namaste wrote:
the thing about not living with parents in old age changes the whole scenario.
why would a person marry and have kids when the kids wont be a asset for them in old age. when they cannot play with their grandchildren.
i think the whole theory of evolution and family, generation comes to standstill when kids move out, get own life, not take care of parents in oldage.
here in my country mostly traditional families live together. they live in joint family the sons with their parents and when a daughter in law gets married and comes she takes care of old parents, the parents take care of grandchildren till the time they are able take care of the grandchildren.
the whole family live together and the cycle continues. that way there is extended families, lot of people to help each other, support sytem, the elders manage the money they see to it that the younger generation are doing virtuous things. the families live together, eat together, pray together.
But in my case everything was topsyturvy. My father was not following any of this he was into alcohol, watching vulgar hollywood movies, reading vulgar novels, he wont respect elders and not treat children well.
the result is me. i am not much of part of my culture. The people here find me different and i have to gel with them to learn what actually is my culture.
Hmmm it's exactly the same here, where are I live, grandparents/unmarried aunts/uncles are expected to take care of grandchildren if both parents work - typically when kids are still toddlers their grandparents still young enough to be physically capable to take care of children.
It is that why many newly married couples prefer to live somewhere near of the grandparents.
Is that an Eastern thing too? The social 'obligation' of grandparents to be babysitters when parents are busy? I certainly recall I spent a lot of time at grandparents, almost half of day everyday at certain very young age when both of my parents were working, or when they go out. It was the case with all the kids of my age.
I do have an uncle who's married to a British Australian lady, and he did say that her mother never accepted to babysit the kids when they're out while his mother (my grandma) always volunteered to take care of them.
Not sure if this is a West vs East thing or it's just an individual case?