Nish Deodhar

Lucky Reddy Nish Deodhar

Recently a friend posted an article on "snow-plough" parents. Snow-plough parents try and clear all hurdles in front of their child, so that nothing can go wrong. As parents, we all snow-plough at times; being protective is but natural. Most books for children, either have the protagonist fight villains in some imaginary world, or worse, have completely fantastical situations in a real world. How often have you stumbled upon lost treasure? When was the last time you fought off dragons? This is still a book of fiction, however, our protagonist encounters real-life, albeit extra-ordinary situations - people get hurt, bad things happen, and sometimes people even die. Shouldn't we consider exposing our children to events that they are likely to encounter at least once in their lifetimes? If nothing else, at least in the material they read and the stories we tell? Finally, this is still a story of grit, but grit in overcoming life's losses, not fighting fantastical dragons or witches and warlocks. The after effects of shielding our children from life are evident. Teenage depression, exam anxiety, and perhaps even drug addiction, I believe, are outcomes as a result of "snow-ploughing". This book, I hope, is a beginning to some conscious "snow-facing" parenting. Some parental guidance is recommended, especially for the younger readers. Happy reading!