Tableeghi saying number 37

Raising children is like looking after a plant (My Version)


"If you have a plant which starts to grow all weird and stuff (don't know the gardening terminology so this will have to do) with the branches going everywhere, what will a good gardener do? They'll put a straight stick into the soil and tie the branches etc to this stick in order to ensure that the plant grows up straight. If this is left for too long and this process attempted after too long a time, what will happen..? The branches will have been set in their way and will have become too strong, so any attempt to tie them now to the central stick and rein them in will lead them to snap and break.


Looking after children is the same. If at a young age you let them go all crazy and say "Oh, they're only kids, they'll learn when they're older" and then when they get older, you try and rein them in by telling them what to do, what not to do, what will the kids' response be..? Further rebellion.

Like with the branches which were left too late and then snapped when an attempt was made to make them "straight" again, similarly the children will "snap" when trying to curb their behaviour. So the key is to get in their early when they're in their formative years and help them grow into upright Muslims, rather then wait and risk leaving it too late."

I think I've massacred the above due to the way I've written it, but I think you get what I'm trying to say...

Salaam