“What do you want to be?”

This is one common question that most of us ask our kid/s and you might get to hear interesting answers as well – “I want to be a doctor“, “I want to be a firefighter“, “I want to be an astronaut“… and many such more….. This keeps changing as kids grow up… as they move from elementary to middle school to senior school to college. As a mother, I too keep asking my kids the same question – just to listen to their crazy wishes and plans. Gone are those days when parents used to enforce their dreams on their children. With changing times, kids are given space to think and plan, we as parents no doubt will always support and guide them.

Now coming back to why did I ask this question, which is the title of my blog as well ……It was one fine Sunday morning, my younger kid at the breakfast table asks me this question – ” Mom, what do you want me to be when I grow up“. Ahh…. now this was a good question, I paused for a moment and said, “I want you and your elder brother to be good human beings“. This provoked my younger one to ask another question, “Mom, what does that mean? Aren’t we good today??“. I said, “Yes, you are . But, when you grow, your dreams may or will change, your priorities will change, your school, your friends change, there are so many changes that affect your behavior or say basic nature. My wish is that you be a good human first ….after that no matter which ever field you get into, you will succeed and people around you will respect you“.

As my kids munched their breakfast, my elder one pops up with a question, “So, Mom, what does it take to be a good human being“. Hmmm, now this was another good question and I took few minutes to think and then narrated by thoughts- “Goodness is related to positivity and there are different ways that reflect goodness – your respect to elders and teachers, your patience in listening and guiding your young ones, helping the ones in need. Another way to look at this is the way you would like others to treat you….And am sure you would like everyone to treat you in a good way, isn’t it?? 🙂 “. Both my kids smiled and nodded.

I continued, “Being good is not easy, you need to have patience and its a habit that becomes strong only when you practice as you grow. Goodness is like that sandalwood tree that is surrounded by poisonous snakes. The venom of the snakes does not affect the fragrance of the sandalwood tree…and you should try to be like this sandalwood tree. It is not impossible – its just that for every action, ask yourself that you are not hurting anyone. Also remember that the actions that you do, are being observed and followed by your younger one. So, you are setting examples for others, hence you need to keep a check on yourself“.

While my younger one was still thinking, my elder one replied, “I got it Mom. I will be a better version of myself each day and be a good human being“. I was so happy to hear these words, this actually made my day.

So, what do YOU plan to be ? 🙂