DAY 304 (Parenting hacks)

 All (or most) modern day parents (parents of the last decade and further) struggle everyday to find hacks to a new problem they are facing in their parenting techniques. Moreover, there is no single formula for two sets of parents for even exact same problems. There are so many variables that sometimes it seems like its worth a 10-year degree course with no notes to refer to.

Having no leads, no hints and no workable model, we dive into this ocean of unknown trying to pick clues to this treasure hunt in the hope of hitting jackpot a day that will never arrive.

I sound like a hopeless parent, don't I? But trust me, it gets hopeful. I think hopes start when our brain gets creative and gets to work with never giving up attitude. We were/are all difficult people in our own ways and we all got through somehow in life, didn't we? So there must be something right in us and we steered the right enough to get to where we are today. We just need to do it for our offspring now until he/she is big enough to do it for themselves.

However, its a riddle when you are running out of ideas and there is no solution to the current challenge that you are facing which brings me to an interesting perspective that me and my spouse came out with. Most challenges with parenting turn out funny after a few months or years down the line. Like we do not appreciate infants living just on milk, taking multiple naps, not moving or running away and being so small and cute! When they become toddlers, we laugh at us being so hassled for sleepless nights when it was just a phase which flew away. However, at the time "hold this moment, time flies" quotes irritate us and we think these quote-masters do not understand the plight of young parents surviving without help in this crazy new world.

Kids grow, problems change but parents don't. We are still hassled. We still think others don't understand our plight which is the mightiest of all. But the perspective I was talking about is if you are able to imagine this plight being solved today and then revisiting it next year, wouldn't you laugh at it or tell your kid his crazy behavior and laugh together with him/her? If you have that imagination, there is your hack and with this lighter mind, your mind can atleast start working towards being creative.

In all this problem-solving attitude, we all forget the good parts too very conveniently. Ofcourse no kid does everything wrong. There must be something right. Infact it would be mostly right but we choose half glass empty. We think us not appreciating the good part will punish them right on edge at times or we also sometimes do it subconsciously but it is so important to appreciate the good as much as disciplining the bad. If we don't do that, we are everything as a parent that we don't want to be.

It is such a trick though to balance the appreciation and discipline and I am still working on it. Books/podcasts on parenting might give you hints on how to push forward in journey but no one has it written anywhere and you have to write your own even if you are not even remotely a writer. It is a travelogue which is a classic and will take you to places so it is a keeper.

Everyday is a learning and I wrote this when my kid was 2 days old and I am writing it again when he is 4 years old and I think I will keep writing it till my last breath. 

Hacks never last and are never enough but its always fun to hear a fellow parent's hack and cheat from it. So, what's your hack?