Raising a child is like an exquisite choreography exercise for modern parents. There are school assignments and examinations to navigate, sports practices to attend, music lessons to schedule, hobbies to nurture. Amidst all this is the equally important task of preserving childhood itself.
The pressure to create “wellrounded” children has never been greater. Yet, behind the full calendars and after-school activities lies a quieter, more thoughtful movement among parents: a growing recognition that success is not about doing everything but about helping children discover what matters most to them.
For Trupti Gokhale, a professor at BITS Pilani Dubai, and mother of international cricketer Siya Gokhale, the hierarchy of priorities is clear.
“My child’s mental health and happiness are my biggest priorities,” she says. “Her career path, ambition and passion should form the core, around which academics, followed by sports and other extracurricular activities will revolve.”
It’s a philosophy born not merely from theory but from lived experience. Her daughter, now in university, continues pursuing her cricketing journey as an international medium-pacer allrounder, even while balancing the demanding worlds of elite sport and academics.
Similarly, for Pyarilal TK, father of Grade 6 student Ankit Lal, the objective has never been to produce a child who excels at everything.
“My wife Amritha and I strongly feel that extracurricular activities are very important in a child’s upbringing. It helps stay healthy, calm, develop interpersonal skills and a hobby moving forward,” says Pyarilal, who heads a maritime services firm in Dubai.
Ankit plays football twice a week, attends drum classes, enjoys painting and pursues a deep interest in science through books and documentaries. But the emphasis, they insist, remains on enjoyment rather than achievement.
If today’s children seem busier than ever, it’s because they are growing up in a world of unprecedented opportunities not to mention unprecedented expectations.
“Today’s age offers a much wider scope of career opportunities than previous generations,” says Trupti. “This creates a larger demand for holistic development of children.”
Technology has transformed access to information, but it has also intensified comparison and competition. Children today witness teenage entrepreneurs, young athletes, social media influencers and prodigies across multiple disciplines, creating an environment where success can appear not only attainable, but expected.
Pyarilal sees a stark contrast with his own childhood.
“In my generation, there was no comparable push to perform on so many fronts simultaneously,” he reflects. “Most of our development was self-driven.” Rather than imposing their own ambitions, he and Amritha have chosen to expose Ankit to a variety of experiences and allow him to discover his own interests. “Children should not be pressured into pursuing a field simply because their parents favour it,” he says.
LEARNING TO SAY NO
Perhaps one of the greatest parenting challenges today is deciding not what children should do, but what they shouldn’t.
For Trupti, the value of an activity lies not in its popularity but in its long-term impact. Physical activities, she believes, contribute significantly to both physical and mental wellbeing, while intellectual pursuits nurture curiosity and resilience. The challenge becomes more acute when children themselves begin to signal that enough is enough.
Pyarilal recalls a moment that fundamentally changed his family’s approach. After initially enrolling Ankit in several activities, they realised that the schedule itself was becoming a source of stress.
The family subsequently reduced his commitments, retaining only those activities he genuinely enjoyed. The decision, Pyarilal believes, created space for something equally important: independence, imagination and selfdiscovery. Today, Ankit spends some of his free time conducting simple science experiments, reading books, or building elaborate creations using cardboard and Lego.
For parents, one of the most difficult skills to develop may be learning to recognise the subtle signs of burnout.
Trupti remembers a particularly challenging phase during Siya’s final years of school. Juggling board examinations with international cricket commitments, her daughter found herself trapped in an exhausting cycle of school, training sessions and late-night study sessions.
“She was stressed, very quiet at home, fatigued and had irregular sleeping habits,” Trupti recalls.
The family’s response was not to demand greater discipline or better time management, but to create emotional safety. Home became a place for light conversation, laughter and reassurance; a refuge rather than another arena for performance.
When Academics and Passion Collide
For the Gokhale family, this conflict became a recurring reality as Siya’s international cricket tournaments frequently overlapped with school examinations. Academics, Trupti says, always remained non-negotiable.
Fortunately, innovative educational frameworks provided some flexibility. Through the KHDA’s Rahal programme and support from her school, Siya was able to take examinations ahead of schedule before representing the UAE internationally.
Pyarilal’s family follows a similar principle. “Academics take priority,” he says simply. “If there is a clash, we reschedule the extracurricular activities.”
For Siya, competitive sport has nurtured discipline, teamwork, resilience under pressure and the ability to multitask effectively. It has also instilled habits that extend far beyond the cricket field. For Ankit, sports have taught something equally important: how to lose.
These lessons—resilience, empathy, teamwork and emotional intelligence—are increasingly recognised by educators and employers alike as essential life skills.
In an era where achievement is often publicly quantified and constantly displayed, parents are quietly redefining what success means. “A happy childhood filled with memories and learnings is very important,” says Trupti. Pyarilal echoes the sentiment.
Let your child’s creativity soar
Dr Muhammad Tahir, director, chairman of the American Wellness centre, an American Boardcertified psychiatrist specializing in neurology, child, adolescent and adult psychiatry in conversation with HEALTH, feels it is important for school children to participate in activities that extend beyond the classroom and strict academic rigour. “A child’s brain was never meant to develop through academics alone. In my experience, I have seen this balance playing its role. Research has shown strong evidence that physical activity supports the whole developing body; it improves blood circulation, oxygen delivery to the brain, muscle strength, metabolism, sleep quality and hormonal balance. It is scientifically proven that physical activity and exercise also stimulate neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin and endorphins, which influence attention, motivation, mood and emotional regulation. When children are given time for sports, play, arts and extra-curricular interests, they build resilience, confidence, social connection, and healthier coping skills, A balanced approach supports academic success while opening wider horizons helping children discover who they truly are by exploring wider life options, and recognizing their potential to face life’s challenges with strength and more awareness as adults in the future. It’s a full circle approach in my understanding.”
For parents in the UAE, where educational opportunities and extracurricular options abound, striking the right balance is particularly challenging.
