Meghna Yadav is a child psychologist and parent counsellor. She has a Masters in Child Psychology (Summa cum Laude) from San Jose State University, California. She has more than two decades of experience in the field of Early Childhood Education, including as a Consultant with Klay Playschools and Daycare. Meghna counsels families and parents across India as well as with renowned organizations in US, Singapore and India. She has successfully launched Parent Academy and Read and Reflect Programs for more than ten thousand parents to help address the challenges of parents in urban India. Meghna regularly publishes insightful parenting advice in mainstream media. She is a mother of two children and is based out of Bangalore.
In this conversation, Shravani Prakash speaks to Meghna to discuss ideas for bringing up boys and girls in a gender-neutral environment so that they grow up without any biases and stereotypes. She also discusses ideas for making the process and ecosystem around parenting and caregiving more enabling for women and men.
The full-length podcast is also available on Youtube
Excerpts from the conversation with key takeaways and insights
- We should respect the difference between boys and girls
- Boundary dilution is necessary where boys should be made to participate in all domestic chores and girls should be part of all decision-making as well as doing tasks like mending a bicycle or going to the grocery store
- Don’t restrict kids to gender-based toys, like dolls just for girls and trucks for boys
- For quality time, get children involved in day-to-day tasks, including in the kitchen
- When choosing hobby classes, it’s a good idea to bring music into the lives of boys
- We should get rid of the -Working and stay-home (SAHM) tags – every mother must believe she is the best mother
- Data shows children of working mothers are more independent, they develop leadership skills, they learn to socialise, they can make decisions on their own
- Child raising cannot be done in silos, without support a mother will burnout – “It takes a village to raise a mother”
- Children support mothers the most, they will know their needs. Mothers should share their pains and worries with children
- Fathers play an important role beyond earning for the family
- Research shows that fathers have a greater impact on boy children .. especially in teenagers
- If fathers are involved in daily chores and take care of women in the family – their sons grow up to be more sensitive towards women
- Parenting tasks that fathers can do – change diapers, bathe children, cook atleast occasionally, sing lullabies and put kids to sleep, take them for walks, look after sick kids, and much more
- But women also should allow men to contribute in their own way by cutting down on their expectations
- Outsourcing parenting to professional caregivers is a necessity in nuclear families – irrespective of a mother’s working status
- Sending children to safe & secure pre-schools and day-cares makes them more social and independent
- We need to change our mindsets towards professional caregiving, because parents need to “build” that village to raise their children
- Pre-school teaching is a great second-career option for women who have been on a break
- Pre-school teaching is a wonderful option for housewives or women who have never worked
- There are multiple online courses now -for basic qualifications for taking up the profession
- Early years education does not even require a no B.ED needed
- This is the right time industry as we are going to require lacks and lakhs of pre-school professionals
Also Follow Meghna’s Thought Leadership in the Media
