The idea and the application

Mrs .K ,my immediate neighbour and the young mother of two came running to me the other day dragging her seven year old boy who was doing a very good imitation of a stubborn mule .She looked shaken ,her eyes were red and swollen ,her bosom heaved and her breath came in gasps ..Alarmed, I ran to get her a glass of water .The little boy stood by her ,his expression mutinous .Oh ..okay I took a guess at the problem It could be !.Sibling rivalry 2.Home work issue 3.low marks or plain disobedience .As a mother of two grown up daughters and a jobless ex-teacher I was considered an expert at child rearing and a counselor for all school related issues, by the residents of my layout .(my service was of course cheap as it was free ).It was not every day thatI had consultations ,but come the exam time and there would be a long queue in front of my house No, not children but parents holding classworks ,home works and project books .
To get back to Mrs K’s issue ……It was simple in nature ….the younger one to our hero ,a little baby doll had made his new eraser, hers .A scuffle ensued , in order to get it released which resulted in her plopping it into in her mouth .Defeated, her brother gave her a bite at the first available organ he could reach ,her cheeks ,which in turn had her spitting the eraser out along with a blood curdling scream loud enough to wake up the dead .Her still alive mother who was in the kitchen almost had a heart attack .Not really aware of what happened prior to the scream she belted each a good one .The first to the son and the second to the daughter to stop her screaming .It was only then she understood what had happened and did not take a kindly view of her boy’s method .and of course I was the only person available to make him realize that (to drill some sense into his thick skull …her words not mine ) ..and so the villain was dragged to me for justice and counseling .
The hero ,all of seven years stood before me ,with bowed head, rubbing at his cheek where the slap had landed .I could almost read his thoughts . “Why me ? it was she wasn’t it ? its always me who gets the scolding and punishments .That little she devil always gets off scot free.She with her dimples and all .”
Assuring the mother that id take care of the issue I sent her home to the little one who could still be heard screaming ..I sat the hero before me and asked him a few questions
Who is seven years old and who is three ?
Who goes to school every day ?
Who reads English from text books /
Who knows to write Hindi and do maths in the notebook ?
Who knows to ride the two wheeled cycle ?
Who helps Daddy to wash his car ?
Who knows to say please ,sorry and thank you ?
To which he had only one answer , “Me”
He seemed to grow inches before my eyes ,a smile broke free and he looked jubilant as realization dawned that he was a smart boy indeed .
Then the next set of questions followed ,
“Does Anita go to school ?’
“No”
“Does she know to read ?”
“No”
“Can she ride a cycle?”
“No”
“Can she do Maths ?”
“No”
“Does she know Hindi ?”
“No”
He almost shouted the answers .
“And so who should teach her to say sorry and thank you and please ?”
“Me”,pat came the answer .
The clouds cleared and the sun came out .He ran home clutching the biscuits I gave him (for all the correct answers )
A week later Mrs K appeared at my door step ,beaming and bearing gifts .Ten to fifteen homegrown drumsticks .She glowed with pride as she praised her son’s new avatar .I instructed her on how to keep it unchanged.
Now, I have a confession to make .The idea is not an original of mine .Years ago I was acting referee to a fight between my two daughters aged 8 and 3..Retorting to some comment of mine praising the younger one ,the elder one said scornfully ,”oh if she’s so good and clever let her say how much 8*4 + 6 is .”My mouth had fallen open at the twisted logic and now I put it good use it to boost the morale of a seven year old .
May be some of you reading this could use it too