My dearest son,
As I picked up your toys from the floor for the fifth time today, a tiny voice in my head said, "If you don't want to do this forever, it's time you taught your boy some discipline."
Almost immediately, another voice argued, "He's not ready. He's too little. He will learn in due course."
Dutifully though, I'm going to make sure that you get the right lessons, at the right age. So, mere laal (my darling son), here are some things I don't want you to assume or pick up, ever.
1. Cleaning up my mess is someone else's job
Cleaning up is a natural process that follows messing up. The earlier you realize it, the better. I do not want you to become the boy who expects his mother and then his partner to pick up after him. The rule is simple - You party, you clean. I know it's not fun, but it is a necessary evil.
2. I don't need to know to cook
Wrong. Hunger can make one go bananas, so it pays to know how to cook. It is a special skill that will find you many admirers and is also cheaper and healthier. You need not know how to cook a seven-course dinner, a simple meal would do. But do know that the art of cooking includes food shopping, knowing how to treat ingredients, minimizing wastage, and washing up later.
3. Housework gets done by itself
Like the clean bed and the dry and spotless toilet? There's No Magician behind it. It is the responsibility of the people living in the house. So, I would love you to be confident with basic chores like laying the table, put the towel on the clothesline or put your shoes back in their place. It's not hard. You can change the iPad settings like a pro, you can do this too!
4. The house help is getting paid, so she must do all the work
We need to learn this one together. We can hardly imagine our lives without the maid or the cook. We do reach out for help because we can afford to, but I am not sure if you will get such help always. So let us be grateful for the help, but learn to function without any.
5. Doing a chore is so uncool
Chore does rhyme with bore, but since we have no way out, we can make them fun. If I look bored myself when I do them, remind me that we will finish the job with a smile. You'll see how cool you feel after you do a job well.
Hey, I don't mean to pass all the responsibility to you and retire! You'll still be my little boy who should play harder. But I just want you to know that these routine chores are as much a part of life as is play or study.
When you've grown up into a young man and fly out to make your own nest, I don't want you to miss me when you see an unwashed pile of laundry. Instead, I want you to remember me for the good times we've had together.
I also do not care for a certificate from my future daughter-in-law stating that I've raised you well. All I want is for you to be responsible for yourself, for that is what will make me truly happy.
Yours truly,
Comments
Your mother.
