While hiring new employees, the first thing the employer is interested in asking is about expertise. The higher the level of experience, the better. It is said experience is the best teacher and the most after sought thing in a job. But for a while, think about a position where you have zero experience and are expected to excel. Not only this, you are directly given the top job of managing everything about this new project.

That’s parenting for you. A parent, having no expertise in handling a baby, is shouldered with the most critical responsibility. From keeping an eye on the sleeping pattern to making sure the food is healthy, a parent tries to master it all. A single mistake makes everything go wrong, but a sweet smile also sets it right.

The most significant responsibility of this new job is disciplining the latest addition to the family. And this thing needs to be given utmost preference. There are multiple instances when a child may go through a tantrum or refuse to give in. Parents, though an amateur at first, have to handle them most aptly. It is wrongly perceived that kids don’t understand anything. By giving in to their demands in the early years, the parent protects the child. But if this stage goes on for years, disciplining becomes as hard as biting the bullet.

I can count on my fingers the number of incidents that have happened this year where kids misbehaved, and the only thing that parents were capable of doing was to either beg them to stop or let them have the cake and eat it too. At one point, I felt to discipline them, but years of misdemeanor can’t be set right in an hour or so. Giving the child the freedom to explore is a must.

One can’t cage a child or expect that the child will say a yes to a good thing and no to a bad one. Parents are not expected to train their kids but to discipline them, and both are two different things. Saying a thank you for being helped to being sorry for messing up, kids can learn all. Pampering is not the means to shower parents’ unconditional love but making them self-reliant is. Many adults get lost when they enter a kitchen or when left alone at home. Protecting is needed till a level when it goes beyond the threshold; it is spoiling.

Some might think that one needs to be a parent to understand how hard it is to raise a child, let alone discipline one. But the thing they are missing out is that raising in itself means without discipline. The proper guidance and mannerism count in the long run—all the best to all the parents. I truly believe you can raise a well-behaved kid.