She
grew up faster than I could know. I guess children are like that- one day they
are a newborn kid babbling in your arms; and the nest thing you know, a few
years have crossed by, and they turn into this little adult whom you never
knew.
She
recently entered KG from Nursery. Quite a transition; I remember the School
Interview where she was one more babbling kid, accompanying her parents to the
interview.And today, she is a school-growing kid with varied interests from
Chhota Bheem to dance and art. We play bubbles and football on the terrace
quite often, and Snake and ladders at other times. The other day, her toy bird
overshot the limits of our terrace, and went into the neighbor’s compound. It
was quite a late night adventure to retrieve it.
We
took her to the circus this year, and she was enthralled to see the clowns and
the animals. It was quite an adventure for her young life. Most of all, she
remembers the joker who played the practical pranks.
My
late night computer work has been forestalled, willingly, because she insists I
must accompany her when she goes to bed each night. Our time for bedside
stories has decreased a bit, but it has been replaced by her gymnastics , most
gleefully on her Dad’s shoulders. She still loves to ride my shoulders, though
I must admit it is a bit more difficult than in the days when she was a one
year old kid in Pune.
Though
she is a bit tempartmental, I guess all
kids are unique in their own way. All they need is love and care from their
parents, and the assurance that they will be by their side, no matter what. And
that is, ultimately, what we need to install in our children- the capacity to
love , and be loved. For, of all the human emotions, love, especially for one’s
family, is the one thing that distinguishes us humans as a race. A family may
have differences of opinion, and contrasts of character, but what holds it
together are the fundamental human emotion of love, understanding and caring.
