It’s not just children who find it difficult to overcome holiday blues and get back into a routine. The adults find it just as hard.
The pupil just has to worry about his physical presence in school. It’s the parents who have to plan well in advance to make everything run smoothly.
That holiday project that was shelved has to be aired and resuscitated. Having just returned from a long vacation, it’s a mad scramble to see that your child is prepared. Heaven forbid that he or she is singled out by a teacher for coming back with tasks undone. So, there is the rush to a stationery shop to buy the needful and sleepless nights are spent planning and constructing the project from scratch.
As the deadline looms, the child will remind his parents of the dire consequences if things don’t work out. They will be forced to put up with a litany of ‘but my teacher said’ if the child senses that the work is not being executed according to plan. There is no point in reminding the young one that it is supposed to be his creation, not theirs. The family pride is at stake. The child ups the ante by telling his parents about the intricate works of art that his peers have planned. No pressure to perform, the parents mutter sarcastically under their breaths.
Meanwhile, it certainly doesn’t help matters that there are back-to-school promotions in every mall, and advertised in every publication available. The child who has never taken any interest in print media, is suddenly drawn to these. And the emotional blackmail starts. They know their brands and set their sights high. The sentence “But all my friends will be getting this” is meant to make parents cave in. Who wants their child to be odd man out? The first ‘no’ is taken at face value and the persistent whining takes its toll. The caving in process has begun.
Sensing a chink in the adults’ armour, they deal the fatal blow — subtle and not so subtle hints at how a negative answer will affect their psyche. From ‘everyone will have this or that’ it becomes a plaintive cry of ‘I’ll be the only one not to have this or that’.
The modern-day parents’ sense of justice is awakened. There shall be no haves and have-nots in their society, they decide. And sure enough, the child gets what he or she wants. The parents can never be accused of contributing to discrimination.
New uniforms, shoes, stationery, school bags are some of the items on a long to-buy list. By the time these are purchased, there is a dent in the family budget that will take some time to recover. The news of an increase in fees is met with an impending sense of doom. By the time you finish paying for your child’s education, you are in no position to contemplate early retirement.
The demands are endless and, each time you meet one, another rears its ugly head. The sceptre of bankruptcy may haunt some parents for years to come. The only thing they can be thankful for is that they opted for a small family. However did their parents manage with so many, they wonder.
Then comes the toughest part. Weaning the kids from the TV, computer games and restructuring meal and bed times. There is regret over having let go of certain routines with the thought of a long stretch of holiday ahead. But even idylls come to an end.
Parents suddenly realise that enforcing rules means no double standards. You can’t have adults lounging before the TV or glued to a laptop and expect their children to keep their distance. ‘What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander’ sums up the situation neatly.
