After School Reviews

End-of-the-day reviews are very refreshing.

Every day, after I get home, I ask the kids how their day went. A still isn’t ready for this recap as much as D is. D will provide me a detailed account of what he did at school-who didn’t come, what he ate for lunch including his opinion of whether the food ingested was healthy or not, for how long he went outside to play etc, etc. He shares this information dutifully and animatedly . And we are usually having this conversation over after- school snacks.

Hubby dear and I talk about our respective days but it more or less a cursory exchange. We firmly subscribe to the notion of ‘no shop talk at home’ unless of course, something exciting or earth shattering takes place. Besides, there are much more important things to share than waste our time talking about our jobs.

But with the kids, it’s different. I love this moment as a mom. I want to know everything about their day, the things they did, observed, even to the minutia of how long their nap was. It’s important that I know. What could be more joyful than intently listening to your 5 year old recounting his eventful day?
They are at that stage where even watching the sun come out after a spate of rain is wondrous, or hearing their little friend cry because he or she is unwell is troublesome. Every moment is educational, teaching them something about life regardless of how trivial or profound the lesson is.

This tete-a-tete has become an important part of our schedule now. Something we look forward to. As he starts, I can feel his enthusiasm, his need to have someone listen to him as he retraces his day at school. And I couldn't be luckier to be that someone- to be privy to this information. This is truly one of those moments that serves as a constant reminder of how fulfilling parenthood can be.