Mamma , shall I make one roti today ? Esther asked couple of days back, I said ‘Mamma has lot of things to finish , this is not the time to play ‘ .Could feel her disappointment and then I said ‘Ok, make the last one’ She is happy and starts rolling the dough. Mamma is this ok ? she asks – and I am surprised to see a perfect round roti ! I say – this is good :).
Esther has been helping me a lot ever since arrival of Ezekiel . But even before Ezekiel, I used to give her small responsibilities, like she has to keep her cupboard and table neat, that is she has to keep all her clothes, toys and books in the cupboard neatly and properly. If she forgets to put her socks or handkerchief in the washing machine, she has to wash it (oh she loves playing in bubbled water :)), if she eats too slow and does not finish her lunch/dinner till I wash the dishes she has to wash her plate, when I am working (or even Anil) she gets us water to drink, evening its her duty to switch on the verandah light, when we go out its Esther who takes care of Ezekiel’s things …hmm am I being too tough on her ? Ezekiel seeing Esther, helps us too , does his part of helping, when he does ‘susu’ he will run and get the wiping cloth to clean, when he is done watching TV he will switch off , even he has to share his part of keeping toys and crayons back from where he took :) Janamma sometime offers to help Ezekiel saying ‘ Poor Baby’ :) but I say let him do things. When I see children around, one thing I observe ‘Bholey Bhaley’ term no longer fits them thanks to innumerable gadgets, different media, school curriculum, for they are exposed to lot more information and most of them know lot of things which we would not have known in our time, and then I also realise Good or bad most of them imitate or learn things from their parents/guardians/friends. , and as parents its our duty to educate them, atleast tell them what can be right/wrong options/things to do in different situations , to teach them to do their things on their own, to ensure that they don’t become too dependent on gadgets and instant solution stuff…..
Esther has been helping me a lot ever since arrival of Ezekiel . But even before Ezekiel, I used to give her small responsibilities, like she has to keep her cupboard and table neat, that is she has to keep all her clothes, toys and books in the cupboard neatly and properly. If she forgets to put her socks or handkerchief in the washing machine, she has to wash it (oh she loves playing in bubbled water :)), if she eats too slow and does not finish her lunch/dinner till I wash the dishes she has to wash her plate, when I am working (or even Anil) she gets us water to drink, evening its her duty to switch on the verandah light, when we go out its Esther who takes care of Ezekiel’s things …hmm am I being too tough on her ? Ezekiel seeing Esther, helps us too , does his part of helping, when he does ‘susu’ he will run and get the wiping cloth to clean, when he is done watching TV he will switch off , even he has to share his part of keeping toys and crayons back from where he took :) Janamma sometime offers to help Ezekiel saying ‘ Poor Baby’ :) but I say let him do things. When I see children around, one thing I observe ‘Bholey Bhaley’ term no longer fits them thanks to innumerable gadgets, different media, school curriculum, for they are exposed to lot more information and most of them know lot of things which we would not have known in our time, and then I also realise Good or bad most of them imitate or learn things from their parents/guardians/friends. , and as parents its our duty to educate them, atleast tell them what can be right/wrong options/things to do in different situations , to teach them to do their things on their own, to ensure that they don’t become too dependent on gadgets and instant solution stuff…..
Happen to see India’s Best Dramebaaz. It is a talent-search Indian reality television show on Zee TV which has children between the ages of 5–12 years as the participants. Though I do not watch reality shows, seeing some of the performances I decided to sit through the whole episode. Was amazed to see how small kids were rehearsing, practicing their lines and how determined many of them were to come in the top 60 – one wanted to have her own identity, one wanted to be a celebrity …. And I thought they were kids 5-12 yrs old .
Its ironical that we expect children to become super stars (start coaching them in some or other instruments, training in mathematical abilities , dance, singing, acting and in few cases sports, and Dramebaaz but not many take the interest/effort to guide them being simple , self reliant, reasonable (opposite ziddy), children. No am not against kids being encouraged early to take up sports, music or other hobbies and nurturing talents, all am saying is if early training on sports, music etc can happen so can it happen for being polite, discplined, doing chores at home, helping others and reasonable .. but then important question is do we have role models at home/school/media for children , or are they just reflection of what We are or we wanted or want to be ….
Sharing thought of my friend Harsha :)
Why doesnt this page have a like button?? You are too good at writing chechi! I loved this one! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Jewel, glad that you liked what I wrote :)
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