I remember those days when my little baby boy started hitting his milestones, sitting, crawling, standing & then walking!! He tried to walk … fell, cried for a moment and in a few minutes he tried again…it went on like this until one day he took few steps for the very first time. A very bright smile of achievement could be seen on his little innocent face.
My little baby has grown up to become Mumma’s little boy or in his words ‘BIG BOY’.
That day while I went to pick him up from the Preschool, his class teacher informed me about a sports event which was to be conducted in the next 10 days. The teacher requested all the parents to take note of the information displayed on the notice board.
On our way home, as usual me & my son were having a chat about what all things happened in the school. He told me that they were given extra time for sports … did long jumps this & that.
His teacher had told them to try to drive a bicycle without the support wheels….
Yes, it was one of the activities which were to be conducted on sports event, & parents were asked to help the kids with this at home.
I told my son, “Oh Dear, You are so small … you will not be able to do it, you will fall down & get hurt. We will learn it later when you will be a big boy.”
“Oh Mamma , I want to learn. I will not fall down. See I am a ‘BIG BOY’.’’ He said while standing on his toes!!
The Motherly fear in me tried to explain to him again.
“But Beta, you will fall down & get hurt. ”
To this he said, “Mamma, if I fall you apply medicine & again I will ride my bicycle… I will learn I am a BIG BOY. BIG BOYS don’t get hurt.”
That day when my husband got home, the first thing he had to do was to remove the support wheels of his bicycle.
Everyday from evening till night the only thing my son did was to try to ride the bicycle on his own. Me, My husband & his grandparents would walk with him holding his cycle. He would say don’t hold, don’t hold I will manage on my own… but we anyway did.
He fell down almost everyday but he continued anyhow. He could ride a bicycle for fraction of second and fall. But he was happy with it & kept trying.
Then came the Big Day!!
In the sport event, almost all the kids participated in all the sports activities. But very few participated in the Bicycle race. One of those few kids was my son. My kid did not win that race … but he could ride it only for a fraction of minute… & then he fell.
But anyway both of us, me & my husband, cheered for him. He walked to us with sad little face…. “ Sorry Mumma, I could not win. But I will ride the cycle when I get home!!”
This made me realize, that children are born fearless… it is us, the parents & the society who teach them the fear of failure.
We Parents want our kids to have a very bright future & a successful career & there is nothing wrong in it.
But in reality, success only comes to a person with to do attitude. In this journey towards success there may be several moments of failure. But we have to overcome the fear of failure & move forward towards our goal… As it is said, that Winners are not those people who never fail, but people who never quit.
Surf excel, a detergent brand from Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) is taking forward their philosophy of ‘ Daag Ache hain ‘ , with brand new campaign ‘Haar ko harao’.
This campaign is focused on parenting challenge of helping kids cope up with the failure. In India, where failure is unacceptable and everybody wants to win without putting in all the hard work. This video of Surf excel ‘Haar ko harao’ is a must watch for all the parents.
Happy Parenting!!
