SHUT UP!

Adi and I like to spend our time together reading books, eating out and playing. We spend sometime at our favorite place, The British Council Library - where the children's section is really a fun place to be. Kids, as young as one year old, park themselves in this section, crawling around and making gurgling sounds and the older ones learn to watch their steps so that they don't tumble over the crawling kiddies. Stylish moms also are a part of this space and they vary at different levels, of course.

There are the dressed-to-kill moms, who are swathed in diamonds and branded wear and you feel frightened to go near them, fearing they would break a bone if you approached. There are simple, working moms like me who slog 24X7 and have really no time or aptitude to dress like Barbie dolls (also the realistic realization that why waste all that time and effort when you know you wont look like one!) and then there are the absolutely down to earth moms who are very grounded, conservative and definitely, more simple and sensible than the rest of us.

So, here in the kids section, its an interesting zoo of sorts. 

And sometimes, there are conflicts.

For example, two boys, may be eight years old, were playing games online. Adi goes over to them and wants to join them and of course, they dont even look at him. So, Adi starts counting from 1 to 20 softly.

One boy tells him very rudely, "SHUT UP"

Now, that got me really really livid coz no one talks to my baby like that!

However, I've always been able to maintain my cool externally and I don't typically get into childish, gut breaking or tear wracking avatars like a lot of hep moms. 

I told this boy, very firmly, "Look, don't speak to a small boy like that please."

This boy was well behaved and replied, politely, "Sorry, auntie (ouch!  i must think of some effective home remedies!)  but his counting disturbed my focus on the game. It was irritating me."

I liked the way he put across his argument, it was logical and yet respectful of whom he was addressing.

So, I said, gently, "I am sorry that Adi disturbed you but you can't shout at a four year old boy. He is still a baby, right? You are much wiser. What you did is not good."

The boy said, "Sorry. " to me and then to Adi, "Really sorry for speaking like that."

Now, that is good and classy behavior, perhaps it comes from parents who are well balanced and taught the right code of behavior.

I find myself respecting that little boy and patting myself on the back for dealing with this in the right way.