Online Reporter
Fadzayi Maposah
Correspondent
When I was young one of the things that I used to enjoy was baby-sitting. Let me emphasise baby, not the older ones.
The issues that come with taking care of older children are many. When one is left with children there are some things that one would ordinarily do that they may have to stop because it does not align with taking care of children.
When one is given the responsibility of taking care of children, napping when the children are awake, it just is not a good idea.
One second with a closed eye can result in some people waking up and seeing the ones that they are supposed to be taking care engaged in activities that they should not be doing.
There are things that fascinate children and mainly result in added tasks for the adults. Flour is one of the items that fascinates children.
Try having a baking session with young children and watch their fascination with flour. They love how the flour goes up and forms white dust on surfaces. The children will even want to have their faces, hands and heads dusted.
They will even attempt to draw on the dusted surfaces and stand in awe as they see what they will have done. So imagine a child discovering the flour container, all the mischief that they can get up to.
Crayons, pencils and pens are other things that children simply adore. They love too writing and scribbling.
When it comes to scribbling, everything becomes a potential board. I have noticed that children love to scribble on clean boards. These boards that can be walls fascinate children and they look at their artwork that adults consider as graffiti with a lot of satisfaction.
I remember once a family that had added responsibility of cleaning walls after their four year old son decided that the plain walls in their house were boring and needed colour. He scribbled on the walls with a lot of energy.
When one is baby-sitting and the child that is under your care is too quiet, be fearful. Chances are that child is probably up to no good at all. All childhood innocence is put on display when the child is caught.
There are so many childhood pictures that families treasure that capture and keep mischief for generations to come to witness how naughty was as a child. The pictures are a constant reminder of how mischievous one was.
When we carried out sibling duties of looking after the younger one, we always thought our children would not misbehave like our siblings and cousins. When we had our own children, we were shocked to learn that our offspring were adventurous when it came to mischief and that our siblings were “saints.”
I attended a meeting at the beginning of the week that involved many young people. Young people, although having their age groups in common, have many differences. Where they grow up, how they grow up shape how they make their life decisions.
While adults may talk about challenges they have parenting, the young people have challenges that are unique to their ages. Imagine as adults we are concerned that young people are spending so much time on social media.
Young people bemoan that they lose out on what is shared on social media because at times they do not have the money for data. Our priorities are simply different.
During the meeting, it was shared that a survey was done in 73 countries targeting young people aged 18-39 years. The survey had close to 109 000 respondents (108 926, being the exact number) who responded to the various questions.
Sixty eight percent of the respondents still value marriage and would like to be in unions. The respondents said that they consider that they should be financially stable before getting married or having children.
Eighty percent of the respondents said that they desire to have children. The young respondents in the survey have non-negotiable conditions for parenthood that include financial stability, stable employment and emotional readiness.
Having children is not a walk in the park. Having children is a commitment that requires work. There is a difference between baby-sitting and actually parenting a child.
When a baby sitter is engaged, they know that at some point they shall hand over the responsibility to the parent.
The parent, however, goes through the various stages of parenting, adjusting as the different phases demand. It is important to acknowledge that being a parent demands emotional readiness as there will be highs and lows of being fully responsible for a delicate life.
There will be days when one just wants to run away, and if not emotionally ready, one may even decide to flee. Parents and guardians actually need to be saluted and appreciated for the roles they play around the clock.
Being a parent one does not get to choose which moments one wants to be present. Of course, there are those who run away when the going gets tough and return when things are better.
While I may say that I preferred babysitting younger children when I was younger, getting older I have realised that in life and to maintain good relationships, it is important to be there all the time. When the walls are decorated against my will, I parent, when I get to sit and watch my relative and kinsman make a wonderful performance, I parent too.
The 80 percent who said they desire to have children at some point in their lives, need to have information pertaining family life now so that they are prepared when they finally have the families. In this world there are so many lessons that we attend before we are certified.
Think about it. Driver’s licence. School examinations. Trade tests. Yet when it comes to having families and children, we just dive in. Having a family, having children (or even deciding not to have the children) has effect on all aspects of our lives.
It affects our emotions, our health, relationships. It is life changing. It is now that the young people need information so that whatever decisions they make do not affect their health negatively.
One choice, one decision can change a whole life. It is not about cleaning a wall that a child scribbled on. What begins as a fascination may add responsibilities to others who were never involved in the first instance.
#8 days to Heroes Day!
