THE CHILD IN EXILE

Karoly Roka (d. 1999)

When I was a small child I hated naps, and yet each day my younger brother and I were relegated to our rooms for “quiet  time”.  For me it was a special time to talk to my animals and to dream. While I certainly was not aware of it as a young child, it was preparing me for a love of silence and a place to tap into my interior life. It was a time to be alone with myself and not fear that aloneness.

In this time of imposed exile from the world it can be a time for children, who are so used to a “go-go” life, to be exposed to some quiet. Certainly any parent can appreciate the need to spend an hour or so in silence in the middle of the day.

This is a time for children – as well as adults- to learn to be comfortable in silence.  It is also a time for parents to  allow children to just be children and not mini adults!  It is important to remember that the routine of a child needs much more room for play than most adults realize. 

It is the time for play- as the child likes it- not as the parent thinks it should be. Play is when the child grows, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually. Therefore it is up to the parents to give structure for the child. The child plays while the adult works, but the child also learns how to be like the adult. 

Karoly Roka

As the days, weeks and even months loom ahead with an unknown time limit, parents need to rethink how  they can re structure  their children's lives, in a creative spiritual way.