When Your Dream Is His Mission…

This is a sponsored post for Hewlett Packard (HP) as part of their #ReinventMemories campaign and has first appeared on MyCity4Kids.com 

“Why aren’t you talking to your mom?” I heard a whisper.

“Because she is working, dodo!” this was my little one’s voice.

It was a weekday afternoon and he had a friend over. While the boys watched TV and generally hung in the playroom, I was at my desk finishing up an article that was due soon. That is when I heard this conversation.

I went and stood close to the playroom door and tried to hear further.

“What do you mean she is working? She is at home isn’t she? My mom works! She leaves in the morning and gets back only in the night.”

“My mom works all day too!” my little one chirped.

“What does she do?” his friend wanted to know.

“My mom is a writer. She writes articles and stories. I also write stories. I even illustrate them, like Quentin Blake did for Roald Dahl. Only, in my case, I am the one writing and I am only the one illustrating.” My little one proudly declared.

“You are lying!”

“I am not!”

And so it went, until it was time for them to go outdoors to play.

Truth be told, I was surprised and also pleased to hear my son declare that he was writing a story. I mean, this was so out of the blue! But also, somehow, expected.

You see, my son has always liked and respected the fact that I work from home. He is happy I get to stay at home and keeps himself incredibly busy during the time I am at work. We take regular breaks, just like office goers; and then we get back to our desks and work, until it’s time for us to step out for our evening walk. Earlier, he would just sit and play with his cars or blocks and watch TV; but now, in addition to watching TV, he spends hours doing craft work, origami, sketching, and more recently, writing.

Now, I was bitten by this writing ka keeda (writing bug) since my childhood, but I decided to turn it into a profession only some years back when I threw caution to the wind and quit my job after my son was born. A lifelong reader, I felt this was a natural progression for me; and I am pretty good at it too, if I may say so myself! But I wasn’t even aware that my son too was interested in writing. I mean, he too loves books; and loves stories as much as I do; but I had never pictured him for a writer. 

For one, he hates the actual act of writing – putting pen to paper. Plus, he is, like all kids his age, very distracted – one moment he has a certain idea, the next he has abandoned it, only to come back to his initial idea eventually! And so, when he told his friend that he was writing and illustrating a book, I took it with a pinch of salt, and forgot about the matter.

So imagine my surprise, when on Mother’s Day, he presented me with a thin, printed, illustrated copy of a book about a boy and a robot that he had written and illustrated himself! I was surprised beyond words and hugged him tight! “So does the writer mom like the Mother’s Day gift?” chirped the husband from behind us; as I continued to smile through the tears in my eyes.  

Turned out, the father and son had gotten together to think about what to gift me on Mother’s Day and came up with this amazing solution. As part of their research, they had watched this video; and then suddenly, it was very clear for my little one what he had to do! He had worked on it for two whole days to get it just the way he wanted; and then finally, with the help of his father, printed it out and gift wrapped it for me.

Honestly, it is the loveliest gift I have gotten so far from my little one. He says, I say that every year; but then what can I do, he really is very good at gifting! But what made this gift so special was that he had taken my dream of having a book to my name eventually; and had made it his mission, the result of which, I now held in my hands. It was a home printed, thin book (ten pages in total), made by folding A4 sized paper in half and binding the center folds together. It was printed on the printer at home and was as homemade as my chocolate cake for that day was! Now here's a memory I am sure to cherish for years to come!