It is wrong to impose on them.

Surprisingly, this would be my third article this week which is very unusual for me. I have a lot happening offline that must be attended to and they are consuming a lot of my time preventing me from having my usual online engagements.

It is the week before my birthday week and I expected life to give me a nice treat but it indirectly told me to brace myself because the journey ahead doesn't get easier.

I am fond of interacting with the elderly ones, it has been a habit even as a teenager because I seem to learn a lot from their life experience. That's one of the things that makes me old school, even most of the people I refer to as friends are very much older than me.

I learned something this week and I feel like it's worth sharing, few of us might find it useful. It has to do with parenting, I don't have a kid yet and I pray when the time comes, the Almighty God will always lead and help with the knowledge to raise them.

Parents have a lot of work to do, parenting is a tedious phase of every human life who chose to bear a child or children. It comes with lots of sacrifices and requires lots of knowledge because many parents out there have unknowingly destroyed their children's future, this is backed by ignorance, fear, obsession, and being overprotective.

As parents, we ought to understand that our children have a different life to live, and imposing what we want on them could be disastrous. We live in a world where everyone has the right to choose as long as they are mature enough to bear the consequences or repercussions if things don't go as predicted for them. It is surprising to know that some parents still impose things like relationships and what to study or become in life.

Being a doctor doesn't mean that your child must become one or making decisions on who to marry isn't the choice of the parent to make. Don't get me wrong, every parent must guard their wards as they journey through life but imposing on them can make life miserable, I thought this was a thing of the past and I was surprised to know it is still happening around the world.

I know many parents are trying to help their kids be the best and that's why they are obstinate when it comes to wanting their children to do things their way, you want the best but have you thought about it critically if it is the best for you or the child? Some parents hide under the shadow of showing concern and impose things just to achieve their goals, it is an act that must be dropped because sometimes it backfires beyond control.

A man narrated to me while discussing how restless he could have been if he died without becoming what he only had a passion for, his parents were lawyers and wanted to pass the profession on to him.

This man said he was forced to commercial class, he wasn't doing great because his attention was elsewhere. He struggled to learn from his science friend, he was called to chamber immediately after graduating from a higher institution. In the conversation, he said he did everything for them and didn't hesitate to leave the country when an opportunity showed up from an extended family member.

He traveled at age 27 and went to start his education afresh without shame, he studied marine engineering. He came back to Nigeria recently to invest in water transportation, he showed a few of his plans, and I was wowed, he has been to different parts of the world.

Aside from career issues, the relationship is another some parents try to be in charge of. Understandably, parents have experience, it is best to rub minds as parents with children instead of imposing our decisions on them.

Every parent must see it as a goal that their child confides in and seek their opinion first, this can only be possible if we are not the imposing parent who always want what we want only to be done. The child's feelings must be considered as well, it shouldn't be about the parent's feelings alone.

In situations where a child is truly going astray, making such a child see the right thing mustn't be done in a dictatorship style because it would end up looking like the parents are selfish and aren't putting him or her into consideration.

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