An open letter to the Mom who complained to me about my son…..

 

Dear Mom who complained to me...

You knocked on my door the other day, and asked me if my son had told me anything. When I looked clueless, you proceeded to inform me about what had conspired and culminated in my son kicking your child.

I want to thank you for bringing it to my notice. Else I wouldn’t have realised that my son lied to me. Covering up and burying a mistake that he made? Well surely that’s not normal.

The day that incident happened, I saw you discussing something in hushed tones with another mom. You became quiet as soon as I approached. I knew then that something had happened, and asked my son. But alas, he lied to me and acted as if nothing had happened!

Thank you for waiting three days to tell me about this incident. You went through the trouble to corroborate the incident with all the 6 boys who were playing together, and discussed with someone else’s Mom first before talking to me. If not for you, I would never have found out that my son lied to me.

Thank you for recounting to me the events that led to my child kicking yours. You told me in detail how all the kids were in a small tent, except my son, and how they weren’t being mean by not allowing him inside. There just wasn’t enough space! It helped me understand the situation much better.

Thank you for helping me realise , that my kid is probably going through a tough transition given that we moved countries, and I should spend even more time with him.

Thank you for telling me that he also tore a new tent that your boys had opened, and emphasising that it was brand new. Thank you for also declining my offer when I offered to buy a new one, and then when I insisted, thank you for saying that I could just buy the cheapest one available.

Thank you for highlighting this incident to me, if not for you, my son would never have learnt the consequence of lying to his parents. Thanks to you, I was able to tell my son, that he may do anything wrong outside, but he must must must tell his parents!

Thank you for making me realise that a group of 6 boys playing together with only a maid supervising them is a recipe for disaster. I should have learnt this two weeks back, when one of your boys hit my son in the head with a metal train. But, I was too busy letting children be children, to come and have a serious discussion with you.

Thank you for making me realise, that I want to stand by my son against the world in all his mistakes, and help him correct them, and never repeat them again. This helped us come much closer together.

And lastly, Thank you for complimenting my dress and telling me that I looked good at the end of the discussion. It really made my self-esteem soar.