Monday, November 10, 2008

we owe him big-time!

we owe our son big-time! at least the 'big boss' owes him big-time!

he averted a major disaster in our household! no, we are not talking about him intervening in one of our squabbles... this disaster registered far higher on the 'domestic richter' scale than even the biggest temper tantrum the 'big boss' and i would have thrown at each other!

our 24-hour maid literally gave us notice when she was away visiting her family over the weekend! she was told by her well-wishers and family that she would get paid much better than what we were paying her! she personally didn't want to leave but the pressure on her to give us notice and leave was too much, i guess... and so she gave notice!

the 'big boss' is not someone to brood over such calamities for too long... after having fretted and fumed for a couple of minutes she promptly swung into action and discussed her plan A with me... which was to hike her salary by a certain amount (which was still way off from what was being demanded)... and as plan B, she start contacting everyone in her cell-phone address book asking for help in finding a suitable replacement...

while all this was happening our kids got the gist of what was happening and kept trying to get more information out of their mother...

today the 'big boss' was supposed to have a 'woman-to-woman' chat with the maid after she got back from work in the evening. but our son reaches home from school in the afternoon.

after she got back home, the maid told 'big boss' about the conversation our son (who's all of 8) had with her...

he asked her why she was leaving and whether it was because of money... she said yes and that she was going to get paid more elsewhere... he asked her how much we paid her and how much
she was expecting... he then told her that once we combine our houses (we had recently bought the neighboring apartment which we are leasing out) in the near future he would pay her more than double the amount she was expecting!
the sincerity with which he said this made her laugh and melted her heart!

and then when 'big boss' came back from work he also put up a heart-felt appeal to her on behalf of the maid!

the 'big boss' and i later discussed this and we felt quite amazed and touched at the same time... at the maturity and sensitivity he displayed in this situation... and we didn't for a moment think that he was acting 'too big for his boots'!

and so peace prevails for yet another day at the guruprasad household! :)

21 comments:

MG said...

bravo!!! it is always good to see children take responsibility on their own accord :-) often times, i see that children who are empowered in their own homes actually progress faster and stronger in all spheres of life!

...and not to forget that a catastrophe of this magnitude and order would have definately ranked HIGH on every richter scale! such is life... he!he!he!

aMus said...

you sure do owe him big time!!! that's a lovely thing he initiated...

on a different track, i always feel that kids are mature and sensible for whatever age they are in and sometimes adults fail to realise this and tend to talk down to them...

Unknown said...

Read the article. Truly amazing what your son did:-)! Goes to show that age doesnt matter one way or the other:-)!

Kay said...

That's fantastic, and very inspiring. How old is your son? Beautiful story, very touching. Lovely kid. :)

Anonymous said...

Behind every successful man there is a woman. Behind every successful woman/mom, there is a great maid!

Wandering Musings... said...

Hey thats really nice :-) way to go for Prasan!!

Anonymous said...

Touch wood....He is amazing kid....

- pawan

Anonymous said...

This is really amazing...


Shekhar Singh

Guruprasad said...

@ manasi : thanks. and yeah, such is life! :P

@ suma : i agree when you say that we adults tend to talk down to our kids not realising that they are sensible in the first place!

@ shobha : i agree! age doesn't count! :)

@ mathatheist : thanks... he just turned 8!

Guruprasad said...

@ devahuti : you bet! :P and good to 'see' you here! keep dropping in!

@ divya : thanks! do keep dropping in! :)

@ pawan : thanks buddy!

@ shekhar : thanks sir!

Preeti Shenoy said...

He is perfectly right and had got his priorities very right.Kudos to parents for instilling sensitivity.
Cheers
preeti

Anonymous said...

Children have this amazing knack of decoding and simplying the seemingly complex situations which we adults tend to further complicate...

It's just a matter of perspective. Sometimes we just forget the fundamentals and overlook solutions found in the most obvious places. Children can see through the cobweb with incredible clarity and hit the bull's eye. A child, once grown, many a times fails to view things as simply as he used to, as a child. This is exemplary. There are many a lessons to be learned from the children who grow in front of our eyes...

Prats said...

We adults are always underestimating the ability of the kids. They are sensitive to others needs and how they make it felt is so touching....
It was nice to see him beign understanding in a nice way.

Guruprasad said...

@ ps : kids usually have their priorities right :)
thanks for dropping by!

@ aradhana : you are right about them usually cutting through all the 'bs' and getting to the crux of the matter... and it usually has to do with food, junk food preferably! :)

@ prats : thanks for dropping by... :)

Tys on Ice said...

they are way too smarter... :)

u think i can borrow him when iam doing my staff appraisals?

Unknown said...

i appreciate the parents and the "God of small things"..

cheers,
MADhu

Guruprasad said...

@ tys on ice : gladly! but his younger sis will also tag along... she;s the bonus! :P

@ madhu : thanks madhu! :)

broca's area said...

we always underestimate children[my father still does that:(]....

u guys handled him well...

Vinod said...

Hari Om,

Yeah... there goes the saying... Child is the father of man... yeh to apna bhi Baap Nikla.

That melted me too!

Vinod

Anonymous said...

hey guru,
don't get time to read blogs, but just read your posting this time, and WOW ! i'm borrowing him.
especially since i've got 2 pre-school guys who are as sensitive as the hide of a rhino.
jane

Swaram said...

How sensible was that! Hats off to him.