Letting it go

When is a good time to accept that your child is very far from being that little blob of mass with an alien face who needed every minute of your time but more of a grown up individual with a mind of his own? And if anything he needs from you, it is to stop breathing down his neck about every single thing. About TV, about food, about sleep, about studies, about time to leave home, about time to return home, the language…. oh the list is too long.

While RRJ takes  my (our) nagging quite sportingly and continues to be our good friend, I am a little tired of myself being this person who is not able to respect the notion of independence that RRJ seems to be developing at a rapid rate.

About ten days back during his exam week, RRS was traveling, that particular day it was already dark outside, time was well past seven, RRJ was nowhere to be seen and I was wandering in the street telling myself, "he has had it." After a few minutes I decided to check his friend's home in the next block. There I got to know he didn't come back with them. Walking back towards home I saw two thin legs and yellow bat walking up the stairs. I decided to wait and see what would mr. grown up do when he finds the house empty. I heard him opening the bolted door, "hello……. hello, Amma?" then there was silence. Trring… my cell phone rang in my hand, I had no choice but to pick up. "I am back. Where are you?" The guts! Where am I? Anyway as I walked up the stairs with each step I regained my cool and in the most mild manner possible told him that it was too late and I was worried and perhaps in the next hour he should bathe, eat and study for the exam next day. He didn't argue that there was no need to take bath or study. Later in the night while going through the grammar book I learnt a few things, like colours are actually adjectives and not nouns! And in the last page of the book I learnt a few more things:

D. Write five sentences about your mother.

1. my mother will cook nicely
2. my mother tells me the right things when I have fever
3. my mother tells me the right things when I have my exams
4. my mother works in IIT Madras
5. my mother is a 'nise' mother.

I was just so happy to read those sentences. Each of those, I know exactly what he means by them. Collectively, don't they seem to be talking about a sensible, calm and collected person. Perhaps from some angle I do appear like that. Or perhaps my son is indeed so grown up that he knows where what not to write.