SINGAPORE: The young people of today are referred to as the sweet generation by older, talented generations. Young families like myself, who are quick to deny that we are doing our best to increase physically older children without millennial trauma, find this term to be offensive.
We take great care to create a joyful and secure environment for our kids. We relieve them of a lot of the sibling-minding and housekeeping responsibilities we had as children. Does this cause our kids to become too old to take care of themselves?
A sizable portion of Taiwanese homes rely on migrant home workers to assist with the tasks and care for their children or elderly parents due to the prevalence of dual-income parents and a rapidly aging population.
The number of live-in domestic help in this area has increased by approximately 38 % over the past ten years, from about 201, 000 in 2010 to 276, 600 as of June of this year.
In Singapore, a companion is typically found in one out of every five households. Our helper, or” Aunty ,” as my children affectionately refer to her, makes sure that my kids have clean clothes to wear and a hygienic place to live.
Every mother’s demands are unique, and everyone has a different parenting style. My two girls, ages 7 and 3, were born with significant eczema and psoriasis.
Since they were toddlers, we have encouraged them to taking personal responsibility for the home, such as not leaving a mess for others to clean up, keeping their bedrooms nice, folding and putting aside the laundry, rather than enlisting their assistance with chores that involve detergents and chemicals that may cause their eczema and cause terrible scratches and sleepless nights.
From a very young age, they have also been constantly involved in food preparation and personal wellness. I view their role in preparing and beauty as a form of empowerment given their serious allergies and eczema. More on that in a moment.