A happy-go-lucky mother

Bollywood director Farah Khan is also the doting mother of three children -- Anya, Diva and Czar who are triplets. Farah Khan, who was part of a panel organised by 'Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films' in Hyderabad, turned a little nostalgic while talking about parenting.

Farah says being a mother changed her life. "Every woman's life changes after giving birth to a child. There is someone about whom we think about more than yourself. You are no longer number one in your list.

In my case I am number five now, three children, husband and then comes my turn. You will get perspective in life on what is important? The true meaning of life, what do you want? You want to run like a maniac, or you want to come back home to a good family. So, I think it puts your priorities into perspective."

She talks about the change in parenting pattern and she says, "There is helicopter parenting now, specially mothers they are very over-involved.

They are hyper about everything like what is the homework, what is child going to eat, everything is planned etc. Our time was different we were just left to our own devices, but we cannot do the same today because it could be dangerous.

Today we have to keep an eye on them all the time. But I think parents are far more involved in their children's day to day activities than they were in our times."

She believes that today both mother and father equally are responsible and taking care of children. She says, "At present fathers are very hands on. Like my husband I can travel and make a movie because I know he will be at home and when he goes out, I will be at home.

So, now it become equal responsibility to take care of children. Of course, mothers always tend to do much more by evolution that mothers do a lot more for their kids. We tend to feel lot more guilty if we leave the children, the fathers will not have that guilt. Like in our day's fathers were little aloof but I see many fathers are more friendly with their kids."

As a mother she feels that today children are busy and says, "Kids are so busy they have schoolwork which is so much than they have tuitions and activity classes

and life has become lot more complicated for them now."

Being a mother of a trio, she feels they are as much as one child. Farah says, "For me it was like handling a one child only.

May be it was difficult for me when they used to get sick, if one would fall sick then the second will fall sick and then the third, so at that time it was difficult for me to handle triplets but otherwise it was lovely when I get-up in the morning and I have three children jumping on me."

About her routine she says, "I wake up in the morning around 6.30 AM because they must go to school now. We have taught them how to get ready on their own and they go in their school bus.

But still they hug me and kiss me, and I say a little prayer before sending them off to school so that they should come back home safely."