Some might have a different opinion on this, but the biggest challenge in parenting for me till now has been to keep up with the curiosity and energy of a growing inquisitive toddler. Keeping him engaged whilst doing something productive is quite a feat when his ‘friends’ make best use if their time watching cartoons on television or playing games on their parents’ phones and he simply has to do what they do.
Tougher still is to keep him occupied while travelling. With A joining us it is not much of a problem since I let the boys be and enjoy my moment of privacy and relief. A always chooses overnight journeys and sooner or later A Jr awards us with some quiet and peace by falling asleep. When it is just A Jr and me though I always travel during the day (Loo break leaving sleeping A Jr behind…no no!). Since A Jr doesn’t sleep a wink I’ve to devise new things every time to keep him from driving me crazy.
This time when I was travelling with him I taught him about our solar system; the sun, the planets and the moon. Courtesy of my boy, all the diaries from my purse were dismembered but a pen defiantly survived his assault and survived. I took out a tissue (always carry bunches of them for my cleanliness-obsessed boy) and hurriedly drew a rough sketch of what looked like a solar system to me and explained it to him as simply as I could. That did the trick.
He got interested and shot one question after another: Why can’t we see the moon during daytime? Where are clouds in the solar system? What is the planet with the rings called? Can I wear those rings? Where do the stones come from that fall from the sky? Will the sun burst one day too? Will we get hurt then? Hussshhhh!!! 🙂
It is a bit exhausting to get him to understand everything but I’ve to admit I really enjoy these sessions with him. To make sure his curiosity of knowing and learning about things around him doesn’t diminish I show him pictures from the Children’s Encyclopedia that I’ve brought for him, twice or thrice a week. He chooses the topic of his choice and then I proceed to elaborate it for him. He likes that I treat him like a big boy and let him pick and choose.
Educational institutions these days are so busy trying to cram our children’s minds with their curriculum that the meaning of learning something new for knowledge and fun is fading slowly. Doesn’t it then become our personal responsibility to take our kids into a world where knowledge matters more than marks and percentages?
Agree? What do you do for this? All suggestions and ideas are welcome. Please share them with me and my readers.