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"All kids want is our time but most of us just go online and buy the most expensive, digitally powered toys we can."
“All kids want is our time but most of us just go online and buy the most expensive, digitally powered toys we can.”
I had my little 8-year-old come up to me and cuddle in my lap randomly one evening. She took the book that I held, put it aside and stared into my face with her bright twinkling eyes.
“Mommy, I know what I want to be when I grow up.”
Her father raised his eyebrow and cocked his neck in amusement, his cellphone in hand.
I smiled and asked her softly, “Tell me, baby”
“I want to be the latest cellphone in the world, so that I will be the first thing you and daddy look at when you wake up and the last thing you see before you sleep. And all day you will be busy with me and never say that you’ll come back later.”
Her daddy looked at me and dropped his phone. This little cuddly bear on my lap had said one of the most profoundly honest things that we as adults know but choose to overlook. Are we really so caught up in our work and commitments that we often forget we are the connect between generations? We have the younger ones looking up to us and the older ones looking down upon us.
“Slow down Mommy and Daddy, my childhood won’t stay.” She said perkily and jumped off my lap, scampering away with a little doll in her hand.
“What was that all about?” Asked her father in a nonchalant manner and went about doing his thing on his phone! Short of words, my mind was a whirlpool of thoughts. Yes, it is important to be connected and to have a dream to follow but at what cost?
We read numerous articles about this everyday but it goes to our subconscious and out of our minds. Everyone is busy, but there is a fine line between being occupied and being consumed!
No matter what it takes, it is imperative that we slow down and tune off from our cellphones when we are engaged in conversations. Technology is a valuable addition to life, but hey, don’t make it your life!
With such ease, we take for granted our most precious asset – our family. All kids want is our time but most of us just go online and buy them the most expensive, digitally powered toys we can. So we equate time with materialistic pleasures, is this some new mathematical formula?
Nothing compares to splashing in a puddle or dancing in the rain; nothing beats getting messy in the kitchen baking cupcakes. Remember the last time you licked the bowl clean with your fingers?
And for sure, the most therapeutic stress buster is the million dollar smile and the tight squeeze you get at the end of the day by the tiny limbs that you brought into this the world.
I have a simple measure to overcome stress:
It’s ingredients are,
2 pillows, music, tickles.. hmm.. maybe a few pinches here and there!
Mix them all up and PLAY!! Instant laughter guaranteed!!
But Alas, the fidget spinner and the virtual reality apps have taken precedence over something that was once considered quality family time.
Tsk Tsk! Old fashioned family time.
Picture Credits: Pexels
Pooja Poddar Marwah is an Indian author and blogger. (October 22,1978) Her foray into writing began in a parking lot, whilst she was waiting for her kids’ co-curriculars to get over. Her debut read more...
This post has published with none or minimal editorial intervention. Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
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Children should be taught to aspire to be successful, but success doesn't have to mean an IIT admission only!
Imagine studying for 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 whole years for the JEE exam only to find out that there’s only a very, very slim chance of getting into an IIT. It is a fact widely acknowledged that the IIT-JEE is one of the toughest exams not just in India but in the whole world. Apart from IITs, the NITs and IIITs of India also accept the JEE scores for admission. There are said to be a total of 23 IITs, 31 NITs and 25 IIITs across the country.
Now, let’s first get a few facts about the IITs right. First, according to the NIRF rankings of 2023, only 17 IITs rank in the top 50 engineering colleges of India and only a few (around 5) IITs are in the list of the world’s top 100 engineering colleges. Second, the dropout rate of IIT-qualifying students stands at least at 20%, with reasons being cited ranging from academic pressure and unmanageable workload to caste discrimination and high levels of competition within the IIT.
So, it’s quite clear that the journey of making it through IIT is as challenging as the journey of getting into an IIT. Third and most important of all, the acceptance rate or the odds of getting into an IIT are below 3% which is a lot lower than the acceptance rate of highly and very highly ranked US universities. Four, getting into an IIT of one’s choice doesn’t mean one will also get into a branch of one’s preference at that IIT.
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