My son Meharaj is a little over 3 years old. And he misses going out of home in this lockdown. Going to movies! Going to school! Going to market! Three places, he clearly understands, are not home. He also asks me daily, if I am going to office, in his half baked vocabulary, when he sees me getting ready for my 'Work from Home' routine. The point I am trying to make here is that though he can't articulate or understand it, he definitely feels the impact of being under a lockdown. He looks forward to his terrace visits once or twice a day. The moment he wakes up in the morning, he goes to the balcony and looks at the outside world with an intense longing.
During this lockdown he has started playing a really silly game with me, which I call 'Oh!Wow!' game. He must have played it before the lockdown also, but now he does it more frequently or may be I noticed now, that there is a pattern. The game goes something like this -
Meharaj: Papa kya kal (kar) rahe ho (What are you doing papa? )
Papa: Watching TV Meharaj
Meharaj: Watching TV? Oh! Bao! (He pronounces 'Wow' as 'Bao')
After some time
Meharaj: Papa kya kal (kar) rahe ho
Papa: Working on my laptop
Meharaj: Paptop? Oh! Bao! (And he laughs every time he says it)
After some time
Meharaj: Papa kya kal (kar) rahe ho
Papa: Having tea!
Meharaj: Tea? Oh! Bao!
Another version
Meharaj: Papa yeh kya hai (What is this papa? Pointing at random things)
Papa: Curtains!
Meharaj: Curtains? Oh! Bao!
And I keep playing along, because he laughs every time he says "Oh! Bao! ". Some times I reverse the roles and I ask him these questions and before he can utter those words I say "Oh! Wow!" and he realizes that his papa stole the opportunity from him and he laughs even more intensely.
Not always successfully though, here are some of the things we have tried so far to engage him.
1. Give him time and company in open spaces available like terrace/balcony. He takes a walk along with me or replicates his mother doing her exercises.
2. We use his playschool worksheets and some learning games to keep him busy. Every few days we introduce a new game so that he doesn't get bored.
3. There is a time, off and on, he gets on my laptop to see things happen on MS Paint. He basically makes me do stuff as he watches.
4. He watches Chu Chu TV for some time everyday on You Tube. He watches this particularly irritating Indian version of Johny! Johny! where Johny rides everything from a bicycle to a plane. The rhyme has no rhythm. But he watches it on loop. He doesn't allow us to play anything else.
5. Her mother reads to him for sometime a day.
6. We made hand-washing fun for him by telling him about foam and bubbles. Sometimes he over does it.
How are you managing with the kids at your home? Any tips?
---
My theme for this year's #AtoZchallenge is Lock-down Blues. I intend to write and talk about how I deal with it, what it inspires me to read or watch or any aspect of it which fascinates me. You can read the theme reveal post here.
Previous Challenges : Letter K
2 comments:
Haha!!! His oh wow is so cute with cute and mischievous expressions. By the way he has learnt hist word from me only...lol!!!
Oh Wow! Ishwinder
Post a Comment