Never pamper and give the child problems in facing challenges.

A four month old child cried fifteen minutes after the air-conditioner was switched off. The parent ran quickly to the remote control and switched it on again. The baby stopped crying.

But then, one day, the electricity supply went off and according to the national electric board, a major problem had forced the supply to be cut off. When the supply could return to the consumers was a big question mark. However, to appease the consumers, the board promised that the staff would be working round the clock to minimise any inconvenience caused.

That day was a problem for the child. He could not sleep well although he was sleepy. He cried a lot. Eventually, the family had to put him into the family car, turn on the air-conditioner and took him out in it. To put him in the car without it moving would be dangerous as carbon monoxide gas from the engine would bring death after some time. So, the family had to put aside everything else to make the four month old comfortable for a number of hours.

What was the cause of such a problem? The child had been conditioned to sleep only in the coolness of an airconditioner. The parents had pampered the child. Of course, the problem would not have arisen had the electric supply not been closed down by some unforeseen circumstances. And in life, there are numerous unforeseen circumstances which can occur. Therefore, we should never pamper. We should prepare our children for real life where he/she will have to face all kinds of challenges from the people he or she will meet, from the circumstances that may befall him/her, from the changes that may occur through the weather, the places and politics.

Pampering the child can bring problems to the child should conditions turn unfavourable in life. Life is tough if parents do not prepare them to face it well. In the above true story, parents introduced luxurious comforts to the child too early in life. I am not saying that we should never use the air-conditioner. However, we should only use it when really necessary, when the day is too hot. Even then, there is temperature control. We need not have the room so cold. give the child a temperature which is comfortable enough to have him/her sleep. And when the air is cool and the room temperature cool enough with just a fan, let the child sleep in that condition. Let the child be used to all kinds of condition so that should he have to go to a residential school where there is no airconditioner, only fans and the cool night air, he/she would be able to be comfortable with the situation.

In an earlier posting, there was another true story in which a young man committed suicide while studying as an undergraduate in a local university when he could not face the hardship of life on his own without maids to cater to his every need. Life became so unbearably tough even though others went through it without complains. His training for real life was just not good enough. As a result, he opted out at the prime of his life. How sad! How unfortunate that a young intelligent person could not cope with such mild challenges in life. We certainly do not want this to happen to someone we bring up to face the world.