The Kid.

My mum’s retired now. Teaches small school kids. These kids are reasonably well behaved most of the time, but then one does come across some who are not.

Exams written. The results are out. A boy in his 4th class did not do well at all. In fact he fared miserably. Evidently, mum was – if I have the liberty of using the word – pissed. Very evidently, the kid had whiled away his time before the exams playing soccer (I wouldn’t have been writing this, had it been cricket). Both, the Teacher and the Parent expected the kid to realize his mistake, and try to rectify it.

Despite the bad result, the parent spoke understandingly, and tried to explain it to the kid. The kid reacted badly. Threw a tantrum. Tol’ mum to never come next to him. Tol’ mum that he would never study. Tol’ mum that it was not his fault that the paper had questions that he did not have answers to. Mum backed off. Knew it was no point explaining it to the kid at that point. The kid probably thought that the world was out to get him. The kid’s defenses had taken over. Nothing could be his fault. The so-called rationale mind ceases to function. At that moment.

She waited for the kid to cool down.

A day later, she explained again. The kid was more than willing to acknowledge his mistake. Wasn’t surprising, mum says. Kids do that all the time. When they make a mistake, and when the repercussions of that mistake are very evidently going to hurt, they get into a shell. They deny everything. In fact they try to put the blame on everyone and everything else. Then over the period of time, they realize their mistake and get back to their normal state.

Mum’s great at handling such kids.

I landed in a similar soup. I wanted to ask mum what one should do when 'matured', twenty something year old adults, in their proper mind behave in the same manner.

I still want to. Probably some day, I will tell mum the context I am talking about.

She might just have the solution to it.

One day.