we live in a complex which has about 200 flats (apartments). what this means is that there are about 25-30 kids who go to the school in the neighborhood. both my kids go to the same school.the school bus picks up the bus-load of kids from the complex gate in the morning. most of the kids have their mothers or maids helping them onto the bus. and there are a couple of dads too, yours truly being one of them!
but the 'big boss' firmly believes that there's nothing noble about this early morning exercise i dutifully undertake! she believes that my morning excursion has more to do with my wanting to meet and chat with the group of mothers at the gate than with seeing off my kids. i guess she knows me pretty well after so many years of living with me! :)
but then i am usually not the lone dad at the gate. there are at least one or two others to give me company. now i don't know about their 'intentions' but then i can't paint everyone with my brush, can i? :P
one of the most memorable incidents i remember tells you a lot about us dads and how we deal with our kids (before i get flamed by the numerous mothers who read my blog, i am not saying that we guys do a better job or anything... on the contrary! read on to find out...)
there's this friend who has normally already left for office before the school bus arrives. he has two angelic daughters. its usually the kids' mother or the maid who drops the kids to the bus.
now one day he happened to be leaving a little late and so was downstairs with his younger daughter, presumably to drop her off to the bus.
when i was reaching the gate with my own younger brat, i noticed him bent over trying to having a serious conversation with his 3 year old. she was intently sobbing while he was doing his patient explaining. as i reached closer i understood the situation a little better. she was very clear that she did not want to go to school that day. and he was trying to explain to her why it was very important for her and her future that she go to school.
but you know kids (actually mom know kids!), they know a sucker when they see one! she didn't relent and if anything upped her decibel level and got the desired effect... his heart melted and he asked the bus driver to go ahead without her.suddenly, out of the blue, the little girl was lifted off her feet and carried away! it was the mother who was watching the spectacle from the window . she knew where this was headed and that it called for some drastic measures! she hollered at the bus which had just started, and managed to deposit the kid into the bus. the kid realised that the game was up and promptly stopped howling!
the father walked away sheepishly towards his car while the mother face displayed a mixture of smugness and irritation on her way back home!
all of us had a hearty laugh as we headed back home to our respective morning chaos! :P
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13 comments:
That was sweet and funny. :)
Haha.... that's a dads perspective. Check mine out. lol
That is a specific dad-daughter interaction, not a dad-kid nteraction..
Ask mothers who have both...sons and daughters..
(smile)
Hi Guru,
I remember that scene (amongst I am sure many others) and think the way you recreated the whole scene was so real that it gave a sense of deja-vu. You clearly have a flair for writing. I am looking forward to the day when you write a book or a film script or something big like that!
Cheers and Best Luck
Sanjay
Though I am not one of the regulars for seeing off the kids at the gate, I am fortunate enough to be an eye witness :-)
I don't think we can label it as a dad vs mom scenario; each family has it's own soft targets which the kids are smart enough to identify.
I have gone through a similar situation with my own 2.5 year old where I happened to be the soft target and fortunately for my daughter, the father had already left for office. I ended up dropping her to school ...
@ mathatheist : thanks :)
@ mia : yeah i guess i am biased and so you will see only the dad's perspective here! will check out yours too :)
@ sumita : i know what you mean, i think! :)
@ sanjay : thanks sir!
here's to my next 'big' thing, cheers! :)
@ shobha : i agree! kids don't have any such gender-bias issues when it comes to identifying their soft targets! :P
That gave me the much needed smile!
Well, what do you know, just this morning I was at my daughter's school to attend a parent-teacher meeting, and as usual, there were only a handful of fathers; almost all were mothers.
And this lady sitting next to me remarks, quite innocently,"So? You didn't have any work today??"
I nodded.
At the cost of laughing at the dad's plight...i'd have to say, the dads surely deserve that.
Yes, mom's cn see through tummy aches and excuses, the tantrums and the real cries...
The dads just love being part of the sympathy circle....and just melt..but I dont blame them. They are made like that.
Thats the reason kids love them oh so much inspite of mom doing all the work :)
That's the cutest blog I ever read! This happens with grandparents too, "Kaunsa aasmaan toot padega ek din nahi gaye toh!!"
Slightly deviating from the topic...have you noticed how dads tend to be to themselves and take a long time to become buddies while moms get together in no time and are having their bus-stop kitty party!!
what can i say? as dads we are born suckers...Iam ashamed to say that that Iam currently immobile becoz iam wrapped arnd a 5 year old pinky finger...thank god for mothers.
heh..heh...was just trying to imagine the scene..
dads are dads...and don't the little ones know it :P
sadly, we mothers are highly mailgned creature...:(
and hey, great to c u back...
@ anupam : ha ha ha :)
but then you are jobless even at office anyway :P
@ prats : yeah, lucky dads! but my kids, at the end of the day, want their mom whenever they need something... whether its a hug or food :)
@ sravana : true... i too make friends with the moms faster than i do with the dads :P
@ tys : hey buddy! always a pleasure to read your comments! have been lurking on your blog... will write too! promise :P
@ suma : good to hear from you too :)
Lol was a wonderful read. Came here thru prat's blog. The situation is narrated so well. I am sure you wold have had a hearty laugh.
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