A Lazy Parent

I am one worrried parent today. Surrounded as I am by committed, zealous mothers and their super achiever kids, I feel I am failing in my maternal duty towards my kids. The only classes my kids attend are the ones in school, they have gadgets of all kinds, they watch loads of TV, they play on the computer all the time, they have not been deprived of any toy/clothing/object they have ever wanted, they eat junk and drink coke when they want and go for fancy holidays all the time.

Am I the lazy one here? I don’t know what they chat about with their friends on bbm or gmail or facebook. I don’t get up in the mornings and churn out goodies for their snack boxes. When their clothes become tight I realise they need new innerwear. And why am I a softie where they are concerned? Why can’t I force my will on them and get them to be excited about ‘something’,nay ‘anything’ in life? They have not found their groove yet and seem to be in no hurry to do so. They are nonchalant about comparison to other kids. They are not the top graders at school and are not competitive to want it either!

When I hear of kids who are committed to an activity or task, I start to get a headache. When I hear of kids who get up early morning and train for a game, even on weekends, I get palpitations. The Singh family seldom gets up before 11 and laze the day through.

And to excuse my laziness, I tell myself I am in a good space. My parents did not hover like helicopters over my head all the time. I had to do my own homework. Post school I was only in unstructured play. My best lazy summer days were spent in the company of a good book, a pack of crax and a bottle of campa-cola! Praneet’s favourite play was to fight a battle with the ants on his wall with his little water gun. My parents did not know of all my secrets with my friends and did not snoop on me. I did not go for any tuitions and did not learn to play any instrument.

And we turned out just fine. We did what was required and knew the limits of the freedom that we had been given to us. Finally, the responsibility of what we did was our own and no-one was to blame.

And the lazy me is going to give her kids just that childhood and hope that good things come off it. Will Udai become a computer whizkid? Will Nishna publish her first book as a teenager? Will they turn out to be good human beings and will they do well?Will they earn good money and find good life partners?

Who knows the answers to all this? All I know is that they will do everything they are destined to do! And in the meantime, we can all be happy and safe in our hugs, kisses, laughter, little secrets and lots of love!