“Enriching journey into the joy of parenting”

Dr. Jitendra Nagpal

This is the miracle of life. Becoming a parent is, indeed, the most rewarding experience one can ask for during one’s entire lifetime. Giving birth to a baby comes with divine bliss, several responsibilities as well as concerns of upbringing. We all want to be the best parent we can and continue to be most effective for our children. We all start out as parents with many ideas about parenting. We have hopes and dreams for our children and ourselves as parents. Sometimes, however, things get in the way of us being the parent we want to be. We feel stuck in patterns of responding to our children without really understanding why it happens. Being a parent is the most important job you can do. It also lasts a lifetime. Some say it is a journey filled with amazing rewards and sometimes seemingly difficult challenges.

Just like our children, our life experiences shape who we are. We draw our ideas about children and parenting from many sources around us, including our own parents, family, friends, child care, schools, professionals and the media. As parents, we often repeat what we know best. Most often what we know best is drawn from our own experiences. Our experiences of growing up in our family of origin are an important basis for the values and beliefs we hold about children, parenting and families. Although parenting is delightful, it can also be exasperating. More than anything we want to help our kids grow into healthy, happy and responsible citizens. Being a parent is many, many things all at once – fun, laughter, joy, heartache, anger, frustration – and the most intense and powerful feelings of unconditional love you will ever experience.