Not Now!

Ever wondered why our kids have such a bad sense of timing? I’m sure most parents of young children are familiar with at least one of the following situations - wanting a cookie just before dinner; Going out to play in sand just when they are dressed in their best clothes; Emptying their entire toy chest into the living area just before a party at home; Insisting on reading a bedtime book after a late night dinner; Wanting to watch their favorite children’s show when there’s an interesting game on TV; rendering a full-on Bollywood version of “Chamak Challo” just when you have an important conference call to take in the car; or throwing a tantrum just when you would do anything to have them behave well; In most situations, if it weren’t for the timing, you would probably give in to their demand! It’s not only the kids, but we parents aren’t crazy about using “not now” all the time. But parenting is all about how to say “not now” without making it sound like “not now”!:-)

Recently, I’ve noticed that my tendency to say ‘not now’ has gone up ever since I got back to work and I cant help feeling guilty about it (there goes the guilt again!) So when I found a book titled “Not now Not now”, by Noni and Ruchi Shah, I had to pick it up! A level 1 Early Reader from Pratham publications, this is a story about an eager little boy who is always told “not now” by his elders – when asked if he can eat laddoos, his ajji says ‘not now’ and asks him to wait till tomorrow; when he wants to play with his friends, ‘not now’ says his ajja and asks him to nap before play. Noticing his brand new clothes, he checks with his mom if he can wear them right away; He then comes across a nice little box and is seen  eager to open it, ‘not now’, his parents say, but he is asked to wait till tomorrow.  Little does everyone realize that their little one is not in a mood to wait until tomorrow to do what he wants to do.  So he goes to bed feeling angry and dejected at the same time. The next morning, he wakes and decides to try his luck. To his pleasant surprise, he discovers that not one of his family members hang on to saying “not now”. Instead his ajji goads him into eating laddoos, ajja offers to play with him, amma asks him to wear his new clothes, and Papa encourages him to open the nice little box which happens to be his birthday cake…..everyone then wishes him happy birthday! On reading this, Abhay asked me if he has long way to go before his birthday! I then realized how important it is have a no-“not-now” day, every now and then! So you don’t have to wait for your birthday Abhay…how about this Sunday?!!