"Baby...First of all, that bike is not yours alone. It is for both of you, and let her ride it for a while. Jo, give it to him after some time, ok?" She nodded her head. " She will give it to you after some time. Until then, why don't you play with something else ?" I told Jeff.
"No!! Mommy... Why is Jo riding a bike? Bikes are for boys. So that's mine." Jeff stated with a pout.
Oh, God!! I get irritated whenever I hear such gender discrimination. From where do they pick up such thoughts. I have always put in an extra effort not to do that.
"No dear, that is not right. There is no such thing. It's our wish. If Jo likes to ride a bike, she can. If you like to play with a doll, you can. If she likes blue, she can wear a blue dress, and if you like pink, you can wear a pink one. So there is nothing like that. Yes, sometimes boys can be stronger than girls, but that is not always right as there can be some boys who are weaker than girls of the same age. Each person is different. And it is not right to say someone cannot do something when they like to do it. Of course, if it is a bad thing, then no one is allowed to do it." I know he is too young to understand all these. But I hope he understood at least some of my points.
"But mommy, Kannan said that Neena aunty doesn't ride a bike because she is a girl." when Jeffy finished his argument, I felt like strangling Neena's neck. I have always told her not to feed such crap into the kids' heads. Yes, it is normal for us to think like that. While growing up, we had so much of such 'Do's and Dont's for a girl!!' ideologies, and she is just following that path, and as she says, I might be a feministic Mother. But I don't like it. Everyone has the right to do whatever they love to do.
"No baby. Maybe Neena aunty couldn't learn, or maybe Nobody taught her. I will ask her the reason. In my case, it was because your grandpa was scared that I will get injured. So similarly, there could be some other reason. So, you should never say such things ok?" He nodded after listening to it carefully.
"Then, why don't you draw a spiderman for mommy?" I asked him.
"No, Mommy.. I will draw a lion. I will go and get my coloring box". Jeff ran to the living room.
Even if I have some pending office work to do, I prefer to do that only after the kids went to bed as I want to spend whatever time I can with them. I'm happy that even after becoming 'big boys and girls', as they say, they still share their school stories, their worries, and thoughts with me. I just wish our bonding would remain like this even after they grow-up. Sometimes I wonder if I'm not mature enough to guide them like other mothers. But sometimes, I feel like it is due to my immaturity that they never had any inhibition on sharing their secrets with me. I just wish they wouldn't distance themselves from me once they get into their teens. I hope I wouldn't be a strict mother when they become a teenager. As I know, how much ever I try to be open-minded, I have so many conservative ideologies imbibed in my blood. I always worry about their romantic relationships. Though it is something usual, It is like a nightmare for me. I get nightmares thinking of my kids going to parties, clubs, losing their virginity at a young age! What if they become a teen parent? What if they get into drugs? I get worried about all these thoughts. But I give myself a pep talk on how I should take all these things lightly and have trust in my kids.
After having dinner, Jessi helped me to clean up the table. I hate to see the dirty dishes first thing in the morning. So I finished cleaning the dishes and went to spend some time with the kids.
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Author's Note:
How is it? Did you like it? Am I dragging it too much? Am I putting in too many details? I'm confused actually.
Sometimes I feel like I'm putting in too many details and dragging it with unnecessary things and other times I feel like it is good to give a detailed picture to know the characters clearly so that it would get us more involved with the story. I don't know whether it is only me who likes the detailed one. Should I reduce it a bit? what do you think?
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Just Another Mother
General FictionMeera was always treated as a small kid by her family. Her life's decisions, including her marriage, were taken by her parents, and she never had any issue with it. But when she decided by herself for the first time, it had changed her life complet...
