The tears rolling down your kid’s cheeks that make you go weak

Remember the first day you went to school to drop your daughter. She had got admission to one of the prestigious schools in the neighbourhood block. It was her first day at school and she was looking pretty in a pink dress. Being in the nursery she still was a couple of years away from a proper school uniform. Mom had pinned her identity card on the front with a safety pin.

The moment the car stopped in front of the gate your wife stepped out of the door and picked her from the back seat. Carrying a teddy-bear school bag on her back and holding mom’s hand she waved at you with a flying kiss. Before entering the gate, she just said goodbye! The tears that you were holding till now suddenly started rolling down. While driving back both of you kept quiet. Your mind was full of questions. Will she be able to locate her classroom? Will she make friends? Hope nobody bullies her and so on.

One thing as parents we all are scared of is the tears rolling down the kid’s cheeks though in this case you ended up in tears.

The tears that made me go weak in the knees

One of the sweetest memories that I carry and that brought tears to my eyes was my son’s first day at school. He had got admission to one of the well-known school based in the RK Puram colony of South Delhi. The nursery section of the school was based in another residential colony called East of Kailash.

As parents, we were all geared up to go and drop him at the school. The first day in any school is always that of chaos with anxious parents and nervous students looking for their respective classes. Every parent wants to meet the class teacher to ensure his kid is taken care of.

The first day at school

We entered the school and the teachers just guided us to the classroom. On the other hand, the students were made to sit in a line in an open courtyard in the centre of the school. Each line was for a different class section. My son also sat in one of the lines. Meanwhile, my wife went into the classroom to meet the teacher.

I was waiting outside looking at all the kids sitting quietly in the open space. My eyes were trying to locate my son amongst a crowd of lost and confused faces of nursery students. Suddenly I made a contact and my eyes were locked with my son’s eyes. He saw me from a distance and immediately started wiping his tears with a handkerchief that his mother had tied up to his shirt pocket. The tears flowing down his cheeks even made me teary-eyed. I tried taking my eyes off him by hiding behind a pillar. But my son kept wiping the tears with his palms. He was conscious not to show his tears to other students. After all his mom had told him that boys never cry.

I rushed inside the classroom and asked my wife to leave. We were supposed to pick him in the afternoon from school. Those 4 hours was the most difficult waiting time for me.

The tears in his eyes probably conveyed a message that the learning cycle for them has started and a day will come when they will leave the nest.

Losing the balance

The daughter was very excited seeing the new bicycle dad had gifted on her 5^th birthday. Since she still had to learn the art of cycling, the bicycle came with two support wheels. Every evening dad will take her to the central park and the daughter would cycle on the tracks made for kids. The daughter would proudly cycle ahead of dad with her blue-eyed Barbie doll in the front basket.

A couple of months passed and then one day dad asked the daughter that she should now pedal the bicycle without the support wheels. The daughter was scared but had confidence in him. She knew that even if she loses balance dad will be there to support her.

The fall

It was a matter of seconds! Dad was looking at the other kids cycling in the park without realising that daughter was on her own expecting him to be right behind. And the worst scenario that one expected came true. All hell broke loose! The daughter lost her balance and crashed into the green hedges. Dad came running to pick her up and seeing the tears in her eyes made him feel so much guilty.

That entire evening dad spent sitting next to the daughter nursing her bruises. The wife was furious at her spouse’s carelessness. Seeing the tears in the daughter’s eyes she kept blaming the husband for not taking care of her. While leaving the room dad just mentioned to the daughter that “beta your papa will not be there always with you and so from now onwards you will have to learn the art of balancing. The tears had taught her the first lesson of life that to move forward you not only need speed but also balance.

The tears after the match

It was a Sunday morning. The son dressed in whites was all padded up for the school cricket match. Seeing him in cricket gear mom was feeling very proud. For the last one month son had been practicing at the school cricket club. Today was the day when he had to showcase his talent not only to his parents and sister but also to his friends and teachers.

It was the first ball of the match and he left it after judging it well. The ball went straight into the wicketkeeper’s gloves. The next ball was a beauty and it went through the gap between the bat and the pads hitting the middle stump. Son was shocked! He had still not opened the account. How can he get out in such a prestigious match for which he had prepared for so long?

Feeling dejected

He walked back towards the pavilion feeling dejected. His team lost the match. Dad, mom, and sister went to meet him to boost his morale. Seeing his parents, the tears which he was trying to hold started rolling down his cheeks. His voice was choked and he couldn’t say much except sorry mom and dad.

It was the tears that made even dad go weak in the knees. But then he gathered the courage and explained to his son that failures will come at every step of life. We don’t need to lose our hearts but be prepared to face them. Success and failure are a part of life. Those who learn from their failures are the ones who will taste success.

You can read more such stories on my blog. Click on the following link:

Life Skills: The art of making your children street smart

The Great Expectations: falling in love with childhood once again