There is a need… there is a job

Does the idea that you can outsource parenting shock you? Well, not just parenting but you can now even outsource tough corners of your parenting. Like your child throws a tantrum at the food table, getting picky about food? Our usual reaction would be just give one ling hard look, or speak sternly or maybe allow the child to get its way.

Well, in USA, where you have every all kinds of people doing all kinds of jobs, there are now professional coaches for such picky children – know as ‘picky-eaters coach’! So these trained guys, of course at a hefty fee, will ‘teach’ your children to eat everything put on their plate. Once you approach the coach, sometimes they might offer counseling right over the phone or some might want to come down and meet the children. One-hour long ‘consultation’ costs minimum of $250 and then there are more follow-up visits, which means more money. But most coaches guarantee that by the time they get to $400, the children are cured of their ‘picky’ habits!

So these are basically food coaches. That’s nice that such a service is available but it also makes you wonder whether this is how one would want to raise children? You hire coaches for everything – temper tantrums, teenage issues, social habits, bonding with peers; everything to do with growing up. But then one day, they might coaches to teach children to respect relationships, to love elders? It’s good that we Indians have not yet got there but if this is what happens in a developed country, we are better off being ‘developing’.