Responsibility Story

So I saw this ad link posted on my facebook page this morning:

 

It is about a young couple and their son who has just started 1st grade. Initially they are pretty enthusiastic about getting up and getting him ready for school in the wee hours of the morning. Slowly, their interests wane and the child senses the lack of enthusiasm. The child then decides one morning to stop the alarm and gets ready all by himself. The parents wake up panicked that they over-slept, just to find the child all ready to go to school.

It was surprising to see different kind of reactions across different types of mothers. Most of them cried and vowed that they will be more bright and sunshiny while seeing of their wards, the next morning. Usual reaction I would say.

I was, half expecting myself to cry too. My child is way away from 1st grade and still gets up at 7.30 Am along with us. But still, we parents who are night-owls wake up grumpy and go through the morning routine in a dragging way. I cannot even move a muscle without my dose of caffeine.

The child wakes up jumping and chirping always. She pumps us up about the offices and is always looking forward to her kindergarten adventures. The enthusiasm is infectious, some days. But most days, we are like zombies, at least for the first half hour in the morning.

Each night I promise myself not to be up till 1 pm and sleep at a much more decent hour so that I can match or at least pretend to be as sunshiny as the pre-schooler. But that me-time I get in the nights and only in the nights is too precious to give up.

So, while watching the ad, I was sure my child would do the same, once she turns 6. She would give up on us and start being independent. She already is, in many ways. I was picturing her getting ready and making her own bread and wearing her uniform and was sure she will do an excellent job on her own.

Should I be guilty? Is some serious intervention required?

Now I know I should sleep earlier and wake up early, for my own good. But I also know that the smothering that my mother and my grandmother did to me as child, is in some way not possible for my child.

We live in a nuclear setup in a country with no other relatives. I believe, where some brightness wouldn’t be out of order but smothering will not help my child here.

I would want her to learn to be independent. That’s how things work here. She is expected to do a lot of things on her own even now in preschool. She is expected to carry her china mug and bowl full of milk and cereal, without dropping them. At 3, I am sure I wasn’t even allowed near china. I was expected to break it.

She does it with élan. I haven’t got the nerves to let her handle breakable china at home but I haven’t heard of such cases at school.

So, I am in a way glad, that the child is learning to be responsible. Maybe a tad earlier than what her grandparents may like, but I like it. To appreciate that, maybe even we parents would wake up a little happier and do our chores also in a fun way. Like her when she cleans up her play space, she sings a song, ‘Tidy up Time’ Aah! I wish that enthusiasm sticks on for all her life 🙂

An erstwhile Quality Analyst, Sirisha Achanta, is now a full-time mommy to an adorable 2-year-old girl and a part-time writer. 🙂  She loves to dance, dream and read a lot!