Starting today, our ‘sponge’ is home for the
school holidays. That is what Hailey’s Headmistress called our children when we
joined them for the school parent’s day today. “They will absorb everything you
do like a dry sponge takes in water. They will imitate everything regardless of
what you say to them. When it comes to children, action indeed speaks louder
than words. So do you want your children to be generous? Be generous. You want
them to be neat? Be neat. You want them to have etiquette and use proper
language? Then have etiquette and use proper language.” She said
These words hit home for me because I had had a clear
demonstration about this just a few days back.
As a routine, Hailey and Heidi’s first stop when
they wake up from their bed in the morning is to come to my room. If I am not
awake, they will wake me up to say good morning. I don’t know how it started
but it has stuck. Sometimes when I have the very rare chance of sleeping in, I
bid them good morning really fast and dive back under the covers to continue
sleeping. I learnt the hard way that ignoring them only helps to make them more
persistent. Ever heard a child trying to get their mother’s attention when she
is on the phone or when she is engrossed in a conversation with another adult?
That kid will not stop tugging and pulling and chanting ‘MUMMY!’ until you pay
him or her some attention. I am sure by now every mother knows that once a
child starts with the incessant ‘MUMMYs’ the smart thing is to respond
immediately and nip the chorus in the bud. You might think they are pestering you
then but wait until you ignore them. But I digress and I don’t have a generous
word count to work with so…
The events after the morning greetings are always
somewhat routine;
Hailey will rush to the bathroom (thank
God, she is not a bedwetter) After the bathroom visit, she will go to the
sitting room, switch on the TV, search for the cartoon channel and watch
cartoons as she awaits further instructions on how her day should proceed. If
it is a school day, she will, sooner or later, quit cartoons and get ready for school.
If not a school day, she will have to wash her face and take her breakfast.
Being the diaper kid that she is (don’t ask),
Heidi skips the bathroom trip. She normally wakes up with an appetite and will want
breakfast pronto! With a slice of bread in her hand, she will roam around the
house. She will be in the living room for a minute to sip her tea, watch a bit
of cartoon with Hailey. Then she will pinch her or grab something from Hailey
and run to their bedroom. Hailey will yell at her. “I am not your friend!” she
will say. Heidi will return whatever she took and ask pleadingly “Hailey, are
you my friend?” to which Hailey will respond in the affirmative. Happy Heidi
will then go about touching stuff and throwing things around as she eats. Calls
for her to take her breakfast while seated will go unheeded. We now know why
we always find a half eaten slice of bread in the laundry basket or on the shoe
rack.
When she is bored with everything and everyone
else, she will barge into my room, most probably finding me awake or if it’s my
very lucky day, then I could still be under the covers. Should I still be sleeping, she will exit
to come back later. Should I be awake, then she will hang around. She will join
me when I bow down my head to pray. She will insist on helping me to make my
bed and make a mess out of it in the process. She will run out of the room to
take another sip of tea, come back with another slice of bread, complain that
she doesn’t like honey on her bread, complain that her tea has no sugar and
bring it to me for verification. I will taste the warm tea (I love my tea
scalding-hot, so tasting her lukewarm tea is torture) only to find that it
actually does have sugar. I will tell her that her tea is just fine and
convince her to take it. She will oblige and keep roaming in and out of every
room in the house. All this time, her
sister will be laughing at something Garfield
did or said.
On the material day, she found me trying on a
dress I was to wear that day. I stood in front of the mirror looking at myself.
Heidi stood quietly observing me. I then turned to assess my behind. Satisfied
that it looked fine (ha!) I ironed the dress of choice
and went to take a shower.
When I came back from the bathroom, who do I find
in my room? Heidi. What is she doing? She is looking at herself in the mirror.
How? She has her back turned to the mirror and get this, she is checking out
her diaper-donned ass!
If it wasn’t clear to me how imitative children
are, it became crystal clear to me then.
So the headmistress was right. It is indeed true
that Children are like sponges. They soak up everything from us; the good, the
bad, the ugly.
The pressure!
