In the college year book, a friend wrote "I'm secretly glad my parents were strict with me!", and as time passes the gravity of the statement hits me more and more.

I strongly feel that a large part of a person's personality and specially the value system is a reflection of her parents. A lot of other factors like schools, colleges, your teachers and more and more so your friends shape up your mind and the direction you take on in your life. But the core of one's being is formed in the early formative years. And that is the reason; I'm not too much in favor of putting children in hostels at a very early age. As long as you can provide the child with a healthy and caring environment at home, keep them near.

Kids learn from what they see. Consciously or unconsciously everything leaves an impression on their young minds. If they see you love and respect your parents and take care of them in their times of need, your kids are most likely to return the favor to you and vice versa. On the other hand irresponsible or abusive behavior would also leave its mark. For a young child her parents are the role models, and whatever you do is correct. Statistics show that children coming from broken homes are much more likely to end up being divorced than their counterparts.

As they say, you get what you give, you reap what you sow!

If the child learns to differentiate between the right and the wrong, the truth and the lie, the important and the insignificant before they enter their teens, then ignoring the voice of their conscience would become extremely difficult as they grow older.

A friend told me that her cousin is really stressed these days over the state his kids are in. His 20 something daughter has been in and out of drugs for a while, has moved out of the house, is living in an apartment her father pays for (but is not allowed to visit, by the way), getting her bills paid and getting a pocket money to do nothing but idle away her time. The son is no better. One of the important reasons… the cousin is a neurosurgeon in New York. The doc and his wife were too busy trying to make up their careers in the beginning. And by the time they woke up… it was too late. Much water had flown under the bridge.

If I look back, there is so much that I feel I would like to thank my parents for - the love, the care and the sacrifices that they have made for my brother and me to get us where we are.

I'm in my early thirties and have a four year old son myself. A lot of a person's views about their parents and parenthood change once they take on the role themselves and realize what their parents had gone through for them, and I’m no different. Today, as I start my blog, I would like to thank my parents formally for being who they are and making me what I’m today. I salute you both!