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17 January 2011

Kids @ 11

My son is growing up. He is now 11 and touching 12.
This is the phase of development in a child where he is developing a sense of right or wrong. Till now, for him, what the parents told were always right and unquestionable. But now, we are reaching a stage where he is developing a sense of right or wrong. He is developing his 'Ethical Personality' as it were...
Some of it seems to be clashing with mine....
For example, the other day, he found a unclaimed Table Tennis Ball in the TT room. Some kids, firiends of his, had left it there and gone. This was a good quality TT Ball, costing about Rs.40 (which is on the high end as far as TT Balls go). There was no one around, he asked me what he should do with the ball.
"Find the owner and give it back to him", I told him
(In retrospect, that was the only smart answer that I gave that day).
"I don't know the owner", he said,
"So keep it in the bag now. We will find the owner and give it to him later", I responded.
He promptly kept it in the bag.
I forgot about it, but he didn't. The thought of having someone's ball in his bag, kept following him thu the day.
After about a few hours, while we were attending the TT coaching, he came and gave me the ball.
"Let us give it to the coach", he told me.
"Why should the coach take it?" I asked.
"Because, he needs many balls to play 'multi ball practice' " He responded.
"He will not take it" I answered.
"So what should I do?" He asked me.
"Keep it with you. Finders - Keepers" I told him (Drat.....)
His tone became critical. "How can you say that? It is not my ball. So how can I keep it. Isn't it like stealing?" He asked me like a wife or something.
What did I do? 'Finders - Keeprs' is a universal law. I was just suggesting him what the world does. Now I am forced to look like stupid.
PS: The ball still lies in his bag after almost a week. We don't use it, though.