Rising children

Surely at some point you have met a child who did not want to greet you with kisses and hugs. Whether it's your nephew, your grandson, or your best friend's son, sometimes these situations happen, and it's normal to feel hurt when that child you love so much refuses to kiss you.

As a mother of three girls, celebrations such as Girl's Day or International Women's Day are dates that touch me closely, because it makes me think about what I want for them, how I would like them to grow and what seeds I am sowing. in them so that tomorrow they will be strong and determined women, but above all, happy.

Being a mother is a wonderful experience, it changes your life and having your child in your arms is the most beautiful thing there can be. That is not in dispute. But it is also exhausting. It means being 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without rest, pending the care of a little human being. Sleepless nights and strenuous days even though we may not have even left the house. Not to mention if Mom also works outside.

The Sears family, a pediatrician father, a nurse mother, eight children (some of them also pediatricians), several grandchildren, have dedicated their lives to childhood. They are the originators of the term “Attachment Parenting” and have written more than 40 books on pediatrics and parenting.

Surely many parents will identify with this situation: when their children go to school, to their grandparents' house or to some extracurricular class, they all comment on how pleasant it is to have you visiting or as a student. But when they get home, their behavior does not match those comments.

As parents, we try with all our might to be egalitarian with our children, provide them with the same attention and affection, which they need at all times and not show preferences for one or the other. But what happens when grandparents prove to have a favorite among their grandchildren?

Now it is common to hear about the carbon footprint of each activity we do. Having children does not escape these studies, according to which each one of them supposes an emission of 58.6 tons of CO2, data that have led to currents such as anti-natalism, since people are afraid of the possible scenarios in which their children have to live and the contamination that having them supposes. However, the path may be different: having fewer children is not necessarily the salvation of the planet, but it can be (in addition to a change in the world economic system), assuming our individual responsibility in the face of climate change, committing ourselves to live off a more sustainable one.

With the arrival of the summer holidays, it is not surprising that the arguments between siblings multiply and even rise in level. Spending more time shared - especially between the four walls of a house - increases the risk of conflict in the same proportion, to which must be added the pandemic fatigue and the tension accumulated after the school year lived.