Adults or whatever we think we are

Years back when I read this -

Grown-ups love figures.  When you tell them that you have made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters.  They never say to you, "What does his voice sound like?  What games does he love best?  Does he collect butterflies?" Instead, they demand:  "How old is he?  How many brothers has he?  How much does he weigh?  How much money does his father make?"  Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.  ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince, 1943,

- I might have smiled and turned to the next page. How adults behave was (is) hardly ever exemplary and hackneyed, anyway. At the most, that could have been my reaction to the above extract.

Today, however, these words caught me unawares and told me a thing or two about the way I was bringing up my little lass. Raj and I obsess over the kids and their age-groups that Mishmash mingles with. (Partly because I know from experience the repercussions of being influenced by older children, their conversations and things they like etc.) . But in all this business of letting Mishmash have the best and appropriate experiences, we (I) am missing out on what’s on her mind or what might be. Or simply looking through her eyes. If I did that I’d see and enjoy more. Give this a serious thought and it somehow makes more sense.  I merely nod my head through her - “Ma, Alex gave me this, ma. Look. A purple shiny button. This is my secret gift for you on Mother’s day. Its Mother’s Day now, ma. Happy Mother’s day’.

I don’t think I need to de-code what she is saying. But am sure it’ll make me a happier being in trying to live like her. Simply. With love. With more imagination.

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Yesterday we had a little tiff. Raj and me. Irritated he said, ‘Its time you grew up and behaved liked an adult. We are adults now’.

Being an adult is tiring, cliché, banal and a nearly fake experience. I’m done being one.

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I waited long enough to watch a movie with an A certification. Then, I did all that adults did. I wanted to be free when I was 12. Free from time restrictions. From exams.

But I still feel fettered and restless.  May because I see too clearly?

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