How to raise an introverted child

“My daughter loves to collect people,” a fellow mom once told me proudly. “I define myself and my daughter as introverts because we find social interactions pleasant and fun, it gets tiring beyond a point,” says Charuvi Srivasthava, parent to two children a Bengaluru-based parent to two 12-year-old children. Carolyn Wilson, an Indian mom based in Kuala Lumpur, has a 16-year-old son, is a mother to a 16-year-old son and she believes that he displays many characteristics of an introvert but has built many long-lasting friendships.“He doesn’t feel uncomfortable with crowds and doesn’t avoid them,” she says. I keep telling him that in corporate world, visibility is very important and he has to learn to advocate for himself for which he replies that it's enough if his action speaks louder for himself.” Our children can surprise us A few months ago, Mona Acharya, a Coimbatore-based mother to a 14-year-old boy, was surprised when her son, who mostly loves spending time on his own, decided to contest for the post of house captain in his school. “But they encouraged him to contest for the post of house captain and he won!” It is important for parents to understand and respect a child’s personality, says another parent in Mumbai, Avantika Srivastava: “I have always have been an introvert.