proud mother you are, I can imagine.. there’s nothing like an intelligent active kid in the house, you have positive energies flowing all across all the time. My best wishes for the new year to you and our champ..

  5. simplicity is the most important thing to takeaway from your post. you have made parenting look so simple with just these simple yet very effective pointers. my favorites are hugs and kids are human too. when the year started I was working like a machine and expected the same from my kid. I can totally vouch the moment we apply these simple learnings it became more fun and interesting – Urvashi

    1. Thanks a lot, Urvashi. Yes in today’s competitive world we are forgetting to stop and smell the roses. With our Montessori Parenting approach, we started looking for joys in simple things…we had become minimalistic in that sense.

  6. A very lovely post Suhasini. The year was quite a hectic one yet I personally believe parental bonding became stronger then and it’s so nice to know about your beautiful lessons. Thank you so much for joining us in the blog hop. Grateful to you. Wish you and your son a very happy new year. Best wishes.

  7. These are some great lessons, Suhasini. How very true it is that learning can happen from anywhere at all. Wishing you and your family another great year of learning!

    1. Thank you Darshana for your lovely wishes. Thanks for dropping by

  8. Such a positivity post on parental lessons. Indeed kids have shown tremendous level of Patience during the change that called by a tiny virus. Appreciate the positive growth and achievements of your child that you witnessed by a slight change in the day to day routine.

  9. Can totally relate to this post… With a kiddo at home myself. Yes, I totally agree that in our own mental turmoil we often happen to neglect the turmoil that goes in the kids heads. We all had to adapt to making home as much fun for the kids as we could and learnt so much in the process. Hats off to all the kids who I feel adapted and took the difficult year in their stride with much more maturity and residence and an open mind than we adults!

    1. Thank you, Ira. Yes, Kids all the over the world have shown excellent resilience and adaptability this year.

  10. These are lovely. I agree that having an open mind is so important after a year like this. We have to embrace the new.

    1. Thank you Roshan for your kind words

  11. That’s a lot of takeaway from one year!!! Loved how you tweaked the adage and it is soooo true!

    1. Thank you Ranjini for your kind words

  12. I must confess, during lockdown I was in my 2nd trimester and was so relaxed that my baby was safe inside. Watching my young nephew and niece getting restless and anxious in coping up with the situation. Such an insightful post Suhasini ? I wish you an incredible year ahead ?

    1. True Nidhi. We felt happy that they are safe inside the house, though they were missing their peers. All the best with your little one and wish you a very Happy New year

      1. Thank you so much Suhasini & wish you the same?

      2. Thank you so much Suhasini and wish you the same?

  13. I am so happy that you touched upon this topic. We often see kids as carefree and happy. But pandemic has turned their life upside down. Understanding their mental health is very important. Understanding that they are also humans is the bottom life. Once we do that, things get clear and easy. – Alpana Deo (www.mothersgurukul.com)

    1. Thank you, Alpana. Kid’s mental health is one topic that often gets neglected even when we discuss mental issues. That’s why I am trying to pick this topic as my main niche this year.

  14. I so loved these parental lessons full of positive vibes and warmth. How amazing that all this positivity reflected in your son’s actions, as he helped you in household chores, interacted with his grandparents for a productive outcome, and explored different fields that interested him.
    Wishing you and your family a very happy, healthy, and fulfilling year, Suhasini.

    1. Thank you Navita. Yes, most of the kids are what they see in parents. If we are happy, they would also be happy.

  15. Loved this piece. You have so beautifully shared your parental journey. It was simplistic and realistic. You have a beautiful family bonded with love and support. It all depends on us how we mould our kids .

  16. These are some great lessons, Suhasini. It’s wonderful that you’ve grown as a family. I hope Shrav gets to return to his sporting lifestyle soon. Wishing you and your family another year of love and learning. 🙂

    P.s, I think my earlier comment did not come through, so commenting again.

    1. Thank you Darshana. Your earlier comment went into Spam and I just unspammed it. Thanks for taking time out to drop in twice. Really appreciate it.

  17. Suhasini, loved your write up. It was wonderful to be a part of Shrav’s daily activities and how the little one with your parental guidance achieved to get through this tough phase. Kids no doubt had the toughest time of all during this pandemic and the simplicity of the childhood just vanished making it a complex process. You are a blessed family and I really learned so much from the the take away points.

  18. It was lovely reading about your parental journey in 2020 and the lessons that you shared. I especially loved the last one about hugs.
    Wish you a fabulous 2021 ?

    1. Thank you Purba. Wish you a very Happy New Year too

  19. Congratulations for your son’s achievements. May he achieve heights. God bless. Wonderful post. The pointers you mentioned surely is the part of very much every family with kids. We could really be flexible with rules. Thanks for sharing such a wonderful post!!

    1. Thank you Neha for your kind words

  20. That was such a beautiful post and yes, kids are humans too ..they have been so resilient and strong ..parenting has been challenging this year and I too learnt to be flexible to make space for the emotions they were going through.

    1. Thank you Ruchi. Yes, this pandemic taught us a whole lot of stuff

  21. The lockdown indeed was very tough on kids. My older one struggled with online learning while the younger who was to start school this year didn’t know what to do with his excess energy. And my youngest missed out on his therapy sessions. Biggest learning for me was to keep trying different ways engaging them.

    1. That’s very true Sakshi. Lockdown was indeed very tough on kids. I am so sorry to hear about your kids. As a parent, we need to do what is best for them.

  22. It’s a whole new world for all of us and it must only be worse for children who are confused about how to navigate this period in their life. Your advice is very sound, especially the hugging bit!

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