As with all parents, there is always a desperate fear of the child not learning things at the right pace. Desperate fear. We are conditioned to think and fear the what ifs and the if thens of a child falling behind and not keeping pace with their peers; their competitors. Since we are taught that life is about competition and excelling beyond others. Hence we want the children to take part in and win the race. Just as we do. Just as everyone does. Because that is what we think is the case. Lots of people, lots of races. All the time. Everywhere.
What we haven’t actually learnt to learn, is – what if they end up learning things too quickly. Too rapidly. Then? Then what?
What if they end up learning to say “No!” before they are two years old, or they learn (mind you “learn”) that they can snatch toys from younger kids when you are not looking, or they learn that the remote is hidden under the newspapers but not at the bottom of the pile, so they learn. But it seems we are not ready for their learning all of this.
A constant daily struggle to ensure they learn, to see them learn and to be scared of what they have learnt. One ends up learning a bit or two about oneself.
