Real. Respect. Responsibility.

20th April 2023

Reena and Dhruv were watching "Grown Ups" - the movie. There is a scene wherein the little girl comes to know there is no tooth fairy, the broken milk teeth are hidden somewhere by her parents, and the chocolate coin wrapped in golden paper are kept under the pillow by her mother only. Dhruv is heartbroken to see this. "Mumma, there is no tooth fairy?" he asks.
"I am so sorry beta. Yes, there is no tooth fairy. And that is the truth." said Reena politely.
Dhruv quietly got up and went to his room. He went into silent mode as if he had a heartbreak. Reena got up and made his favorite chocolate milkshake and went to him. "When you are small kids, there are so many things that are not appropriate to be shared with you and there are many reasons for it; to retain your innocence, to let you believe in magic, to dream, to think creatively and without any limits. I never thought it to come to like this. But now that this has happened let us accept the truth. Won't you have your favorite chocolate milkshake?"
"What else is hidden from me, Mumma? And when will I get to know it?" Dhruv asks sadly. Reena takes a while and replies, "Now that you have come to know about the tooth fairy, you will gradually come to know about other things too, when the time is right. And I think it should happen naturally than me sitting and telling you all of it, right? Why is the glass empty? Where did the milkshake go?" "Don't worry, I have hidden it in a safe place, in my tummy!" Dhruv replies cheekily.




Real.
Kids have innocence and magic filled in their hearts. There comes a time when that bubble bursts and reality strikes. At that time, try to make them understand what happened and why. If this period is not accompanied and empathized, it might lead to making the kids bitter people who always have trust issues.
Being real with them at an early age will also result in the same. Hence, always go by gut. There would be many such incidents, estimate if it is the right time to tell them the truth or if you still have to keep them disguised for their good.

Respect.
"Respect is a two-way street. You get it only if you give it, irrespective of age."
Kids are always expected to respect elders, but if they do not see and feel the same, how would they come to know what it means? This trait encourages other wrong practices like keeping quiet instead of sharing a feeling, and suppressing emotions when they feel like expressing them. This is not how it ideally should be.
Another misconception about respect, especially in India is, younger should respect elders, whether elders respect them or not. Let us be fair here and make it one individual should respect another individual irrespective of age.

Responsibility.
Responsibility is a feeling of taking accountability for certain chores/tasks and doing it at regular intervals. Sometimes the kids would voluntarily come and take it up, but that won't happen every single time. It is okay to delegate them age-appropriate responsibilities. That makes them aware of what they get ready all the time comes after effort. And they end up helping you too!
Note: This post is a part of #Blogchattera2z 2023.