Super Kids and their Super Moms
Three mothers (M1, M2 and M3) get together for a chat. Here are excerpts of the same.
M1: My son who goes to ABC school just built a helicopter as part of his school project.
M2: Her jaw drops. What? He built a helicopter??
M1: Obviously not a real helicopter, you silly. He built the model of a helicopter using thermocol and other stuff.
M2: Oh Ok, I was just wondering, since these days it is hardly surprising if schools ask children to even design real robots. Don’t you remember the car my neighbour’s daughter built for her inter-school competition last month? By the way, did I tell you that my Akash beta designed the model of a refrigerator last week as part of his assignment?
M1: Yes, yes, heard that and also about how you and your husband had totally gone missing for days, scouting all the shops and markets in the city for the components of the refrigerator.
M2: Look who is talking! What were you doing when your son was supposedly “building” his helicopter? You were the one building it actually and you were in total hibernation, refusing to answer the phone or meet people and even forgetting to eat your meals.
Both their kids are 10 and 8 years respectively.
M1: Hmmm, well, you know how it is, don’t you? How we need to rush through our work chores and be ready to welcome (?) all the writing and project work our children bring home. But then, don’t we have the glowing satisfaction of seeing it exhibited at inter-school festivals and watching it sitting prettily in the classroom and if we parents are really really lucky, sometimes in the Principal’s room too?
M2: Yes, what more can proud doting parents ask for? Only thing is when we are recovering from the mental and physical exhaustion of one project, our kids come home with the next. Again, well, maybe we can learn to forget the spondilytes and the slip disc these endless projects have bestowed on us when we think of the pride of place these will eventually occupy.
M1: Did I tell you what that wicked Mrs. Sensible told me the other day? She had the gall to tell me that I am foolish to waste my time and energy on these fancy projects. She says these projects are completely voluntary and do not impact the overall grades and performance and do not enhance the knowledge and skills of the kids. It seems these are just fancy stunts to impress gullible parents. And what cheek, to tell me that such schools dump work on willing kids/parents and coincidentally and naturally, these are the same kids/parents who always end up working on projects each time they come up.
M 2: What cheek indeed to hurt our sentiments, not to speak of our aching hands and necks (M 2 is just fresh from doing another ingenious project of her child’s). May God punish her with 50 projects! Why 50, one is enough. Sigh!!!
M1: There you again! How can you call it a punishment? I know your physical wounds are too raw to forget, but think about the day our babies and babas take their (our) handiwork to school.
M2: A deep sigh again. Ok, ok I agree with you but transporting these models (aka projects) to school is another ordeal I do not want to think or talk about. Anyway, how cruel of Mrs. S to ridicule our efforts.
Lost in their pleasure and pride (read woes), they seem to have forgotten the existence of Mother 3 (M 3) who was silently enjoying their banter.
M1: She seems to have suddenly noticed the quiet M 3. She turns to her and says in a condescending tone: I hear your child could not secure admission in ABC or 123, what a pity, I guess you did not know that you should have applied to these schools while your child was in your womb itself, Tch tch tch, too bad you waited for her to come out. By then, as we know, it was too late.
M3: Smiles. Well, I did not try for admission in ABC or 123.
M1 & M2: Blurts out unanimously. What cheek! You did not even try for admission!?
M3: No.
Silence. Both M 1 and M 2 clear their throats and mumble, “Where is your daughter going to?”
M3: XYZ.
Another deadly silence.
M1 to M2: Oh, she belongs to one of those self-appointed intellectuals who want their children to grow up differently, studying in a place where they hardly read or write anything and spend all their time wondering why birds sing or how trees grow. No examinations for them and no competition of any kind. All are treated equals it seems! Bah, how funny! Can two people ever be equal?
M2 to M3: Is that so, did you put your daughter there because you want her to be different?
M3: No, I do not want her to be different; I want her to be herself. I do not want her to be an alien created by the ruthless machinery of our present schooling system abetted by over-ambitious parents. I want her to enjoy her schooling and not memorise words and letters that hold no significance for her in her life and work on projects merely to exhibit models created by others. I want her to introspect and learn about life. I just want her to be that wonderful, curious, spontaneous kid that she was born as and always meant to be.
And in a lighter vein, don’t you think this way I am at least absolved of neck, back and other aches because their projects are about observing how milk turns to curd and why children resemble their ancestors, to name a few.
M1 and M2 just looked at each other, grimaced and said nothing.
Three mothers (M1, M2 and M3) get together for a chat. Here are excerpts of the same.
M1: My son who goes to ABC school just built a helicopter as part of his school project.
M2: Her jaw drops. What? He built a helicopter??
M1: Obviously not a real helicopter, you silly. He built the model of a helicopter using thermocol and other stuff.
M2: Oh Ok, I was just wondering, since these days it is hardly surprising if schools ask children to even design real robots. Don’t you remember the car my neighbour’s daughter built for her inter-school competition last month? By the way, did I tell you that my Akash beta designed the model of a refrigerator last week as part of his assignment?
M1: Yes, yes, heard that and also about how you and your husband had totally gone missing for days, scouting all the shops and markets in the city for the components of the refrigerator.
M2: Look who is talking! What were you doing when your son was supposedly “building” his helicopter? You were the one building it actually and you were in total hibernation, refusing to answer the phone or meet people and even forgetting to eat your meals.
Both their kids are 10 and 8 years respectively.
M1: Hmmm, well, you know how it is, don’t you? How we need to rush through our work chores and be ready to welcome (?) all the writing and project work our children bring home. But then, don’t we have the glowing satisfaction of seeing it exhibited at inter-school festivals and watching it sitting prettily in the classroom and if we parents are really really lucky, sometimes in the Principal’s room too?
M2: Yes, what more can proud doting parents ask for? Only thing is when we are recovering from the mental and physical exhaustion of one project, our kids come home with the next. Again, well, maybe we can learn to forget the spondilytes and the slip disc these endless projects have bestowed on us when we think of the pride of place these will eventually occupy.
M1: Did I tell you what that wicked Mrs. Sensible told me the other day? She had the gall to tell me that I am foolish to waste my time and energy on these fancy projects. She says these projects are completely voluntary and do not impact the overall grades and performance and do not enhance the knowledge and skills of the kids. It seems these are just fancy stunts to impress gullible parents. And what cheek, to tell me that such schools dump work on willing kids/parents and coincidentally and naturally, these are the same kids/parents who always end up working on projects each time they come up.
M 2: What cheek indeed to hurt our sentiments, not to speak of our aching hands and necks (M 2 is just fresh from doing another ingenious project of her child’s). May God punish her with 50 projects! Why 50, one is enough. Sigh!!!
M1: There you again! How can you call it a punishment? I know your physical wounds are too raw to forget, but think about the day our babies and babas take their (our) handiwork to school.
M2: A deep sigh again. Ok, ok I agree with you but transporting these models (aka projects) to school is another ordeal I do not want to think or talk about. Anyway, how cruel of Mrs. S to ridicule our efforts.
Lost in their pleasure and pride (read woes), they seem to have forgotten the existence of Mother 3 (M 3) who was silently enjoying their banter.
M1: She seems to have suddenly noticed the quiet M 3. She turns to her and says in a condescending tone: I hear your child could not secure admission in ABC or 123, what a pity, I guess you did not know that you should have applied to these schools while your child was in your womb itself, Tch tch tch, too bad you waited for her to come out. By then, as we know, it was too late.
M3: Smiles. Well, I did not try for admission in ABC or 123.
M1 & M2: Blurts out unanimously. What cheek! You did not even try for admission!?
M3: No.
Silence. Both M 1 and M 2 clear their throats and mumble, “Where is your daughter going to?”
M3: XYZ.
Another deadly silence.
M1 to M2: Oh, she belongs to one of those self-appointed intellectuals who want their children to grow up differently, studying in a place where they hardly read or write anything and spend all their time wondering why birds sing or how trees grow. No examinations for them and no competition of any kind. All are treated equals it seems! Bah, how funny! Can two people ever be equal?
M2 to M3: Is that so, did you put your daughter there because you want her to be different?
M3: No, I do not want her to be different; I want her to be herself. I do not want her to be an alien created by the ruthless machinery of our present schooling system abetted by over-ambitious parents. I want her to enjoy her schooling and not memorise words and letters that hold no significance for her in her life and work on projects merely to exhibit models created by others. I want her to introspect and learn about life. I just want her to be that wonderful, curious, spontaneous kid that she was born as and always meant to be.
And in a lighter vein, don’t you think this way I am at least absolved of neck, back and other aches because their projects are about observing how milk turns to curd and why children resemble their ancestors, to name a few.
M1 and M2 just looked at each other, grimaced and said nothing.
posted by Gayathri Varma @ 3:33 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Hey,
I am back from my Oman trip. So hows it going? This made very interesting reading. Tell u what, my little newphew in India (hardly 8) is being forced by his school into that 'superkids' category, as he is always loaded with fancy projects. But Priya refuses to do his projects and now she has come up with an (in)genious idea and has discovered a woman who will make these fancy clay statues and rag dolls/dummies whatever for vicky's projects. Can anything get more shady than that? ha ha ha
Forgot to add....this particular woman charges a mindboggling amount to make all this stuff. But Pri doesn't mind, coz' she hardly has anytime to slog on these projects herself.
Hi Divya,
Nice to have you back. I have joined a new organization Liobridge Tech and will continue in the same profile (ID). More on that in my mail.
Your comment has given valuable insight on how some fancy schools work regarding the projects they assign to many hapless kids/parents. Most importantly, of what use is all this? If finally, the kids who are assigned to do these activiites end up doing nothing with absolutely no involvement and the parents end up either killing themselves on these or spend a fancy amount making some other person do it.
Even this has become a business, which has scope to flourish well in the future.
Where is the learning then?? Is it merely for the schools to exhibit in their premises and claim that it was done by their intelligent, efficient students aided by their more efficient teachers? What a total eye-wash!!
Hi,
Hey, what is all this about Project-pressures, competition, super-kids etc? In this mad mad world of brutal competition, one can survive only if one is raised that way, otherwise he/she will remain a fish out of water - a fish that will be easily devoured by the wild sharks around him. Instead of extremes, the right balance is required, but then it is fair enough to ask, does such a balance exist in our society?? Nope. So it is better in away to be a wild shark than a meek fish...what say you??
Hi Anonymous,
Well, perspectives differ. If you ask me, anyday I would prefer an original, individualistic, self-made fish (aka human), meek or not to a smart, capable, artificially created shark. I guess, it just has to do with our inherent conditioning and the way each of us think. Have a nice day.
Gayathri,
During my last months annual vacation, I was amazed to see my son who is in 1st standard has to complete. By trying to make our children to superkids we are spoiling their childhood and all their pleasures of life. If schools are demanding them to do all these projects, we should not burden them with our expectations.
We should only guide them and not expect too much from them.
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