Kids- How they are brought up in Poland and in India
One of the most surprising things i have met in Poland, is the way children are brought up here. In Poland, parents do not treat children the way we treat children in India.
Often at times Parents take a lot of effort to answer each questions their toddler asks them. Just the other day, I was surprised to see a 4 year old kid asking his dad at the post office about some casual thing. His dad patiently answered the question about posting some letter for his mom, and was more than happy to answer his son’s questions. What is funny is that, kids understand and remember this behaviour. It is very healthy for their development. I have never seen this kind of behaviour in India.
In Poland, parents avoid fondling their children once they reach a certain age. I came to know that Polish parents carefully avoid such behaviour and requests their grandfathers, grandmothers, and immediate relatives to also stop doing so. They believe that fondling their kids is unwanted and should be stopped because it can be unhealthy to the kid’s mental health. They treat it as immature.
When a Polish mother enters the shop with her kids and the kid asks for chocolate, she respectfully says no to the kid. When the kid ask for it second or third time, she will take her time explaining why she cant buy it. Maybe the kid will cry and shout, but she will still explain the reasons behind it.
Mean while in India if a kid starts to cry and demand ice cream or chocolate at the store, the mother would make up a story and tell the kid that if he/she will eat that chocolate, probably the feet monster will come in the night and eat their feet. Because we believe kids are just kids, and that they are still small to understand certain things.
In India a favourite method to make kids obedient, is the use of fear tactics. I remember in play school, we were playing ‘Ride the elephant’. My friend hoped on my back and i was the Elephant. He fell down for some reason and broke his lip. The caretakers at the play school told me that if i don’t stop doing this in the future, the police would come and take me to jail. I cried and begged them to not send me to the police this time. But i remember that day still like it was yesterday. I was so scared, that i thought it is the end of the world.
Another interesting memory from childhood that i have is, when i asked my mom about appendicitis and what it is. She explained to me that, when we eat fruits like grapes or apple, the seeds go into our stomach and it starts to grow as a plant which leads to appendicitis. I believed that story probably till i was 15. Indian parents don’t take questions from kids very seriously. Most of the time they will answer the questions in some playful manner. Can You imagine the frustration i felt when i came to know that my mom lied about the seeds from the grapes thing? I didn’t know if i was supposed to be angry or laugh about it.
Indian parents are prone to fondling their children too. My mom used to carry me on her waist and feed me lunch. I was about 5, 6 years old then. Now that i have seen the way how children are treated in Poland, I feel that it would be much nice to talk to children the way they do in Poland.
Many a time when i see a kid in Poland, i want to hug and fondle the kid. This would seem strange in Poland, but i was fondled this way in India. Until i was 6 or 7 everyone would carry me in their arms and tell me stories for children. There were no serious conversation. Most of my questions were treated as childish. Maybe we should all practice the polish/European way of bringing up kids. Imagine, how much children would be mature once they reach a certain age?