Just as the summer holidays are getting over, a dear friend of mine asked me; ‘Haven’t you enrolled your kids in any summer classes? This is the time they can learn different things in classes.’ I said to myself, really I did not know that (rolling my eyes; in my head of course, I never thought about that …huh) but I answered politely; ‘No they went to their paternal aunt’s place in Mumbai. ‘
This conversation made me think why there is a herd mentality nowadays to enroll kids in some or the other summer classes. They are of course good but though my kids were not enrolled in a formally designed class this summer, they learned a lot in Mumbai. They were smarter in their ways of handling people and knowing their feelings, which I feel is the most important thing one could learn. Well, it just did not happen by them going to their aunt’s place, but it happened in the conversations when they called me with their part of the story and shared with me when they were angry, upset or happy. They told me all about it (they were never ending conversations; me rolling my eyes, of course in my head). It was, in those conversations, when they came face to face with their own feelings. I was a mere listener to their problems and helping them find their own solutions for a peaceful coexistence. Well, children are learning each and every minute in their life. It is mind boggling how much they absorb. They observe, they react, they mimic, they create, they fight, they giggle, they cry, they laugh..…in this whole process they are learning very important life values.
Of course, it was just not that, they had fun licking ice-creams, ice-golas, making sand castles on the beach, bonding with their cousins, uncles and aunts and grandparents, fighting, playing, eating mangoes…..basically they had a cool summer vacation.
In this day and age, where nuclear families are at rise, kids hardly get opportunities to listen to stories from their grandparents, bond with their busy uncles and aunts and play with their cousins. So, holidays are a good time to break the routine for new experiences.
Next time someone asks me, “Have you enrolled your kids in summer classes?” I am going to reply, “Yes, they are going to have life skill lessons along with fun and frolic this summer.”