Don’t try to make a child fit in. Children do not have to be a missing piece of a puzzle in the system that our minds tend to conform to as we grow old and give in. We know how it feels to shed a part of us year by year. It is going to happen to the children as well. But when we make them resolve to the inevitability of the system and the world, children start shedding off their innocence and uniqueness just like the snake sheds its skin off every once in a while. But for a snake, it is a good thing, a necessity, a natural process. This natural process happens to us too. But when we impose it upon the children, we are doing a major mistake on our part.

It is okay if your child is not at his or her best in a social gathering. They do not have to smile up for everybody. They don’t have to carry fake happiness when they are feeling sad inside. They don’t have to get into competition with their cousins or neighbours. They don’t have to measure their abilities on the scale defined by a mark sheet. A child may even develop an interest in the kind of things that are not taught at school. Indulging in such out-of-syllabus activities may not really help a child in upgrading their grades, but this new knowledge acquired out of curiosity will aid them in the adult part of their life.

The world is changing. We are now making machines to replace humans at their work. We no longer need to turn our kids into another set of machines that only do what they are being told to do. If you let your kid unfold their own identity, you are giving rise to a person who shall stay irreplaceable in the world. Moreover, if you recall, while you were yourself in school, the only majorly considered career choices were very traditional — medical, engineering, or commerce? These are the only three choices that were given to us. Arts or humanities at that time were considered for the low graders. But as you turn into an adult, you must have noticed what diverse careers exists in the world. There are even some careers where the job profiles must be beyond your comprehension. And when you get to talk to somebody from a different kind of career, you ask the person to repeat it again.

The same way, you do not know what kind of a world your kid will grow up in. What internally drives your kid is very natural. They should not be the one turning off their potential. You should be the one accepting this unique thing you had not known about or valued earlier. A kid’s internal drive is born out of their natural instinct reflecting the world of tomorrow. What they are curious about today, will become something of value in the future of this world. You should accept the fact that you cannot anticipate everything in advance. But do not at least make your child fit into something which goes inversely to their natural instinct and potential. What matters most is how good a human being you are with a clear intention in your heart. Focus on building that in your child. And on providing them with the kind of opportunities where they will have a chance to explore and expand themselves. And voila! Here you have learnt the trick of being the best mom, or dad, or teacher in the world.