I believe that parents need
to make nutrition education a priority in their home environment. It's crucial
for good health and longevity to instill in your children sound eating habits
from an early age.
- Cat Cora
Parents have an unimaginably huge impact
on their children’s lives and all the choices that they make. Children are like sponges and they model
everything their parents do and incorporate what they see into their own lives,
that’s why it is immensely important that parents set the right examples for
their children. Research on attitudes indicates
that parental warmth together with reasonable levels of control combine to
produce positive outcomes on children’s development.
But when it comes to our mothers, their impact is even
greater. What they say, do and ask us to do becomes somewhat our personal
manual to live life. There are so many habits that they instill in us, some
knowingly and some unknowingly. These habits shape our personality and make us
see things with a slightly different perspective.
When it comes to my Amma, there are tons of things she
has taught me and tons of things that I have picked up from her. As they say, we
all turn into our mothers one day. Now at the age of 30, I can finally see how
similar I’m to her.
But there are few things that she was really insistent upon
when I was younger, few of them made sense to me but few looked like a
punishment or a hassle. I took my time in realizing how healthy these choices
were and they were for my own benefit.
·
Choose homemade meals.
picture source: https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/category/healthy
Amma has always been a great cook but more than that,
she is 100% against eating out and a great advocate of making every type food at
home. She and my dadi taught me to cook in my early teen years and according to
them, it’s the most basic life skill that everyone must have.
· Choose natural sugar over refined sugar.
Picture Source: http://www.pbs.org/parents/kitchenexplorers/2012/02/14/healthy-class-birthday-celebrations/
Be it fruits or homemade treats, she made sure
that we stay away from store-bought snacks and refined sugar. I remember her
replacing sugar with either honey or jiggery even in desserts and the practice
is still on in our family.
·
Choose safe drinking water.
She still asks us to take our own water bottles
to school and work. Because of her constant instructions, we all have learnt to
not to drink water if we are not sure that it’s safe. It’s important and a
really good habit to pick on.
·
Spend time with
your family.
Picture source: http://www.tavolafortwo.com/blog/2014/9/16/check-your-phone-at-the-doorthis-dinner-party-is-unplugged
What we see today is that a lot of people spend
their time online and not with their families. At our home, it’s almost
impossible to do. Dinner is a family meal, so we all get to sit together at
least once every day and no phones are allowed on the table, so yeah, talk
about rules!
·
Be smart with your
money.
Picture source: http://izquotes.com/quotes-pictures/quote-invest-in-yourself-in-your-education-there-s-nothing-better-sylvia-porter-349522.jpg
It
took me years to understand why it is really important to watch my spending habits
and to not to buy things compulsively. I have always seen her being very cautious
with money and she believes in investing head on when it comes to education or
skilling up. I think that’s the best invest anyone can ever make!
·
Never give up.
As a dyslexic, life has been a little hard on
me but she made sure that I don’t lose hope. I have had tough times with my
studies but I never gave up due to her support and encouragement.
· Choose happiness, always.
She taught us
to be content with our lives and to make sure that we stay grateful for both the good times and
the bad. Amma displayed this virtue regardless of external factors and I am
learning to do that too.
·
Invite others.
Picture Source: http://english.eagetutor.com/spoken-english/how-to-invite-people-for-a-function-you-re-hosting
She always
sought to include others into our plans and lives. She would invite people over
for dinner and for outings. I am an introvert and a little socially awkward too
and I guess all the things that I have learnt when it comes to meeting people
were because of her outgoing personality.
·
Discipline is a virtue.
Picture source: http://www.coolnsmart.com/discipline_quotes/?cfilter=images
Self-discipline
ought not to be feared, but nurtured. She is a person of habit and loves
following a routine. Be it meals or cleaning or sleeping, she made sure that we
live a disciplined life (I am still struggling but hey, who isn’t?).
·
Be quick to help other.
She recites the following
verses to us every now and then!
Apnay liyey to sab hi
jeetay hain iss jahan mein
Hay zindagi ka maqsad
auron kay kaam aana
Aaye jo koi mushkil himmat say kaam ley na
Girnay lagay jo koi tum barh ke thaam ley na
Insan wohi bara hay jis nay yeh raaz jaana
Hay zindagi ka maqsad auron kay kaam aana!
So I make sure that I spend some of my time
in volunteering!
This post is inspired by nestle Pakistan's campaign #ProudToBeMyMum (see their video here). Few of my favorite posts from this campaigns are:
To God's best creation, Mothers ❤️— عادل (@aurAdil) March 18, 2017
meri maa.💋 now you may take turns telling me we look the same 🌚🌝#ProudToBeMyMum pic.twitter.com/A0o7kvX0wW— جويريه (@AapaJiji) March 18, 2017
amma taught me 3 v important things:-religion-forgiveness-how powerful the habit of reading is— Areeba Siddique (@areebasiddique) March 11, 2017
اماں سےسیکھادوسروں کواپنی طرح کا ہی انسان سمجھتےمعاف کردیناخاموشی سےاپناراستہ بناتےآگےبڑھتےرہنادوسروں کی کامیابی کوسراہنا#ProudToBeMyMum— افشاں مصعب (@AfshanMasab) March 8, 2017
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