Parents and Child

One thing I noticed about the relationship between American parents and their children is that they have more space in order to encourage the child to develop independence at an early age. It is common for American parents to have their 2-year old girl to sleep in her own bedroom. That is unusual for Japanese people because parents tend to be much more protective of their children and unlike the Western culture’s emphasis on independence, Japanese parents do not encourage their children to embrace their own space and independence at an early age. It is very interesting because we slept in the same room with my parents in Japan until we were 4 or 5 years old..My mom didn’t feel comfortable for us to sleep in a different room, then she would not be able to sleep because she ends up worrying too much. 🙂 Also, many Japanese mothers co-sleeps with her small children in the same bed and this is actually very common yet this can be considered inappropriate in American society. Interestingly some data shows that Japanese children sleeping with parents in the same bedroom are more likely to develop independency and to embrace intimacy with others as they grow older. I am not sure how true the data is but it is very interesting.