Stress – The Buzz Word

Well, it was just another day and started off with the alarm from my phone. Had set my all time favourite song as my alarm. After a few days, it started irritating me and invariably would snooze it a couple of times before waking up. Needless to say it no longer is my favourite song. Sorry MLTR... your sleeping child isn't letting me sleep like a child anymore. I looked at the clock and realized that I have exactly 20 minutes to wake up my daughter Ankita and get her lunch packed, make some quick breakfast for her so that she can catch the school bus which leaves sharp at 6 from the stop. Cake walk you would say. But the scene is a bit different. Ankita needs a panic alarm to get up. I need to rush in to her room and start shouting at her "Look at the time, so you don't want to go to school? Don't expect me to drop you to school if you miss the bus. I need to go to work as well." Feel so guilty about it, she has been awake till 12 in the night past few days trying to complete her science project. How taxing is the life of an 8th Std Student! School, then stay back for Cultural Festival practice, then tuition, then project work. It's so mechanical. Gone are those days when we were studying in school. We used to have time for everything, right from studying to playing with friends and after everything, we had plenty of time to fight with our siblings. Those were the days! Cut back to today, they hardly get time to even recharge their batteries. I guess that is one of the reasons why we are finding more cases of health disorders in children. So Ankita gets up and by the time she is done with her daily chores it was 5.58. Now in the mad rush to catch her bus, she didn't drink her milk before leaving. Somehow she caught the bus much to my relief. When I came back from the bus stop I realized that she hadn't had her milk. I felt so bad that she has gone to school on an empty stomach. That really put me off as I got ready for my work. While having my breakfast I just had Ankita on my mind wondering if she had eaten anything from her box. But knowing her shy nature was sure she wouldn't have opened her breakfast box. So here I was at my office at sharp 8. I was relieved that at least today I will not get reprimanded by my boss. The moment I switched on my computer I got a call from Ankita's School. She had fainted and fallen in the assembly and was taken to the hospital for examination. I was shocked to say the least. I just picked my bag and left immediately. I was blaming myself for it, how could I be so careless? On reaching the hospital I was directed to the Emergency Department. As I entered the room I saw my darling angel-Ankita on a bed, with her friend Sangeetha standing next to her feeding her something in a cup. Ankita was so glad to see me, as soon as she saw me I could see her eyes glow and a smile on her face. I went next to her and carressed her head and asked, "So Madam, what is this stunt all about?" She apologetically said, " Sorry Ma, you had to leave your office and come. I fainted in the assembly, it was so hot and I was feeling giddy". When I enquired if she had eaten or drank anything, she said she was having orange juice just now. Hadn't eaten anything from morning. I was feeling even more horrible. Just then the Doctor entered and I went forward to speak to him. He said that Ankita fell because of Hypoglycemia and needed to be kept under observation for a couple of hours. He had taken the blood test and was awaiting the results from the lab. Just then the nurse came with the report and handed over the same to him. Glancing it he turned to me and asked if there is any family history of Diabetes or Blood Pressure in our family. Her Grandfather was a diabetic patient. Apart from that no one in the family had it. Apparently, her sugar had got low and BP had shot up. I couldn't believe my ears! How can a kid have these problems? Stress, Stress and more Stress! We don't realize that today's generation is walking the tight rope where it takes a toll to keep the balance. On one hand, we want them to score A+ in all the subjects and on the other hand we want them to be a part of all competitions. In the process, we are getting them into the rat race much earlier than they are  capable of handling it. It's been a few months since this happened. Ankita is doing fine healthwise and we have been having a routine check up every 45 days to make sure everything is under control. But, a few questions still lingers in my mind that "Are we making our children grow older faster than they should? Is the education system doing the right thing by bulldozing them with the projects and massive portions? It May Also Interest You To Read - Early Onset Of Puberty & How To Keep It at Bay Birthday Party Themes For Boys Birthday Party Themes For Girls How To Delay Puberty In Girls