Some mommy moments - 1

I tried to avoid this post but the mom in me surfed and won over and so this post had to be published.

Alert: A Pompous post

After touring and shopping  around the lifestyle exhibition at HITEX, we settled at the eating area. My son went to get his  pizza from Domino’s counter while my daughter went to get some parathas. The parathas menu had some interesting fillings and had a lady rolling out them while the men around helped her.  I and the hubby were busy observing the people around and suddenly I found my daughter engaged in a conversation with the man handling  the paratha counter. The conversation between them looked like they were either arguing with a smile/ familiar to each other. After placing the order my daughter came back to us and told the man at the counter was one of the visiting leadership officer at the camp and who helped my dot and her friends to get the outpass while the commanding officer initially refused to give them the outpass at the camp.

After a while, the man came to our seat and said “ Your daughter is one of the 7 students whom we have chosen as promising leaders of the future at the camp.”   Even before we could say something he continued. “As a parent, you pamper and accept the negatives and positives of your child within your home but it is only when they stay outside would a child exhibit her adapting qualities and amongst the 300 odd students, your child was one of the chosen 7 and the last 4 who compered the event on the final closing day. She did a tremendous job" he said. He also added, “we generally don’t issue outpass to these students because they don’t keep up their promise  but in your daughter and her friend’s case, I could gather from my experience their genuine plea and request reflected on their face and hence recommended them to the CO”.

It was a mommy moment for me, because the appreciation came from a man who was the faculty of leadership at the Indian school of Business(ISB), Hyderabad. After all only a leader can identify a leader. He is an ex airforce personnel who is also a president medal winner (SD Sharma) and here  the man was helping his aunt ( she is a paratha expert who conducts workshops) manage the crowd  at the exhibition counter.

Well, why was I joyous?  My dot was a very outgoing child and made friends easily with everybody so much so that at any of my husband’s team outings she was awarded the “most friendly and outgoing child”. A very adaptable, adjustable and an undemanding child who has competed and participated in various competitions and stage shows. 

Somehwere along as she grew up into her tweens and now in her teens she lost the quality. She became choosy and picky and stopped  being familiar and friendly with all. She found comfort in a group and mingled only with a select few. She refused to go on stage for any shows or competitions and has missed many good opportunities.  My husband  who is a very good confidante of my dot and a very cool person generally does not bother about all these things. But,It bothered me for some time and then I  finally accepted it as a part of growing up.

 Not that I am an ambitious parent. We are simple and contented people who find joy in little things that life offers us.  But when you know your child is capable of excelling in certain areas,  that extra push may help.  Of course, at the end of the day, we want our children to be happy and content in whatever they do.  We don’t want  them to run any race against their wishes. Neither do we force anything upon them. We want them to enjoy their childhood and believe in giving them the maximum exposure possible.

So this appreciative comment about my dot made me really happy and I had to record it here.

Is my son  any less? No… my next post will mostly be about the mommy moment I had at the parent teacher meeting.