Well, it is a true story and I am writing my personal experience.
Yesterday, my to-be 3-year old daughter slapped me. Well, she was just forwarding the case of her mother, who was sitting beside me on the bed while I was still lurking under the combo of my winter-blues-destroyers, comprising a quilt and a warm blanket.
The inside story
I was to travel on this weekend to Udaipur with couple of my friends to attend a lit. fest. However, I was not keeping well for the past two weeks, and my wife had been screaming at her usual high-pitch that I should cancel my plans.
Why go when you are not well. You will never take me out even on my birthday if you are not feeling well.* What’s so inspiring now!
*It actually happened. I could not take her out for a dinner on her birthday because I was feeling unwell.
So, while I was struggling to come out of my heavy gear of a quilt and a blanket, she was again giving me this gyan. My daughter was sitting beside my pillow and was snuggling as she usually does in the morning. She noticed that her mother was trying to make a point, and apparently I was not listening (I was listening BTW).
Anyways, while my wife was rambling like always, I felt a huge blow on my face and my daughter totally committed to the act like saying —sunte nahin ho? (Don’t you listen)
My wife got concerned as she thought that I might slap my daughter back (I didn’t do it). My daughter really hits hard and even our neighbors have got the taste of her slaps.
When after a minute of making her not to do it again, I coaxed her in that babbling childlike voice
Why did you slap me?
She replied:
Oh, I was saying sorry to you!
I was like, what!
Anyways, she cuddled me after that and I managed to get up and get ready for my office.
Why she did it?
In our daily lives, we hardly care what we teach our children. In fact, we are not even aware that children are learning from every single gesture and move that we make.
The life, admittedly, of a modern nuclear family is hard–office, children, and daily chores–it takes a toll on you. You begin to remember your parents and how they would have assisted you in raising the children, while they are suffering from the empty-nest-syndrome in the far off places, small towns and supposedly not-too-good-cities-for-you. A total lose-lose situation, indeed!
My wife is a house-wife (as we Indians put it) and my daughter is a hell of a child (I am sure every parent feels the same way). She is too difficult to handle and my wife is seriously irritated by the demands and tantrums that she throws. Consequently, my wife has to shout on her a lot of time. She also has to threaten her by showing her hand, making false claims that she will close her inside the bathroom etc. Whenever I am at home, I also have the same attitude towards my daughter. So, in no way I am saying that my wife is at fault. (!) The behavior naturally got rubbed off on my daughter.
So, when my wife was scolding me for my unrealistic trip, she noticed that it should be assisted with a slap–why only words. 🙂
What I want to say
What I want to say through this is that we should be very careful about how we behave in our house–children are like CCTV cameras and they record everything. You might even don’t know what they learn from you.
I hope somebody will change their behavior towards children after reading this, if he/she dreads morning slaps!
Icing on the cake
I did not go to Udaipur!
