Stop it, don't touch that!!!

"Oh!! Look what your son is doing??"-

"How can you let him go there?"

"Hello, is this Mrs R?, Ma'm we'd like to meet with you and your husband tomorrow to discuss something."

"Yuck, Such a dirty kid"

I have heard these lines right from when my firstborn started walking around without support. One would think I was a wicked, evil mother, listening to these words. What kind of a mother would allow her little boy to get into such a mess?

You must be wondering what i'm talking about? Nothing serious, folks..its just plain childsplay. What a child imagines to be his best playtime, others look down upon us mothers who let them be.

MUD, SAND, WATER...

This is what I am talking about. Very few kids I know would not like to get himself down and dirty. The feel of the mud, and sand sifting through the fingers, gives them joy. See how they transform. Watch their eyes, and see it sparkle. Textures are understood in a simple setting such as this.
If your baby prefers playing in the sand pit in the play area, watch them making friends, expanding their social circle. Don't stop them. To wash up the dirt, and clean their clothes, are a small compromise to seeing them laugh, and learn.

Years ago, 14 to be precise, a school ( a very elite, alternate type of schooling, mind you) made that call one day. I had picked up the phone, and as a mother, I reacted exactly as expected. I thought of all the worst things. When my boy all of 3 years, returned, I let out a barrage of questions. Tried asking him what had happened all day? It was of no use. He had nothing to say. I waited with monkeys in my stomach till the next day.

On meeting the authorities, I was shocked to say, more amused when I heard what they had to say. "Ma'm, your son was seen throwing sand on the other girls' head...(my eyes went wide open!!)..He also was enjoying it much to the girl's discomfort...(now I was nearly laughing)...But their next sentence snapped me out of my smiling reverie.

Would you like us to give you the reference for the counsellor who visits the children's dept at NIMHANS
Thats it...I snapped.

I was out of that school, in a few minutes...walked out to never return. Changed my son's school and saw him settling into normal environment with ease, and the smiles that he brought home, assured me I had done the right thing.

What kind of a school would think thus? Ridiculous I found them to be.

Have you ever seen how a child learns the basics of the very same boring school stuff, when he's taught in water, with sand or drawn with mud. Teach him to count with the stones, and seeds thats fallen on the ground and see how he thrives?? Don't always think the teachers are right for your son. Trust your instincts too. You are the parent after all. If you are not comfortable with their complaints, don't be scared to ask around but never put them above your child.

That was one experinec I will always look back upon and know I did the right thing then and now when I see how well my nearly 17 year old has grown up to be, I smile a knowing one.

A day 12 post for the 'Marathon Bloggers' and a special one indeed..because today is 12-12-12