The world woke up with the news of pandemic and Lockdown
and the messages of STAY HOME STAY SAFE brought everything to a pause. I, as a
mother of a 4-year-old daughter, was worried. Making her understand that “We
cannot go out anymore”, not even to play with her friends, was the most
difficult task. I managed to convince her. My little one had many things to ask
about CORONA. I tried my best to answer all of her queries patiently. Managing
my girl seemed next to impossible but actually, it wasn’t! Being a working
mother, this was my chance to be with her and to tell her that she has a
Supermom! She wanted to have a cake and I decided to try my hands at the
bakery. I prepared the cake at home “WOW! YOU CAN BAKE A CAKE!” My
sweetie pie couldn’t believe and I could see that pride in her eyes while she
had her cake!! It felt heavenly!
Engaging her was a new task! I so missed her teachers!
But her Supermom did not give up and started engaging her in activities like
drawing, colouring, passing the parcel, dancing. Mamma and Papa started
participating with her, they were her best partners and punishing them in games
seemed so much fun! She loves doing things when her Mom and Dad are around.
I re-lived my childhood! Watching Ramayana again, this time with
her was a feast! Slowly, the offices also started with the concept of “Work
from Home”. With no help at hand, things would be difficult at times but the
smile on her face was a blessing.
Usually, watching TV, while having her breakfast, was a
normal routine. But now, switching on the TV since morning was annoying. Both
of us had offices too! We needed to divert her. Mayra is an early riser like
her Dad. So, the breakfast place shifted from the dining table to the balcony
where the birds were chirping. A few parrots made a daily visit to their friend
and her practice of counting skills was in progress. She had started enjoying
her breakfast time in her Balcony. Mom and Dad took turns to feed her in the
balcony.
Mayra has been regularly ill in the past few months. She
is allergic to preservatives used in food items like ketchup, ice creams, and
soft drinks. Every time she would ask for them, we would give in, not realizing
that not only these things were heavy on our pocket, but they would also make
our Daughter ill for days and sometimes for months. We realized that lockdown
has turned out to be magical, as now she is fit and fine. No running nose, no
cough nothing, as she is away from her allergens. We have learned our lessons -
We needed to change! She is fine with home-cooked food now.
Then the online classes happened! I saw the teachers
putting in a lot of efforts, making first the parents and then the students
understand the nitty-gritty of technology, struggling with poor network and low
attention span of such young kids. I also had a wonderful experience while
taking online classes with her. And I realized how difficult it is for a
teacher to cope up with the struggles at both fronts. A working mother like me
was the best example of coping at both fronts.
Thankfully my School understood this and allowed me to
work remotely. So, I could take care of all the fronts very comfortably. Well
planned classes, organized and scheduled meetings, feedbacks and review
meetings happened daily. We learnt from each other and became more
efficient.
We usually blame others for our own mistakes. We call our
children cranky and undisciplined. But it’s we, the parents who do not realize
that children need our time. During this Lockdown, I learnt the greatest
lesson, parents and schools are partners. As Parents, we too, need to take
responsibility of the child. The child is not only the school’s responsibility.
Today, Mayra is not demanding much. She’s happy watering her plants eagerly
waiting for her 3 tomatoes to turn red, taking care of the Gifts her plants
have given her and we are happy parents too!
Feeling Happy
NEELAM IKHE
