I was telling Raghav how he was going to see many new faces next month - people from our family - that he had never seen before. My grandmother (mother's mom) is here and turning 90 and we were trying to get as many of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren here for that occasion.
Raghav's first question to this idea of meeting more of his cousins was this - "Amma, will they be younger than me or older than me?" I was bemused and puzzled and asked him why he wanted to know, to which he replied: "If they are younger, then I can handle them easily. But if they are older than me, then it will be a little more difficult." Now this was getting interesting for me and I prodded on with more questions....
"Why do you say that Raghav?", I asked.
"Amma, if they are younger than me, they will understand me when I tell them not to touch something - remember how R and M listened to me when we went with them to the aquarium and I did not want them to handle my sketch pens in a particular way?"
"But older children will not listen if I say something like that. They will keep on doing their own thing. They will not understand why I am saying that. That is why it will be more difficult for me to handle them."
"Yes, I understand how you feel. You feel that it is difficult to handle yourself when the kids don't listen to you isn't it? When they don't listen, you feel that they don't understand and you don't know what to do. Right?"I asked.
He looked at me and said: "Yes amma, you are right. Actually, I cannot handle myself then ."
Raghav's first question to this idea of meeting more of his cousins was this - "Amma, will they be younger than me or older than me?" I was bemused and puzzled and asked him why he wanted to know, to which he replied: "If they are younger, then I can handle them easily. But if they are older than me, then it will be a little more difficult." Now this was getting interesting for me and I prodded on with more questions....
"Why do you say that Raghav?", I asked.
"Amma, if they are younger than me, they will understand me when I tell them not to touch something - remember how R and M listened to me when we went with them to the aquarium and I did not want them to handle my sketch pens in a particular way?"
"But older children will not listen if I say something like that. They will keep on doing their own thing. They will not understand why I am saying that. That is why it will be more difficult for me to handle them."
"Yes, I understand how you feel. You feel that it is difficult to handle yourself when the kids don't listen to you isn't it? When they don't listen, you feel that they don't understand and you don't know what to do. Right?"I asked.
He looked at me and said: "Yes amma, you are right. Actually, I cannot handle myself then ."
wow, how subtly you teach him self awareness:))
ReplyDeleteThanks Sowmya!...But the fact is that I don't teach him - he teaches himself and me!
ReplyDeletetrue PD, but it is surely the aptly asked question/reflection that keeps him thinking...that is the role I appreciate as well...
ReplyDelete