"A labyrinth of Unpolished Scribbles"

It Doesn’t Take a Village to Raise a Child , It Takes Parents People often say that it takes a village to raise a child. The idea is that relatives, neighbors and society all play an important role in a child’s life. While this may sound good, I believe that when it comes to parenting, the responsibility should stay with the parents. Parenting is a personal journey. It is something parents do with love and intention. Only parents truly understand the values, routines and ways they want to raise their child. Too many opinions and advice from others can easily cause confusion. It can also take away the peace and consistency that children need. This does not mean that children should grow up away from others. In fact, being around grandparents, relatives, neighbors and friends is very important. Children should be free to interact, explore and learn from different people. These moments help them develop social skills, empathy and confidence. But there is a difference between being part of...

  Every day, we wake up to disturbing headlines. Another woman has died by suicide. Another daughter is lost. Not by fate, but by prolonged emotional and physical abuse she went through in her own home, the very place where she should have felt safest. And in most of these heartbreaking cases, there is a painful pattern. The family already knew. After the tragedy, we hear statements from parents and relatives. "She had told us he was abusive." "He used to beat her, we knew she was unhappy." "We believe he is responsible for her death." But here is the question that haunts me and should haunt all of us. If you knew, why didn’t you pull her out of that pain before it was too late? Why is it that a woman has to reach a breaking point before her suffering is taken seriously?  Our society still glorifies a woman’s ability to adjust. She is expected to tolerate, forgive, and endure. She is told, “Things will get better,” “Do not ruin the marriage,” “Think about ...

  Parenting is beautiful, but it can also be really hard especially for mothers. From the outside, it looks like a happy journey of watching a little one grow, but deep inside, there are many struggles we rarely talk about. Talking to other moms made me realize that most of these struggles don't come from the baby, but from the people around us, family members, in-laws, and relatives. Almost every mother I spoke to said they were not allowed to raise their child the way they wanted. There were comments and interference about what the baby should eat, how and when to sleep, and how the mother should act. One mother said her mother-in-law kept giving her toddler sugary snacks and junk food, even after she had asked her not to. Worse, the mother-in-law told the child, "Don't tell your mother," which made her feel helpless and betrayed. As a working mom, she couldn’t monitor everything at home, and that made it even harder. Another mom shared her difficult postpartum days...

  It’s heartbreaking to see how some people treat helpless animals. Recently, I heard about newborn kittens being thrown away, taken from their mother, and left to suffer. It made me wonder how can anyone be so cruel? Do we really have the right to decide which lives matter and which don’t? The Bible says in Proverbs 12:10, "Good people take care of their animals, but even the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel." Just like we love our children, a mother cat or dog loves her babies. Imagine how painful it must be for her to lose them. No mother deserves that pain, whether human or animal. Many believe that hurting innocent beings brings consequences. Life has a way of giving back what we put into it. If we show kindness, we receive kindness. If we show cruelty, it can come back to us or our loved ones in unexpected ways. Imagine if someone took a newborn baby away from its mother wouldn’t that be horrible? Then why is it okay to do it to an animal? The Bible also says in Mat...