A Kodak Moment

Any time-bound event or activity has been and continues to be hard for us to manage as a family most times......Raghav finds it very hard usually to transition from something he is doing at home, to something outside....and today was another day when this came into focus in a big way.

It was the last day when my sister and family were going to be here and we were to go to my parents' house for lunch. Raghav woke up late and was busy doing his own thing, our reminders not really being heeded, until it was close to the time when we had to leave. This is something that happens quite regularly in our house and I am still trying to find better, more creative ways to handle transitions.

While I know that my getting anxious adds to the already volatile atmosphere, I have been unable to let go of that, simply because there are times when it concerns others' schedules that I want to respect, like it happened today. He was so totally absorbed in what he was doing that he did not want us to interrupt him in anyway, with any sort of reminders. As a result of this, my husband and I lost our tempers; we were both harsh on him and ended up pushing him to get ready and leave immediately. Raghav was in tears and kept reminding us not to get angry. We then had a long chat with him to explain what we were feeling; apologized to him and hugged and kissed him. I love the way we always make up with a special family circle and hug :) - no matter what. He then told us that he wanted to be by himself in his room and do something for us.

This is what he made and gave us a few minutes later! My heart broke.....take a look......

I was amazed at what he could come up with when he was feeling so low! I was touched by the unconditional love that he showered on us.....and he had written this all by himself without asking us for spellings of words - which was a first time too for him!

While we sat talking and listening to one another, Raghav came up with some profound wisdom which was a Kodak moment for me!(However, the only camera that I had then to capture this moment was all of my heart and my eyes!) This is what he had to say:

Me: "How did you manage to write this?"

Raghav: "I thought about what to write while I was walking....then when I went to my room, I just sat and drew the picture and wrote what I thought......see, I did not ask you for any spellings.....I wrote it all by myself!"

Me: "But how did you learn to write like this?.....it is so beautiful!"

Raghav: "I learned how to write from you and appa."

Me: "But I did not teach you..."

Raghav: "You did......just by living!...and actually I did not learn anything in school."

Me: "How did you draw us all happy and not angry?"

Raghav: "Because that is how I want us to be....I know that when you are angry, you are not angry with me.....you are angry with yourself....and when you or appa are upset or angry, I want to help you.....because the most important thing in life is to help someone else....and that I did not learn from you.....I learned that from my Thomas DVD!"

Tears poured down my cheeks as I listened to my son, who never ceases to amaze me with his common sense and simple profundities, way beyond his years. I realised how beautiful learning was and how it happens every day in the most incomprehensible ways, just by living each day as it unfolds. I whispered softly to my husband that if I had to die at  that moment, I would have gladly, as I felt so blessed and so fulfilled as a parent.

This may sound cliched, but I so wanted to share this personal moment, only to bring out the point made by my son indirectly - that Life is a miracle and that we just need to live, to learn what we need to. Aren't  these the "Life Skills" that we really need anyway?