Think like 'Little Human Beings'. Simple!

There are many situations in life, which may seem embarassing to an adult but is perfectly fine from the perspective of a child. While it rains cats and dogs this Sunday evening, I narrate a situation I faced in the last few hours.

It was the birthday of one of the kids in the apartment. Ira was told about it and the impending birthday invite. She waited but the invite never came. We like being prepared, so I had bought a gift and kept in case she gets invited.

All good till here. But the card never came. So, I wasn't sure if Ira must go. Her other friends said she should go along with them. The mom of another friend told me, "kids just come to birthday parties and it is fine. The birthday song is like a cue. You must send her". I was still grappling with the fact whether this would be appropriate to go uninvited.

While all this ensued, Ira wept like a little human being can when they feel hurt. I always feel that Prashant somehow has a magic wand and handles these situations better. I pinged him in between a concert that he is attending and he shared his opinion.

Suddenly this seemed more complicated than anything I had ever done before. Yes yes...that's the mamma in me speaking, in an exaggerated manner.

I even pinged a dear friend who always has the most sensible solutions to such social dynamics and she as always gave me a balanced opinion. Thank you C.

So, what did I do? I accompanied Ira to the party to drop her off, along with her friends. I wished the little one and told herMamma, "Ok. This is embarassing but my daughter has self invited herself to the party". Ira stood there with the gift and keenly looking. The lady very graciously said, "ofcourse not. I had given two cards for her and another child but my little one seems to have misplaced them!". Then I saw many kids attending, many of whom hadn't got the card and were absolutely fine with it.

The adult in me heaved a sigh of relief and the mother in me thought, "we must think more like children, simple and straightforward".

Am not sure if this reaction was appropriate, was it gentle parenting , was it child led, is this how it is done, is there ever a perfect way to handle complicated (or so it seems) situations like this?

All I know is, I went with my gut today for my little girl and it all turned out to be fine. She walked in proudly holding the gift bag and smiling ear to ear. As I hear the pitter patter of the rains, I know many a little hearts are doing a happy dance at that birthday party!

#Ira #Iraisms #BirthdayTales #AdultsComplicateMatters #IraAtFour #TalesAtFour #LittleHumanBeings