Learn to Ignore
“Avi, where is the car key?” questioned Sheena.
“How do I know Mumma?” replied ten years old.
Sheena hadn’t been able to trace the keys past two days. Somewhere in her mind, she was sure that the culprit was Avi. But Avi was in the denial mode.
Of late, mother- son had been at the loggerheads. The reason was Avi’s habit of lying!
***
“Avi, did you pack your bag?” asked Sheena. She was quite sure that lazy child must have avoided doing that like always. “Yes Mom, I did; like a good boy”. The glad mom decided to be cool and patient with him in further dealings. “He is trying to improve, so shall I”, she counseled herself. In the evening, Sheena lost her patience once again when she read,” your ward didn’t bring the Science and Hindi books. He shall follow the time table”. It took an irked Sheena just a second to blast at her son who was playing. “Avi, you again lied! You know I hate liars”. Little Avi was terrified by the sudden outburst. He broke into tears. After a while; he resumed playing. Sheena was left shocked and hurt by his indifferent behavior. She felt helpless. This wasn’t the only time Avi resorted to lies. Every now and then, he would lie even for petty reasons and every time she felt disappointed. She felt too much worried to ignore his behavior. “Raman, I am worried. I don’t know how do you stay so cool?” Sheena asked her husband. “Sheena, you are a wonderful, caring and loving mother. The only aspect you need to work upon is your patience. Remember, he is a child; just ten years old. It is a developmental phase of his life where he feels that telling lies is an easy way to escape the anger. Just ignore and don’t thrash him too much”, replied Raman holding her hand. But as old habits die hard, even Sheena found it difficult to control her hysterical behavior.***
The ringing of doorbell trudged Sheena to the present. A week passed and when Sheena was left with no options, she ordered a duplicate key. Three weeks later, while cleaning the store, Sheena was left puzzled and fuming when she saw the missing key. When enquired, Avi finally accepted that he had hidden the key for fun. ‘Thaaaaaaaaaa……….’ Sheena had slapped him hard. A weeping Avi ran to hide behind Raman who had just come home. “Sheena, your hysteria is unacceptable now. How can you expect him to be mature like an adult? Didn’t you ever lie as a child? He lies because of you. You never ignored his acts. You scold him’ it’s fine but it shall be just once in a blue moon. But you don’t leave him once. What started as a defense against your anger has become his constant companion. This way you will lose him”, replied an angry Raman. Sheena felt frightened and guilty. _____________________________ For more of such content follow us on Social Media: