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/
The Vagabond 
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