Last Saturday I got a call from a little boy with a funny accent "Which family is this?"
I was flabbergasted "excuse me ?" Little boy tried again " ye kaun si family hai ?"
I said "This is Ruhi's family, you want to speak with her ?" and I called for her, at the same time wondering if the boy was just plain cheeky or a bit weird like he sounded ! She took the call looking absolutely embarrassed right to her big toe.
I was watching her from the corner of my eye. She gave me a sheepish smile and turned her back towards me. Then she said into the phone "What?"
It seems he invited her to come to his house, so she thrust the phone into my hand and said "talk to mama" and ran away. He asked me if Ruhi can come over, I told him I would try since Noida was far from where we lived. I was feeling a wee bit bad to refuse him. I forgot about the call and went about my chores but after an hour my phone started ringing non stop - the kid must have made 50 calls and I stopped answering after the first few.
At 4 in the evening his mother called saying that the boy would just not listen and if she could get him over to our house for a bit. Eventually she could not make it either. Ever since, every afternoon while I am at work, I get the same " Which family is this ?" call on my phone.
Sometimes I chat him up and find more about him. I know he plays Tennis every evening and that his grand parents stay in Nagpur and that his mom sent him to this new school since he hated his previous school.
Made me feel better since this 'previous school' is among the best known schools in Delhi ! I am such a pervert !! LOL
Anyway, on Monday Ruhi came back from school and spent the evening painting an abstract 'something' for Raj since he had requested her for some reciprocal artwork ! I wish I had clicked a picture of what she produced, it was so downright ugly ! There was this dark brown rectangle with a few smaller geometrical shapes on either side adorned with finger painting. I told her it was 'awesome'.
On Tuesday afternoon she came back from school in a sullen mood. Her father asked her several times what the matter was but she kept the long face with the scowl forever. After he stopped asking , she took out a folded piece of paper from her skirt pocket, crushed it into a ball and threw it in front of him. It was a plain sheet of paper with ' I LOVE YOU' scribbled in capitals on the top left hand. at the bottom was written "Raj Ruhi".
He folded it back and kept it for me. I thought and thought and thought about it. I know all the boys Ruhi has gone to school with for the last 4 years. I know their mums and together we've carried them bawling to their first day of play school. But who knows what's with this new kid..what if he stays all day with servants?...what if he watches adult stuff ? And then I would reprimand the old-fashioned-mother-inside-me and ask her to forget about it.
Day before yesterday, during the 'getting her to sleep' ceremony, Ruhi snuggled up to me and said she did not wish to go to school. The 'new' kids teased her.
"About what?" I immediately imagined kids pulling her mile long pig tails and calling her a pony or something. "About Raj".
"I don't love him mama but they say I do" and she burst into tears.
My mind was made. I must report this to the teacher pronto. The old-fashioned-mother-inside-me rolled up her sleeves.
I comforted her, told her to stick to her old school gang. Reminded her of her 6 cousins, all boys and all a bit mad who would go and fix anyone who troubled her ! I surprise myself at how 'feudal' my comforting could be ! But it worked ! She said she'd choose Gurtej for the job since he is a 'sardar' and they would be scared of him! Of course poppet ! lol.
Thereafter she slept like an angel.
The school has an open day on Saturday and I will be attending. I am in two minds about telling the teacher.
C'mon curse me, tell me what you think ?
26 comments:
Its all a part of growing up. I got my very first marriage proposal in Class 1, with a with a dahlia with no stem. Wonder where that boy is now? My younger brother teased me to tears about it. I guess that as a parent you would like to take action about it ... but wouldnt it make the whole thing a big deal? If you laugh and not give it too much importance, I think the child will take it in her stride. He is new to school and your child is quiet - so he feels safe with her. I think you should take it up with the boy's mother, away from the childrens' ears.
Uff I need to learn to keep it short
Thanks Ritu :). I am glad it wasn't short !
What a most interesting read! So much going on with the lil darlings :)
I dont have a kid so I dont know what is the right thing to be done.
What I feel is, maybe you could talk to the teacher about what the whole thing is all about and bring her up to date just in case.
Talking to the kid's mom is also a good idea. That would surely help.
Poor Ruhi. I wish I had some romantic thing like this when I was a kid! Makes me a tad envious :P
m already learnin wat'd b facin in future .. shud b prepared a bit too early i guess! .. but hey as ritu says.. lauf it off .. takin it to the school .. will make it worse with the boy is wat i think.. but m the last person to take advice from!
GP, I also faced this problem with my daughter but thankfully the whole story didnt last very long, but she remained on a love-hate basis with the girl (who my daughter believed) was spreading the stories.
Yes, it would be a good idea to talk to the teacher provided the teacher is a matured one and doesnt take these things to the staff room. You must have judged her by now.
But I learnt a lesson from your post,
Sardar kisey kamm ta aye... hehehe.
He he @Mampi ! Sachi, that was my thought also. I was a trifle surprised that she should make the connotation. I think its the Singh is King after effect ! :)
Thanks Sanmerci, Rinchen...you would not think so but ever opinion helps...I am so foggy about this one.
Well I guess when the time comes, which I presume shall be soon looking at how my son is talking about girl friends already, I will be on the other side listening to the parents of the girls complaining about him :P
I like Ritu's suggestion of talking to his mom away from the kids' ears. Also try to organize play dates for them under your supervision. Who knows once they get to know each other, Ruhi's discomfort would melt away. And tell her other kids will always blabber about who she is in "love with" because they have nothing better to do. If she wants to be frinds with someone, she shouldn't bother about them. "Haathi nikal jaate hain aur kuttey bhownktey hain" type :P
Hmm... I'd say talk to his mom. And tell her that you know he means no harm. But that its upsetting your child and that you wont stand for.
Also maybe tell the teacher to ensure they arent seated together etc so that she isnt bothered by him.
to me its not bothersome because of the 'love' angle... but that i cant bear the thought of little ruhi in tears. i'd deal with anything that upset my child to this extent.
thats all.
cant believe you're already there Preeti :D
hahahahaha ;)
my 2-year old cousin asks some really weird questions...sometimes i am so dumbstruck on how to answer her!
u have cuuute kid :)
Whoa! I thought there were years before we had to deal with this stuff. It is kind of cute though other than the fact that it make your daughter cry.
Wiser people than me have spoken before with some pretty great advice so I won't go there. Hope Ruhi gets past this soon...
i am in time to comment before the crucial Saturday. No, please don't make it an issue by telling the teacher. It is a passing phase. It will fade away in time. Yes, she can stay in the company of the mighty 'sardars' for the time being before the new kids concentrate on something else, that they normally do.
LOL Balvinder, I was waiting for your comment ! Yup, heard that loud and clear- no to making a big deal :)
Thanks
Hi ,
I was reading ur blog posts and found some of them to be very good.. u write well.. Why don't you popularize it more.. ur posts on ur blog ‘Inexplicably’ took my particular attention as some of them are interesting topics of mine too;
BTW I help out some ex-IIMA guys who with another batch mate run www.rambhai.com where you can post links to your most loved blog-posts. Rambhai was the chaiwala at IIMA and it is a site where users can themselves share links to blog posts etc and other can find and vote on them. The best make it to the homepage!
This way you can reach out to rambhai readers some of whom could become your ardent fans.. who knows.. :)
Cheers,
hehe.. I think its a passing thing.. the kid probably caught it somewhere..TV most likely.. with the phone calls and this letter that's what it looks like.. Just let it pass.. :)
hey hey i gotta chance and i used it ! plz chek my blog :) i kno u already got the award but i wanted to give it to u so badly :D
I think its just a passing fad, at this age kids always move on very fast, what is crucial today wont evenmatter tomorrow.
Talking to teacher will make a big deal out of it.
I always told my daughter, not to bother about what others are saying.
I dont know why love takes a sinister meaning at this age? they are so innocent at this age and we adult always think with our preset minds.
u kno sumthing?this is the cutest first read blog ever..m in love with ur space..so much so that,i ve added u in my floaters.. :)
The kids look reallly cute and so do ur posts.. :)
Cheers sis. :)
Aah..reminds me of my first letter at the age of say 11. Didnt have guts to hand over in person so kept the letter in my lady love's shoe[those days we shud get rid of shoes when stepping into computer labs]..and the rest they say was history as well as some anatomy too since some parts of my body got a bulge due to caning :).
Even if you want to inform the teacher plz make sure they are not harsh on him..getting caned for a love letter isnt a sweet experience :)
Hi Nautankey ! The poor little fellow had already got himself into great trouble at home and with the teacher even without my complaining about him as I found out ! I feel really sorry for him now :(
I'm coming to the discussion a little late GP, but I'd just like to add that I think it might be a good idea to ask Ruhi how she would handle the situation if she could. Not that you have to follow what she says obviously, but I think it might help you understand if there is something else going on (jealousy on the part of other kids, Ruhi feeling isolated etc)
I'd probably talk to the teacher, but only if I was sure the teacher would be able to handle the issue and not make it worse by telling it around as a joke or going ultra strict and causing resentment all around. (have known both things to happen).
priya.
I'm coming to the discussion a little late GP, but I'd just like to add that I think it might be a good idea to ask Ruhi how she would handle the situation if she could. Not that you have to follow what she says obviously, but I think it might help you understand if there is something else going on (jealousy on the part of other kids, Ruhi feeling isolated etc)
I'd probably talk to the teacher, but only if I was sure the teacher would be able to handle the issue and not make it worse by telling it around as a joke or going ultra strict and causing resentment all around. (have known both things to happen).
priya.
Arrey dont feel sorry and all that. I finished my school not too long ago and already feel like an old slouch among these kids. How/why I dont understand. Damn, the first time I gave bracelets to a girl was in class 12! Anyways...
On an other note, its soo refreshing to read your posts :) I've had enough of Lehman's meltdowns and I know what am gonna do for the next few afternoons.. Look fwd to 'Mommy Musings' :)
You've been tagged. Check my blog
m surprised..kids say such things..i knew this phase was to come to my daughter but didnt know this could happen so soon!
Oh I don't know what to say...other than your Ruhi is sucha cutie! And so honest, and am glad she tells you all this stuff...I never did...no one bothered to even ask about what my day was like...not my mom, not my 3 older sisters :(
So what didja do?
Post a Comment