*Short posts for in-between Fridays for our readers.
Bedtime rituals by Pooja Bhargava
Bedtime rituals are sacred for us. After a usual day at our respective workplaces, this wind-down time is also an opportunity to catch up about the events of the day, and also simply to spend time together. The child who is quicker to get into the bed with clean teeth and clean pajamas gets to choose the book to be read, just a small trick that we cooked up to get them to complete these tasks. Over time we’ve figured out that story-telling, with or without books is the best way to soothe the overactive minds of our two little girls. Usually one story-book is never enough to make them doze off, so another story is created on-the-spot to take them into the slumber-land. Recently, this was one of the stories I came up with. Briefly, a fairy lands from moon to earth, she explores the planet but her wand soon looses its power and she is unable to get back to the moon, her home. She needs to eat fruits and vegetables to give some power to her wand [Please note the weak attempt to push in a message about eating healthy]. However she has no money to buy these and decides to teach children how to play the flute that she was carrying. In return, she requested the mothers to pay her with food. Soon the wand recovers its power and she is able to return home……to her life where there is an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables for her to accumulate all her strength for future trips.
I realize this was a random, mixed-up story, but this is what came to mind at that moment. I was completely unprepared for the sharp review that followed my story-telling. It was simply an attempt to get them to sleep and I wasn’t thinking too much about the details. Well, both my girls are very quick to catch even the smallest incongruence, and thus, the moon-fairy story had the opposite of desired effect. The older one sat bolt upright in bed (the younger one followed suit as she always does) and I got an earful about how the story was all nonsense “Mummy! There are no houses on the moon and fruits and vegetables cannot grow there. It is only on earth that we …….. etc. etc.”
Lesson learnt: Children are always alert, even when they’re half-asleep!
Picture credits: Nandita Chaudhary
