Mom couldn’t remain angry when her child had not actually wasted his time, but tried to be creative, baked a cake on his own for the very first time without even calling her once. She felt proud yet sad. Who says education just means school ? It means being a learner and child had learnt something on his own. Yet, she had a big problem at hand. Her child was not enjoying online school. May be it would be just for a month or so. After all, China had opened up by March. She spoke to Sam.
“It’s boring Mom.” was his reply.
She conveyed her concern to the school and they were quite supportive with the feedback. They now knew that they had to constantly ping Sam and ask him questions in between. Sam knew he couldn’t afford bunking. His mom had been sad and angry about the incident, and he understood he had to try. He was known for his impulsiveness but he had to try controlling his urges.
Meanwhile, Sam was missing his cricket and tennis. He loved being in action. It would burn of his restlessness but now with all closed he was restless the entire day. He remembered that day when he had been the man of the match. They had played against another school. Principal ma’am whom he so much admired had set them off in morning with an inspiring speech and the confidence that the annual cup would be back in her office by the end of the day. The best player of the team had injured his ankle in the last match. The team had been nervous. Yet, when they had started, they had realized if they played right, they might be able to give a good competition. Sid had made a wonderful 50 off 30 balls, and the final six which had led them victory. His place in Under 14 school team was now secured. He longed to get ready for the game with his pads, gloves and helmet. His hands itched to hold his bat.
The irony of the situation was that term had started with the new norms. His bat and cricket kit gathered dust in an obscure corner in the house. Earlier, the little kids would run riot in corridors, in the building’s playground area. Now, even they wouldn’t budge out of the house. The tennis court in the vicinity of his building stood silent. When his parents left for work to look towards the ailing people, he would miss the sounds, the banter of his friends, the voices of his mom dad and he would long for it to all get over.
In order to keep busy, he started concentrating on food. It became his solace to fight boredom. Whenever he would get bored during class, he would go and search kitchen and pick up whatever he could lay his hands on, biscuits, chips, cold drink and ice-cream. He would call up the nearest grocery and order whatever he liked. By the lunchtime, he would be already full, and then he would skip the lunch.
For a few days, his mother was puzzled on why Sam was not having lunch even though she would ensure it was to his liking.
Things became clear when she went to the grocery store and saw the unpaid bill.
I am writing about the new normal from a child’s perspective. Please read the previous posts A cancelled vacation and no more play ! , The online school begins.
I am taking my blog to the next level with Blogchatter’s #MyFriendAlexa https://theblogchatter.com/
I guess the cat’s out of the bag 😀
LikeLike
Nice write up..
https://swarnaz.com
LikeLike
Wow, good we dont have a grocery store we can keep credit with. I’m sure I’d also get a similar bill though my kids are aware about healthy food at the moment. Once they are older, don’t know.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Since the beginning of the pandemic I have wondered how difficult it must be for the children who are so used to running around to be in the house and have no outlet whatsoever. How do they burn all that excess energy?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes Suchita, we are already seeing kids more aggressive, more reluctant to talk, and the younger ones esp in nuclear families are going to bear the burnt
LikeLiked by 1 person
Coronavirus has deprived young children from enjoying the most precious time of their lives. I wonder if such credit accounts are available here in my city🙄
LikeLike
Definitely a tough time for moms all over the world. Keeping the child busy and at the same time concentrated on online studies is a difficult task. Nice write up!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice writeup.
It’s definitely tough time keeping the children busy at home.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know it’s totally difficult keeping kids busy.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The pandemic had hit the children very strongly. We are to see the after-effects. The lack of channelizing their energy into physical activity mustn’t make them lazy. Let’s hope all is well soon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very well written! Being a mother, I can understand what Sam must be going through. Though my son is only 5 I could feel his stress build-up during the lockdown with nowhere to go and coping up with the new normal.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha! kids are smarter than what we think they are, no doubt this pandemic has tested the patience of our kids so badly.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pandemic has somehow taken away a whole year of leaning and fun from the kids. Ones who didn’t have the habit of sitting in one place are now restricted to a place for an entire year. Tough times.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is indeed a pity that this corona pandemic has brought about a new normal and forcing children to behave abnormally. I can understand Sid’s feelings and his liking for food. Recently my daughter started walking over to the balcony and talking to herself. When I asked her about it she told me she is talking to herself because she does not have siblings and we are not allowing her to talk to her friends on the mobile as we don’t provide her access to the mobile. That is when I realized my mistake and gave her my mobile and told her to talk to her best friend. She did so for half an hour and was smiling throughout that day. So we now allow her to talk to her friends every 3 or 4 days. She has conference calls with her friends and is happy. Fortunately, we had her friends numbers stored in my mobile as we had earlier stored the numbers so that they can contact each other when they needed to clear any doubts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s a good thing you did Jai .. kids need to talk to their friends
LikeLike
My bat is biting dust as well, everytime I look at it, I’m like when will I ever get a chance to play again!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This was such a heartwarming take on the current pandemic situation. Well written.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The lockdown has messed up with our mind n body and so how can kids be spared. From eating habits to sleeping during online class, everything was a mess for us too. But I let it go for sme tme and den made changes n set rules to lead a better life while being indoors.
LikeLike
The pandemic and lockdown has affected kids the most. I see my child also getting bored at home with no outings for outdoor playtime allowed. We are trying to manage things at home, but still it’s not the same. Hope to get back to normal soon now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
such a true retelling. i think the kids are really having a tough time these days.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The lockdown is still hard on all of us and ofcourse, it is traumatising too for kids. From staying indoors to doing things online, from parents juggling between office work and household chores the kids are facing the burn of it. I really do hope things get well and kids get to be enjoying the outdoors again.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The pandemic has been hard on all of us, especially our kids who are the most vulnerable. Parents and school administrators have to be empathetic and supportive in these times. #MyFriendAlexa #TinaReads
LikeLiked by 1 person
Okay so now I know why his parents had to replace all the food items on the kitchen shelves. I read it in the wrong order.
I hope Sam can get back to cricket soon.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Aww feel bad for sam and many such kids who were not able to play, run, hop, jump due to the pandemic. Yes, kids had to find ways to keep themselves busy, apart from TV and online classes food became an easy choice and moms became home chefs. Nice post the unpaid bill gave all the answers. Normal life please be back, let kids play cricket, badminton, skating, and all the outdoor games they had been missing all these months.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Amen to that PraGun !
LikeLike
Feel terribly sorry for all the Sams in the world who have been robbed of some precious times of their childhood.
Everyone is doing their best coping with the ‘New ‘Normal!’
Hope and pray our Sam gets his school mojo back soon.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Let’s hope that for every sam out
LikeLike
Sam and the likes are seriously going through tremendous stress patterns. Childhood years are formative years and this year it has jeopardized it all.
LikeLiked by 1 person