The Child in the house, the Child in me

Sometimes, we adults are so engrossed in the world that we have created for ourselves and the world that we have built in our minds that we miss the very obvious. So when the child in my house throws questions at me- I get irked, provoked, discomforted and sometimes simply stunned into silence.

My usual day at ‘work at home’ as they call it - is a blend of sheer labour peppered with exasperating interactions and sometimes ending with bloody corporate volleys. But as the job and the self blurs into oblivion, she interjects with innocent queries that bombard me as philosophical bombs that shake the very premise of my ‘usual workday’. Questions like what do I do..what is a team..who becomes a boss..why is it called a boss – questions that I never sat down to evaluate in ages, questions that make my conscience squirm and questions that make me rethink my existence.

A child in the house is worth having a thousand therapists, guides, moralists, fitness gurus and one large alarm bell in hand  - she makes me jump start the day the ‘healthy’ way as I fulfill the ‘righteous mother’ role, she ensures that I eat the food that I have labelled as ‘good’ for her (and errr me too now without a choice) and she ensures that I keep my feet in motion in strict adherence to the 20-20-20 principle – wonder how children learnt this in the first place -  for every 20 seconds of your legs on the couch, there will definitely be a shout for something to make you move your legs!!

And as you try to break through the adult stresses of work, health, money and material things  - the child in the home suddenly sprinkles you with magical dust- the magical dust of simple joys and simpler desires -  so you will realize the therapeutic power of cutting, rolling and colouring paper strips and appreciate the soothing effect of crayons and paints that colour your fingertips. She will teach you a lesson or two of the magical beauty of fulfilling small desires , of breaking your adult ego, of the freedom that frog jumps give you and of succumbing to humility when you cannot touch your toes as lithe as her!

Slowly and steadily the child in the house brings out the child in you too – and you start enjoying the curiosity of how a home-cooked dish will turn out, you start looking forward with feverish anticipation for the rains and you start to lick the remnants of an ice cream out of a bowl as the last drop of liquid paradise melts in your mouth! Childhood never looked so close and easy!