Changing Trends in Parenting…

Times are changing fast. I know I’m not old enough to start using this cliché. But as I see my cousins (twins) growing up I wonder how the parenting basics have changed.




My parents spent more on baby equipment and baby food. My Aunt spent more on the nanny till beginning of this year and now she’s spending a fortune on daycare.




My parents had to be tough with me. Sometimes when I’d cry, mom used to simply ignore me. That’s how I learnt that crying was not the ultimate tool. My mom was the boss of me, and not the other way around.




My Aunt Beulah can’t do that. If she ignores any of the whining acts, the twins just start throwing stuff around, anything they can lift. Thank GOD they can’t move the furniture.




Last Tuesday Mrs. Baig left little Saira at Aunt Beulah’s house for a few hours. Saira said she did not want to play with the twins saying that their monster trucks were not pretty (as her Barbie). The twins cut Saira’s hair while Aunt Beulah was in kitchen making choclate-milkshake for all three of them. Aunt Beulah was horrified. She grounded the twins for a week. No TV, No Choclate, Nothing for a week. Yesterday evening, she opened her book only to find a live lizad for a bookmark.




I remember how we made predictions about what the twins will turn out to be when they turn 18. Now I worry more about how my Aunt will turn out by the time the twins are 18.




Uncle Peter once gave me a useful piece of advice for when I have kids. "Never have more children than you have car windows" He said.




---Liz---