I did it! I tied the knot..

No! I’m not referring to the wedding knot..  Way past that now, I am just referring to mommy stuff, here?! Indeed! I was referring to the loopty loop knot! Can you hear Richa running around screaming “I did it! I tied the knot!”

Remember the song..from Little Bill?!

"One little loop,
What do you do?
Wrap the lace around,
And pull it through.
Now you have a bow,
And you've tied your shoe!"

An exciting moment for a kid that I guess only they understand how much it is, they deserve the applause. Almost defining the big kid milestone in their lives. I’m a proud mommy of another child who has tied the knot!!  Hopefully, I’ll be saying the same again only after they’ve finished college and settled into maturity..I’m so glad, I have time for that.

Suddenly everything had fallen into place like the parts of a 100 piece jigsaw puzzle and she wondered, which piece was the one that evaded her, all this time.  All that going around and coming back up..left to right..making the loop and pulling, had felt unusually difficult.

Her hope that this time when she pulls the loops, that elusive knot is going to show up like magic, only to see the whole thing fall apart…She lets out this cry of exasperation..of desperation.

Its equally frustrating to the parent as it is to the kid, to watch their kid wrestle through this..desire, to be able to TIE A KNOT, isn’t it?!

I’ve seen four of my kids go through this struggle.  Richa has become the the last to join our home club, bestowed with people, skilled enough to be able to tie a knot!

Almost feels like, I want to scream “I did it!”.

As a mom, the learning moments had made me nervous. Deprived of patience... instead of helping Richa in her struggle..I had connived on how I could get her off this endeavor so I can save us both, some mental energy.

The first time that Richa realized the role of this skill in her life was when she saw her kindergartener friends doing it. It was almost a status symbol to them. Not knowing how to tie a knot, had put her at the lower level of the worthy friend pyramid. She came home with the determination that she would get it done with. That this is not going to mar her reputation among her friend circles.

She had asked me how to do that. As I explained to her the hows and the hows..I saw her cry out in frustration..by the 10th time, the knot came untied.

She had made the loops and placed them one on other and looked for that hole where she’s supposed to pull a loop through..but, unable to find..She had followed my directions of pushing it through somewhere, someplace. Now..how does she move her fingers?!  She looks at me..as if asking me..ever heard of an intriguing jigsaw puzzle that even needs motor skills?!

Fully aware of the outcome for that evening and save her from further disappointment ..I had told her in advance that it takes 21 days for a kid, to be able to tie a knot. That it would take 21 days for her fingers to grow longer to be able to do it, like her fingers would morph into long spindly things in 21 days like the caterpillar changes into a butterfly or the seed germinates into this long shoot.

Every preschooler and elementary scholar, I know, does a project on Metamorphosis and Germination. Coming to think of it..doesn’t this project also define “patience” to the child..At this point of the child’s life..their most important sentence of the day, everyday, is

“It takes for ever!”

“Richa! You can have it in the morning!”

“Morning is so far away!  It takes for ever!”

“Richa! Give me two minutes!”

“Mama..count 2 and move!”

I wasn’t able to deter her from her resolution, that evening. She knew she had the whole weekend to keep trying. Realizing what a pessimist her mom was..she eventually told me to go away, that she would give it a try herself. She promised me that she would stay calm.

Imagine the kid’s dilemma.  They seem to have the strings in the right place and as they let go of it to hold the loop ends, to make the final pull..everything falls out.  Just doesn’t make sense to them. Like some ghost around is playing some tricks to trouble them.

Richa has freed herself from this situation now..well! At least with regards to “Tying the Knot”.

Today, as I walk around my home, I see knots displayed proudly like some art decorating the spindles of the stairs or the chairs. And, it didn’t vex me .. that I’ve to clear them out. Coz, I’m one proud mama now.

She also insists on shoes with long laces to school. Gone are all those shoes with Velcro, even if they have blinking diamond crystals studded on to them. Those very shoes she had created a ruckus to own, are now obsolete. So 60’s..or 70’s..well..so 90’s!

Welcome! “I’m a big girl”  Here’s a video I had made of Richa when she lost her first tooth.