Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Damn the Kids

Let me say this unequivocally – I hate Indian kids being brought up in America. I have seen enough of them in my family & in families known to us to come to this conclusion.

Two of my cousins – one 8, the other 10 – are visiting from the US. My aunt (their mother) decided to spend a day with my sister & me and got them along. The kids are obnoxious! They would want coke & chips in the middle of nowhere and would throw a tantrum till they got it! They made a mess of my house…walked all over the place with dirty shoes. They were about to jump on my bed with their shoes on when I shrieked!! They dropped coke & pasta all over my house, dropped food on my laptop, and this morning I found tassels pulled out of my rug!!

The funny thing is that American kids are not so ill-behaved. They’re taught to behave themselves in front of other people, but Indians abroad tend to spoil their kids. They feel guilty about not being able to spend enough time with their kids as they’re working – something that wouldn’t have happened in India. The concept of letting kids grow with nannies or at a crèche is still relatively new in India. Kids are left with their grandparents if moms are working.

Or they feel that if they’re able to afford things for their kids that their parents couldn’t for them, why shouldn’t they let their kids have those things? They don’t realize how irreparably they’re spoiling their kids.

It’s so important to bring your kids up right. The way you raise them will ultimately reflect in the kind of human beings they turn out to be. That’s a huge responsibility. When they grow up, the things they do will not only impact their lives but also those of others they come in contact with & society as a whole. Strangely, people never think of it like that. They want to have kids just for the heck of it…just because that’s the thing to do, a natural progression after marriage.

As far as I am concerned, I think kids stop being cute by the time they’re 4-5 years old, and turn into a menace. A pain. I don’t think I want kids, insensitive as that may sound. No, I’m pretty sure I don’t.

P.S.: I loved it when Alan from 'The Hangover' went..."I'm not allowed within 200 ft. of a school...or Chuck E. Cheese"

6 comments:

Moonshine said...

i agree with everything you said.. about kids being a menace!!! MOre than kids i am irritated with parents for not being able to control their offspring!! Gets on my nerves!!

Scarlett said...

@Moonshine - Many times parents don't WANT to control their kids. They think whatever the kids do is alright. I mean, I agree kids ought to be a little naughty...they ought to be able to do things they won't be able to do once they grow up. Everyone gives them that bit of leeway. But all parents ought to discipline their kids & teach them how to behave.

Moonshine said...

BTW the pic on the right looks like Gateway!!! :) Miss Bombay at times!!!

Scarlett said...

@Moonshine - Yeah it does. But it's Arc de Triumph in Paris.

Kalyan Karmakar said...

I wonder whether I was as obnoxious when i first came to India from the UK

Scarlett said...

@The Knife - Ask you mum :)