Breaking News – Everyday
I have always been kind of a chatterbox, my ma always told me so happily, and I know for a fact that I just love to go on and on and on… so it was no surprise that my daughter would eventually be a chatterbox too. And that eventual time arrived of course, not now, but it’s been some time now.
While my daughter is in school it’s a mad dash to try and finish off as much of my work as I can. Coz I know that once she is back home, there is no doing anything else than being with her and talking.
As we’ve just shifted to a new place, her school bus doesn’t come to the building gate, but just a minute’s walk from the gate. So as the time comes near for me to go and pick her up, I plug in the head phones in my ear, blasting music and swaying my head to the beats – it’s one of those rare few minutes of the day when I do get some time to listen to some music of my own. I walk over to her bus stand, waiting for her to come to my arms, matching the thud in my head to the pulsating beats, using the time to walk and not just stand still.
And then I see it – her middle-sized yellow and blue school bus – coming towards me, and I inevitably know that my little one will almost be standing, trying to crane her neck and see if mamma is there or not. And without realising, I end up doing the same, trying to stand on tiptoe even while the bus is far, trying to see if I can spot her, trying to see if I can see those two little pigtails that are mine.
As the bus reaches the stand, she gives me a big smile, the grin spreading from ear to ear as she gets down and reaches for a big hug from me. And even as I take her bag from her and give her a tight hug and a kiss on the head, the school bulletin begins.
Even before we manage to cross the road, my daughter tells me what all happened in the bus. If the teacher has written a note in her diary, she will jump to open up her school bag right then and there, jumping with contained excitement that is on the verge of bursting out! If there has been an unpleasant thing in the bus, she will tell me about it there and then, even before we can cross the road.
While we take the short minute-longwalk back home, I am already updated about who said what in class, who forgot to bring her diary to school, who had a wrong-colour ribbon in her hair, which boy was earlier her dance partner but has now been changed, who ate her ‘diffin’ and with whom she shared what I sent for her lunch. She will also tell me if she has done anything naughty in class, and with a lot of fun and laughter will inform me if she had been talking too much in class or jumping and running around and mam told her not to! She will tell me each and every thing, and even before we have reached up to our floor and I have had a chance to open the main door, I already know what she’s been up to the entire day!
For anyone reading this article just like that, or for anyone who doesn’t have a kid, this will seem like a pretty okay thing. After all, all kids like to talk about what happened and what they did and what others related to them did, and most of the time, we as grown-ups, will just nod our heads or give an instant 2-second smile or say ‘hmmm’ to their questions without even listening or understanding – basically anything that will make them quiet for a while and let us do whatever important thing it is that we want to get back to.
It’s understandable. But as parents, what we may think of as just kiddie blabbering, can reveal a lot to us about our child’s personality, their thought process, and give us an idea about the other children they spend their time with and all other people they come in contact with, outside mamma papa’s safe arms. Hearing our kids is an everyday non-stop thing. It’s listening to them and trying to understand their perceptions, thoughts, ideas, dreams and fears that will help us more as parents, and help us give those wings to our little ones, that will make that transition from childhood to adulthood a smooth, enriching and ever-memorable experience for our little ones.
After all, we as parents have not just created a baby, we have given birth to a human being, and we need to do everything possible to make sure they grow into humans – in the most sensitive and sensible form.
Debolina Raja Gupta loves being a mommy and best friend to her 5-year old princess. A working mom, voracious reader, social activist, photographer, poet, travel freak, beauty writer and an everything-of-sorts. Best fun is story time and our fashionista time together. My blogs: The Book Worm, A Few Thoughts Here And There, My Little One And Me, Beauty Makeup And More.