Parents are expected to teach their children, but who says they can’t teach us a thing or two?
Microstory 122 – Be Enthusiastic
My younger daughter was the only one who had logged into the zoom call. It was one of her classmate’s birthday. Her class teacher had arranged a special call with all the students to wish him but only she, the teacher and the birthday boy joined. I noticed that she used the opportunity to play a birthday song with her piano and she was appearing very happy for having performed it as she was making that moment very special. Watching the scene unfolding and how the birthday boy felt good filled us with lots of enthusiasm on that day.
Microstory 123 – Be a quick Learner
I asked my daughter “Are you excited about your exams ?” She gave me a look and quipped, ” Are you kidding ? “. Sometimes questions are the answers.
She was preparing for her dance exam. When we asked her how she felt, she said “Nervcited”( Nervous + Excited). We all learned a new word today.
We learned a couple of nice phrases from a set of kids ” Jollier than Santa Claus and Angrier than hulk”.
In another instance, we saw that there was some tussle going around among her friends. They devised a plan. Let us unsubscribe from the friend’s YouTube channel. I was laughing out loud. I recollected an example when I got into a fight with one of my friends during my school days. I didn’t speak to him for months and finally, our mothers jumped in and settled the matters. In this case, we advised her not to unsubscribe from the channel. We made her realize that she will feel bad and you should go back and shake hands.
Microstory 124 – Be curious
It was a Sunday afternoon lunch discussion that went into a discussion on classical music. I was not much aware of the name of the composition which they have used on our landline phone. It all started with my younger daughter asking for the tune on our land phone. Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, we all guessed. That question stuck with me. I quickly decided to check it out. I landed after some search on the “four seasons” by Vivaldi. The Four Seasons (Le Quattro stagioni) consists of four concerti (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter), each one in a distinct form containing three movements with tempos in the following order: fast-slow-fast, it was a super treat for all of us because of that one question which my daughter asked.
Microstory 125 – Simplify
My younger daughter logged into my laptop and asked her friend to read my blog. In between, there were some words they couldn’t understand. I asked my wife immediately and she said “You have written it!” Better sense prevailed in me and I decided that henceforth I will write words that even a 9-year-old can understand. I need to simplify. The interaction with the kids went on for some more time as I asked them, “what do you know about leadership?” They gave me answers like someone who bosses, one who organizes the play, or asks questions. It was a nice chit chat with the 9-year-old and 7-year-old. I learned one thing that day, “How to talk so kids will listen and how to listen so kids will talk” which is the title of a book I found a couple of days later as part of a further reading column in one of the books I was reading.
My major learning with kids can be summarised as :
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