Parenting Unplugged by Lalitha Ramanathan- A Book Review

Image from Amazon.

I picked this book up only for the author Lalitha Ramanathan, a gifted writer.  She makes one laugh with her posts and I am a huge sucker for laughs.  Even in mundane writings, I love a flash of humour or a witty phrase and Lalitha’s writing rarely lets me down. So, here I was holding her book and wondering if she was really worth me reading the book about parenting particularly after ‘being there and done that’ not once but twice albeit a long time ago.

Moreover,  parenting as a role has undergone so much of a change. We have hands-on parenting these days and most of them spout out something that mundane that it rarely makes an impact in me having two adult children. Most modern parents see their children with only a halo around their heads and that really does not sit well with me.  Having been a teacher and a parent, I know that children, like all of us, have shades in them that we actually need to keep an open mind about.  And no child is an angel nor is one a devil. They are simply human!

So there I was looking longingly at other books on my TBR but at the same time owed my fellow-writer a review of her book.  Initially, the going was slow.  Well, a pregnancy, a delivery,  feeding and schooling all told with her trademark humour, but nothing so remarkable to add value to any parents or mothers, I thought to myself at first.  But as I continued, I found myself immersed in the very practical and sound account of parenting espoused by Lalitha without sounding sanctimonious and that is where I could relate a lot to my own parenting style.  I loved her being there for her child but not hovering.  I loved the tears and drama, laughs and games and taking the child along in life rather than molly-coddling the child from reality.  I particularly appreciated teaching about finances, helping around with chores, teaching about bees and birds but keeping it simple, taking the child out for grocery shopping, being around for the homework but not helping the child do hers, and most importantly introducing the child to the world of books and boardgames and all the above stole my heart.

I also could relate to the mother opting to stay outside the operation room despite the heart breaking into pieces.  The jig she did before the child was wheeled in was absolutely heart-felt. You don’t care for others and all you want to do is make your child smile through the tears. It was all so real. I have been there through multiple sutures of my children ( they were terrible!) that despite my husband supposedly being the stronger one, I was the one holding their hands through their tears but not wanting to remain elsewhere other than by their side.

I was bowled over by her book for the simplicity of her writing and as she herself says, her book is not a ‘how to parenting guide.’

It is not.

It does not say how to handle a colic or a tantrum. It does not say what to feed and how to make a child sleep.  But it does say that parenting is a journey where both parents need to be on the same page for the child to grow up into a mature, independent person. And most important of all, handle life with humour for life does throw enough curve balls before we say, hey presto!  And this is the place where this book scores over others.

Kudos to the writer for having invited us into her house as she  wrote about her parenting journey. I might say, “hi munchkin! So, we meet again,” when I actually meet her!

This blog post is part of ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’
hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla
in collaboration with Ratna Prabha.

You can find the book here.