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Monday, September 22, 2008

Of Babas and Babies...

A mother of an almost three year old, life in the past three years has been a roller coaster ride of amazement, wonder, exasperation, anxiety and tests of innovation & imagination..

My little girl is a veritable chatterbox who, every morning, starts talking with her eyes closed, even before she’s fully awake…

She was an early speaker and by the time she was two years old, she just about repeated anything and everything she heard. So we had to become careful of what we uttered and self censorship was essential.

One fine morning, I heard her call out to my husband by his name instead of the usual ‘Baba’. And throughout the day it was repeated everytime she wanted to call out to her father. Asking her not to call him by his name was ignored.
Both my husband and I initially found it funny and sweet but realized that the habit HAD to be nipped in the bud. It was just NOT ACCEPTABLE!
But we were at a loss of how to go about it….because making it an issue and admonishing or scolding a two year old would be ineffective or worse, counter-productive.

A few days later an idea struck and I thought to myself…why not implement it….

I started calling my husband “Baba” making sure that my little lady got to hear it every time I called out. We stopped correcting her when she called her father by his name and decided to ignore it for the time being…
The little mimic that she had become, our strategy worked and “Baba” was what she resumed calling her Dad.
Well, all’s well that ends well, you would say.So very true…

But the twist in the tale is - I carried on calling my husband “Baba” and continue to do so till date… it's become habit!!
Bibliography - Baba : father

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ha! Ha! Ha!...
a lady calling out her husband as BABA is undoubtedly amusing... at the same time.. the crafty technique adopted by the little lady's parents to make small alteration in her habits is really unique..

but.. one question remain unanswered .. how long a lady can call her husband as BABA????... ha! ha! ha!..
a nice piece of writing... it's really entertaining...

Unknown said...

I had fun reading through.....You guys sure know how to handle momo. Watching your little you growing up in front of you is a life time experience!!!...would love to read more….

Unknown said...

That was really interesting. Really enjoyed reading through. Keep posting some more.....

Anonymous said...

Really well written... especially the theory behind je tumi Saps ke Baba keno bolo!!!!!!!