Wishes on a Birthday

Dear Son,

You are turning 5 today. You are growing up fast. It seems like it was only yesterday that we celebrated your 4^th birthday, which was of course, a very silent affair. Just the 5 of us at home. You cut a cake for your satisfaction and then we all went back to our work.

This year, it seems, would be a little different. You are all excited about your birthday. You have informed about it to everyone you know. You are eager to invite your neighbourhood friends and have a birthday party at home. Want to give them gifts. Want to receive gifts too. All this is going to be new in our household where we often don’t even remember our birthdays.

As you enter your 6^th year on the planet, I want to share a few things that we have been noticing about you. Lot of things about you have changed over the last one year – your interests, your choices, your behavior, and more. Perfectly normal. We expect many more such changes.

These days, television has taken over you. And you have taken over the remote. The battle to regain control of the remote has been fought against you by everyone else in the family. And lost. Now, there is peace at home. You wouldn’t mind watching ‘Chota Bheem’ 24 hours a day. Because of you, we are also forced to watch it. And forced to watch the same episode numerous times. Vexed, we no longer come near the TV. What my father failed to achieve in over 35 years, you have done in just one.

When no television, you want to go to the park. Or go cycling. Or want others at home to tell you stories. If nothing else, then, you want to call someone on the phone. You are also starting to build you a friend circle of your own, in the neighbourhood. We now have your ‘friends’ visiting us.

At school though, it is the same old story. You know the names of hardly 5 or 6 of your classmates – out of a total of 40. The rest all ‘boys’ or ‘girls’. Next academic year, it is going to be even tough. You will be in a new section, with new classmates. Hoping that you make friends soon. Also, it would be a full day at school for you from the next academic year. And a lot more subjects – languages, science, computers and more. You are going to have your hands full. Hoping that you would enjoy all that.

Your Mridangam class is coming along fine. You continue to be playful there, and picking up things at your own pace. But it’s not going to all rosy for long. Soon, your teacher is going to start demanding things from you. Exposing how your preparations are not enough. You wouldn’t practice at home, though. That’s ok. We will wait.

Your demands are also going up. You now want to ‘purchase’ everything that you see. Samosas while traveling, toys sometimes when coming back from Mridangam class, something or the other whenever we take you to any shop. You even want a car, at times.

But one thing hasn’t changed. In your hands, toys seldom retain their shape or utility for more than one day.

There are times when your actions frustrate us, annoy us. But when I look a little closer at the situation, I realize that you are not a problem child. The problem is with us. With our inability to match with the pace of your play. With our limitation in understanding your eagerness. And with our failure in understanding your needs. I realize that we need to look at you as a 5-year-old. As much as we realize that, when the testing situation comes, we are back to our old self.

That also makes me wonder if you feel frustrated by our actions. I am sure you are. May be most of the time. So, let’s see what we can do about it.

Anyway, always feels happy to see you smiling. Let your journey continue in the same positive spirit.

Wish you a very happy birthday.

– vijven