Really rude .....Abhay!

Off late, I have noticed that Abhay has been rude and disrespectful particularly towards his grandparents, including his favorite Sannajji (maternal grandma) and more so with his paternal grandmother (my mother-in-law). When he can’t get what he wants, he doesn’t shy away from snapping or talking back and what’s more, he gets away with it! Abhay sees nothing wrong in being nasty to his Sannajji at times, or in throwing  a fit over a one-time refusal by his grandpa (as his grandpa never refuses to buy him anything), or simply in choosing not to respond to his paternal grandma! I am not sure if it arises out of impatience or pure arrogance or if it’s an attitude issue or an attention issue; or if it is a matter of minding his manners or much more; I am aware that children learn by imitation and so I know who is to blame when he yells (Me!!) but I cannot figure out his sarcasm or his “put-down” remarks at his grandma! Whatever it is, I realized that it has to be nipped in the bud lest it goes out of hand and I get blamed even for that!

So when I found “The Really Rude Rhino” by Jeanne Willis and Tony Ross at the British Library, I had to pick it up! Once upon a time there was a really rude Rhino, who was  rude from the day he was born! Even when his auntie complimented him on what sweet baby he was, the rude Rhino goes “Pthhhhh!”. He didn’t care that his mom advised him not to be rude and continued to be rude to his brother, sister even to his grandma! (Just like Abhay!) “He will grow out of it” said his grand-dad, typical of most grandfathers (including Abhay’s). But he didn’t and he pulled out his tongue or pulled down his pants and went “Pthhhhhh!” in public, or in private, to his teacher and even to Santa. His mother even consulted a doctor who diagnosed that he was suffering from “Ruditis Rhinoceritis” and it was incurable. But one day, after his fifth birthday, Rhino woke up with a rude mood and set off to the waterhole where sat a polite looking girl eating a water-melon. Rhino thought how wonderfully rude it would be to charge out from the bushes and scare her so that he could he knock off the melon. But as he charged, the girl put out her tongue, simply “Pthhhhhh”ed back sending the shocked Rhino all the way back home! From then on, Rhino was never rude to anyone again! While Abhay found this book hilarious, he did understand why was I reading this to him and I must say he didn’t quite like the comparison. So ...only when we do to Abhay what Abhay does to us would he realize what in fact he does to us! In other words, So give them the taste of their own medicine, they’ll fall in line! So if you have a little rude rhino driving you nuts……“Pthhhhhhh”…..him with this book!