Childs play

Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of man.  ~Rabindranath Tagore
                                                    Today my cousin visited me and his baby was very much true to the quote by Rabindranath Tagore . He was a very friendly chap , full of life , smiling and always eager to jump into mine or my parents lap and in the four hours he was here he cried only for a minute that too a faint cry when the time was due for his dinner . I found him more well behaved than many adults .  And his friendliness was not surprising considering both his parents as well as his grandparents are one of the most friendly people i have met . So partly it is in his genes and partly in his rearing  .
                                                                 Rewind two years ago ... I was in mumbai visiting a friend of mine who was hosting a small lunch party around ten of us and one of her friend brought a baby  .  I heard him first before seeing him . No exaggeration .  The baby right from entering the flat was wailing like a siren to the moment he left the flat  .(almost an hour )  It was not a cry but a continuous siren . The explanation was thought provoking . The child was not hungry , he was not grabbed by any of the friends,  actually there was nothing wrong to provoke him .  The explanation terrified me .The baby was crying continuously according to his parents, because he is not at all used to seeing people other than his parents  except once in a few months or so when he is exposed to other people .  Now it is a well known fact that poor socialisation of kids will cause a high degree of problems in later life  .  And poor socialisation of parents is not an excuse for not socialising the kid for he will in the future become an antisocial  and at that stage there is no cure . I love kids and generally  most of them are easy to interact with because at that stage they  are direct  . They  dont keep a grudge against you , love you for what you are etc etc .  Body language plays a major role in interaction .
                                                                         Another child recently puzzled me and still remains a puzzle . He was very friendly to me whenever i saw him , talks incessantly with me,plays with me for hours  but immediately on seeing the parent  totally ignores me .  Actually this behaviour was repeated many times . I am not the one who gets upset when a child ignores me but  this behaviour was very puzzling .And the ignoring was total like the other person not existed . And mind you , this child was older than the  kid in the mumbai incident , and was academically brilliant.(the point is he knew what he was doing   )   I have seen so many kids but all of them are fairly consistent in their behaviour especially the older ones  . Definitely when parents come they devote their attention towards them but this kids behaviour was the extreme . Then i remembered once he did the same to another person when he had established a bond to me . He totally ignored that person in my presence . This is not a genetic trait but definitely an aquired one and kids learn by imitation and observation .

 There are many years to go before these children become the adults who will rule the world but though on the whole i am optimistic i am a little worried about these behaviours in kids . Cranky kids will get toned down as they reach adulthood but "wailing due to lack of adequate socialisation " and " ignoring loved ones when you get a new one "  needs early intervention to make the world a better place .