Always listen to your.........!

While I was browsing through the picture books section of the library, I couldn’t help but pick up a book with an amusing title. It’s something I’ve always tried to rebel against, as a young girl; As a wife, something I’ve often accused my husband of doing; and as mother, something I’ve tried to get my son to do, of course guilty of double standards! :-) Can you guess what the title is?

Today I read a book titled “Always listen to your mother” by Florence Parry Heide and Roxanne Heide Pierce and illustrated by Kyle M Stone. Cliched as it sounds, I thought there’s no harm in reading this to my son.  This is a story of Ernest, a good little boy who always listens to his mother and does what his mother tells him to do – goes to bed on time, picks up his toys, eats all his vegetables, never whines or talks back and is ever ready to help out his mother who believes it takes a lot of work to make a house a home! When a  new boy  moves into the neighborhood, Ernest meets him and learns that his name is Vlapid. Ernest goes over to his house and discovers that Vlapid too is a boy who always listens to his mother. Though Vlapid  obediently follows his mother's instructions, they seem a little different from Ernest's. Vlapid ‘s mom expects her son to do everything Ernest is forbidden from doing- wreck the kitchen, spill the milk, swing from the chandelier, write on walls,  all of which Vlapid ‘s mom encourages both the boys to do, in order to turn their house a home. When Ernest returns home, his mother asks him about the new boy in the neighborhood. Ernest reassures his mother that Vlapid is also the kind of a boy who always listens to his mother. Pleased with this, she encourages her son  to  hang out with his new friend and so begins a friendship between two boys who always listen to their mothers!

Abhay didn’t quite get the irony in this story, but I was happy to drive home the point – to always listen to his mom! Suppressing a smile, my husband joked “Let’s see how long he’ll get to do that”!! :-) In fact,  I don’t think he ever plans to, as when I asked him to repeat the message in the book, my little brat said with a mischievous look on his face  “Always listen to your grandparents” !!