I was fascinated by the sight of the thickness of the stem on which a small custard apple was hanging in our garden! I wondered if such a thick stalk was needed to carry the weight of a fruit which is only about 200 grams in weight. Is it a unique feature of this variety of custard apple ?
A cloe look at other fruits and flower bearing plants confirmed my suspicion that it is the pattern in the trees and plants that they bear flowers and fruits in stems that are strong enough to hold them. The fruits and flowers therefore remain protected and supported!
It is into a home a baby is born! That home holds the growing baby by its supportive, protective and enabling role! The stem and stalk that hold the fruits and flowers above, are disproportionately strong to bear the small weight of the fruits and flowers!
That was a message that intrigued me!
It is from a position of strength the plants support the flowers and fruits.
A closer look at the resilience of the homes is necessary to find if the homes are well anchored to support and nurture children!
I confess from my observations that the supporting role of homes in the formative journey of children is fragile and weak when children face challenges or disadvantages. The five stages of psycho-social formation till an infant becomes a young adult according to Erick Erikson, are through stages of Trust, Autonomy, Initiative, Industry, and Identity. How dependent children are in the home and parenting support in this journey of their formative development!
I took time to review my experiences of the role of home and parenting when children go through demanding experiences! What occurred to me is that formal services to augment the ability of parents and the supportive role of a home to strengthen their resources when children go through vulnerable seasons of life do not exist adequately!
In the recent years, a small initiative that Anna and I are part of to help in forming Parenting Forum in couple of cities, gives us an impression that such initiatives give a new flavour and direction to the parenting experiences of some families.
Strengthening parents and the home environment shall offer promising prospects towards making parenting more effective for children to feel secure while in transitional stages of development!
M.C.Mathew(text and photo)
No comments:
Post a Comment