The Great Show-off!

Abhay loves to show off and play to the galleries! If Abhay finds someone in sight, he is in his best elements- be it at park, music class or his recently enrolled tennis class! J So when asked to demonstrate the swing of his tennis racket or sing a music verse to a fellow batch mate, Abhay will act as if he was born to play tennis or sing classical music! I still cant forget the day when as a three year old in the US, my little one began to croon his version of the film song “My Desi girl” in the park at the sight of Indian-origin girls his age! Similarly, I never knew he could do a Bollywood style dance until I saw him groove to a Bollywood number at the aquatic play area in an amusement park last week, only to realize there were other kids looking on!:-) I guess we all love to bask in others’ attention and the same is harmless as long as our sense of self worth is not dependent on the attention others shower on us. So also it is important to be able to share the limelight without a fuss while enjoying it just as much. Being a single child, though Abhay doesn’t have to rival with siblings on a day-to-day basis, but there are times when he does feel challenged by his cousins as they seek to share his spotlight. But I guess, in time Abhay will realize that the world does not revolve around him…. after all …and that’s what is called “growing up!”J

Today I read a book titled “Limelight Larry” by Limelight Hodgkinson, which centers around a peacock who thinks that he is fantastic, so fantastic that he feels that there should be more books about him, let alone this book! Suddenly, Limelight Larry sees a threat in the form of a mouse who peeks in wanting to share the page with our Mr. Showman! Closely following on the heels of the mouse, comes a bird hoping to put up a funny show on the next page! Not amused at all, Limelight Larry makes it clear that if anyone’s going to do anything funny, it will only be him! But then an elephant, a wolf, a bear and a bunny, all join in one by one, as if it were picnic, threatening to steal Larry’s limelight!  Faced with the prospect of the others raining on his parade, Limelight Larry doesn’t waste any time in pushing everyone out and taking the whole of the next page to spread out and show off his beautiful peacock feathers! But after a while,  Larry begins to feel alone and wonders what's the point in showing off on his own! Larry then calls out to the others and as a grand finale, Larry happily shares the last and the most important page with everyone…..though he still saves the very last page for himself! :-) Hilariously written and vibrantly illustrated, this book is a sure-shot entertainer for one and all! If you have a little showman at home ……let him hog the Limelight ….with Larry of course!