Seriously, Pimples? First time I heard the question from my 5 year old daughter, I wasn’t
sure if I had heard it right. If she had asked for the new Barbie makeup set or
the new battery operated car, I would have at least given it a thought. But she
wants Pimples.
And “When will I have one?” Would have been much easier to
explain if she had asked for an explanation of what’s ghosts or why do I have to
sleep everyday or even the digestive system of a dolphin. But this one is by
far the most serious conversations I had with my daughter or rather
in my whole life. So here’s how it goes -
5yr: “Mom, I have a Pimple?” says while still looking in the mirror
Mom: “What? When? How? NO, it’s a mosquito bite.” I got my breath back.
5 yr: “When will
I have pimples?”
Mom: “Why do you
want pimples?” After a brief pause of 10 min
5 yr: “Because
you said only adults have it.”
Mom: “BTW do you
know what are pimples?”
5 yr: “When you
have pink or red spots on your face and you can apply different creams and
lotions and face packs”
Mom: Have you
every heard of a more rosy definition of pimples. “So, do you want a pimple or
you want to be an adult?”
5 yr: “Both”
Mom: “Why do want
to grow up so fast?”
5 yr: “You keep
saying, Grow up and stop crying. Grow up and fight back. Grow up and finish your milk. “
Mom: “But to get
pimples you will have to be a teenager, like 15-16 yrs old.”
5 yr: “That means
I will have to wait another 5 years.” She is still learning addition in school, so the difference.
Mom: “So what do
you want to be when you grow up?”
5 yr: “Married” n
giggles. Didn’t dare to ask what that giggling meant.
Mom: “No, I mean,
doctor, astronaut, teacher?”
5 yr: “I only
want to be married.”
Mom: “Do you know
what married means? You will have to do your own dishes, laundry, cleaning, cooking,
grocery, bills and more.”
5 yr: “But you
have help for all this. Aunty comes in the morning no? You don’t have to do it.”
Mom: “Ok forget
about that, you will need to get a job, before you can get married. How
else will you go shopping.”
5 yr: Very
serious and quiet now. I think I had popped the right question or else she
would have moved out of the house by the end of this conversation.
Mom: So I
continued the argument in the right direction. “You need to finish school and
go to college. Only then you can get a decent job in a big office. Unless you
want to work at a gas station or McDonalds.”
5 yr: “McDonalds.
I can work in McDonalds even if I don’t finish my school?”
Mom: “Yeah that
means you will not get a good pay.”
5 yr: “But then I
will get a Happy Meal everyday and can choose the toy I want.” And that brought
the smile back on her face.
Before we could continue with our serious discussion
further, she heard the sound of Oggy and Cockroaches, playing on TV. I think
she had made up her mind. All she wants for now is to get married and have a Happy
Meal. And she keeps asking her grandpa to buy her an engagement ring.
I am glad we had this conversation. It had brought back
memories of how simple life was and how small our needs were. These
conversations also help you embrace the inevitable fact that kids grow up
faster than we think and before you know they will be closing doors on your face and asking for privacy. Everyday
for atleast 10 seconds I wish they can stop growing up and things can be the
way they are.
