I love kids. Other people's! And they should preferably be big enough to communicate and make logical conversation.
Bringing up smaller kids can be a 24x7 job, specially in our smaller Goan families of this generation. But kids represent the future, and a single kid with a good set of values and concerns could make a huge difference in the years ahead. Or so I'd like to believe. Now that my kids are bigger, I find them more interesting. It's fun to take them off to 'work' too, whether that involves simply packaging books for despatch, or meeting and interviewing someone, getting a 'hands on' helper to work out some table-top photographs, preparing a snack in the kitchen, or discussing writing plans with someone else over lunch. Kids do enjoy such tasks at a certain age (say 7 upwards). Needless to say, the first few years of motherhood/fatherhood can be quite trying. Nothing in the script plans us for the hardwork that parenthood brings, and the media makes things worse by glamourising such roles without talking about the price involved. That we are growing more affluent as a community only means the pressures (including our expectations) are only growing and making things tougher. Isn't it ironical that the poor can afford to have more children, while the affluent can't? Poetic justice, if you will.... Kids can be quite irrational, and they have their ways of getting the most attention. This is specially true of single-kids; at least when they're two, they're fighting each other half of the time :-) I guess it's easier to play policeman rather than be a reluctant participant in a tug-of-war for emotions and attention. As for religion, I think children *do* need a bit of brainwashing when they're young. Religion is a quick and easy (even if a short-cut) way of teaching right and wrong. Set formulas, and no arguments. In time, the kids will have to decide their morals, ethics and beliefs for themselves. What works, and what doesn't. And what comes at what price. I'm sure many would launch to find meaning beyond religion that has influenced Goans for generations. But I'm quite dismayed by a child who opts out of Sunday Mass for no other reason than it's comfortable to sleep in bed every seventh morning. I would fully understand if someone mature wanted to opt out of religion; but beliefs and ethics can't be decided on the basis of convenience. FN Frederick Noronha :: +91-9822122436 :: +91-832-2409490 On 7 November 2010 15:24, Eddie Fernandes <eddie.fernan...@gmail.com> wrote: > Headline: Who the bleep cares about being an atheist? > By Selma Carvalho > Source: Goan Voice Daily newsletter 7 Nov. 2010 at www.goanvoice.org.uk > > Full text: > > I hate kids - other people's. I thought motherhood would cure me of this > affliction. Unfortunately, it had the opposite effect. I now despise kids.... _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ _/ _/ tambdimati: the Goa review is a community blog of original _/ art, writing, music, news and commentary from and about the _/ smallest state in the subcontinent. check out the newest _/ member of the Goanet family daily at _/ http://www.tambdimati.com. _/ _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
