Have we done our homework yet?

This is an oft-repeated question asked by parents to their little ones. But I feel that this should be the repeating question that parents should ask themselves. Parents are keen on their children learning a foreign language; pride themselves that their little one is able to play the keyboard with the efficiency of a thoroughbred pianist.

But how many parents have done their homework in teaching their children the most important thing of handling the various situations that life throws at them?In my father's childhood, there was a concept of united families where children had to live with their siblings and other cousins. There was always someone to teach children the necessity to share their toys and little possessions with each other. But things are different nowadays. Joint families have given way to nuclear families, invariably with both the parents working.

Hard-pressed parents find it difficult to spend quality time with their children. In the short time that they are with their children, parents try to fulfill all the wishes of the children thereby trying to fulfill their absence.Which brings me to my central theme. Are parents teaching their children the ways to get out of tricky situations life can throw up?How many of us are mentors to our children? Do we provide them the valuable knowledge of getting out of troublesome situations, which our wards might get into later in their lives? How many of us are interested in honing the child's character, which will be tested to the utmost severity some or the other time in their future? Tennis and piano lessons are fine, but without good character and integrity, I see no value for them. Compassion, ability to take up high-pressure situations without cracking up is the best knowledge that we as mentors can impart to our wards. This brings me to the topic of my brief remainder to us mentors -"Have we done our homework yet?"