Hell of a week

I've slept a grand total of 25 hours this week. I'm surprised I've not keeled over and passed out.

I've written two lengthy essays that make up nearly half of the marks in two of my subjects. I've written another three features for work. Some came easy, others were a b****. I'm surprised it still hasn't put me off writing and am making another post here.

Starting next week, I'll be on a month's leave from work. But I won't be getting much of a chance to laze on my lovely four-poster bed, stare at my toenails and look out of the window, with Jack Johnson soothing voice in the background and iced tea in my hands.

But that's fine by me, because I'll be working with children. I don't expect it to be a walk in the park, but it'll be a great learning experience and will remind me what's it like to be a child, as we all once were.

Many people seem to have clean forgotten that, and are not tolerant of children. I've seen how some people shoot a crossed look at parents, who are desperately trying to calm down a crying child. It sickens me, those people, who have neither empathy nor soul.

The thing about children is, they are so open. When they are in distress, they show it by crying, something we adults have been trained not to do by holding back our emotions. So, why don't we all just be more understanding and give the child a chance to learn?

Being a parent is not easy, that's for sure. Some parents are clueless about how to handle a child, and that's why I think it's important to know about child psychology. Not just for children, but also for yourself. The theory is, your early childhood (0-6 years) make up a very huge part of who you are right now.

Some of you may have watched Supernanny, about this lady going around helping families with children, who exhibit behavioural problems. But if you have ever paid close attention, you'll realise that:

1) Children model after their parents: if you shout at your children, they'll shout back at you. If you hit them, they'll hit back at you or their friends.

2) Children, like adults, need to be told their limits: if you let them throw their toys around, they'll start throwing other things around.

3) Some children, like some adults, misbehave because they want to be loved: It's a mistaken goal and children do it because they are insecure and want attention. That's why it's important to spend quality time with them and to catch them doing something good, because that'll reinforce good behaviour. Notice how we always tend to punish them when they do something wrong but never praise them when they do something right, like putting their toys away?

4) On another note, because I know a little more about the subject than the average person - children are born with different temperaments: the easy going, the cautious and the daredevil.

Another highlight of my week is I got to speak to those women, who excel in male-dominated fields and raise a family at the same time (remember from my first ever entry titled A Woman's Courage?) I would have told you all about it if I'm not so sleepy.

So, it has been one hell of a week for me - in a good way. Yawn...catch up with you soon...

PS: I often wonder why people have children. Is it because they think it's a natural thing to do? One of my teachers once said: children cannot give you happiness, but they can certainly enrich your lives. What do you think?