Our daughter Aavya is going through a phase where she gets upset/ angry on smallest of things. After that she says a few things, which is not acceptable to us. When we try to let her know that it is not fair as to what she is doing, she feels worse that she is one who is always blamed though it is not her mistake. Then follow the tantrums …

Parallelly India performed exceedingly well in the recently concluded T20 World Cup 2024. Ever since the knockout stage, our kids – Anay and Aavya would either watch with us when possible or take an update next day about India’s progress! They started getting interested in cricket. They also knew the players and what they did in the team. They imitated a few actions too!

From waking them up to getting them ready is my responsibility most mornings, as Arpita goes to gym that time. We get onto some amazing conversations during those 45 minutes!

Last week, the discussion went to Hardik Pandya’s performance in World Cup –

Me: One of my favourite players this World Cup was Hardik Pandya.

Aavya: Why him and not Rohit Sharma or Kohli or Bumrah? They also did well

Me: Yes, it was a team effort. But Hardik batted and bowled very well in some very important phases of various matches. If not for his contributions, we would not have won matches

Me: Moreover he had a very difficult 4 months before the World Cup

Anay: Matlab (meaning)?

Me: He shifted from Gujrat to Mumbai team in IPL. Lot of people did not like it. Also, he could not perform well in entire IPL. So, a lot of people called him bad names and said not so good things

Anay and Aavya went mum and were waiting for next words … I continued,

Me: But he decided that he will not return those bad words to others. He instead thought that he will perform in T20 World Cup. His results will speak rather than he replying through words

Aavya: Mast na ….. (Nice, isn’t it)

Anay: He bowled so well in the last over in finals too!

Me: We must learn from Hardik. Sometimes when people say something that we don’t like, we immediately want to give it back to them. Saying bad language to other because they used bad language while talking to us is not the solution. Sometimes not talking in that moment and moving away helps us more. We must show better results than saying bad words

As a parent, I was happy to have given them an important sharing, which I try to follow most of the times. It would be very unusual of me back answering anyone – elders of younger. I prefer to take a step back and move out of the situation. Whenever things cool down, if needed I revisit the issue. If there is a scope of improvement for me, I try to make it a part of my mantra! That way I realized that I stay peaceful and have less or no stress about people and their ways.

As a part of parenting, I feel that whatever good qualities we have, we must try to pass them onto the kids. If we can imbibe these qualities at a young age, they will become better human being when they grow up!

So, did Aavya immediately improve from next day? NO she did not. But whenever she starts throwing tantrums, I just have to remind her about Hardik and his deeds in the worldcup!

P.S. – our excitement knew no boundaries when India lifted the World Cup! For the first time, kids and us together watched India lift World Cup!

#Parenting #Cricket #T20WorldCup #Hardik #Example #Performance