An adult Oriental Magpie Robin is watching over the outing of its chick, while it was negotiating to fly short distances! This sight in our garden during a short dry spell on a rainy day was a sight telling us a lot, about parenting practice among the avians.
An adult bird offers its parenting presence for transition. Usually the chicks loose contact with the parents after a while! In some avian species, like in Babblers they live as family of birds.
The photo above is a parent Magpie Robin protecting the chicks who are only a few days old, under its wings to keep them warm and shield them from rain.
From this intimate protection, the parenting functions gradually decline as the chicks move on to feed themselves and fly away to their own habitat!
During this time when the parents watch over them, the parents are fiercely protective of the chicks as predator birds can harm them !
The natural instinct of parenting is protection!
In human behaviour of parenting this protective role dominates and stays as the undergirding support for children in the safety and security of home. The prolonged period of this protective role sometimes turns into a possessive role, which is what strains children from becoming independent to be themselves!
In some homes, parents do not have sufficient freedom to accompany their children as grandparents are strongly opinionated and restrictive. In some homes married son or daughter stay remotely controlled by respective parents!
A child is in formation. The space for that development is physical and emotional.
A child needs a Child's Corner at home where he or she can physically feel secure surrounded by the world of toys, children' books, paper craft, collections of interest for the child and an environment that creates feeling of being at home! A house is usually a world of essentials for adults. A Child's Corner is the first experience a child encounters to know his distinctiveness as a person in his or her own space.
A child needs an emotional space of acceptance, affirmation and admiration! The loving attentiveness to a growing child is an expression of the worth and value that parents offer to a child. The sense of belonging happens as this intimacy and affective engagement become the ambience of relationship between parents and a child. The conversations and activities at home are child centric and child friendly.
A child's traction is towards parents. Parent's traction ought to become incrementally towards children, from the habit of parents staying preoccupied with multiple demands on their time and attention.
A family told me that one way that they as parents engage children in the evenings is to have them fully included in the activities at home. The play time, cooking time, meal time reading time, and bed time are children centred! It is after children are asleep at 8 pm the parents attend to the routine chores needed for housekeeping!
That is one way of feeling focussed on children to know them!
Children need protection. They need Freedom. Parents need to avoid being possessive!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
No comments:
Post a Comment