Why Did My Son Not Become A Literary Giant?
My son, when he was a kindergartner, was always fascinated by the cawing of crows. I am not sure if the raucous call was music to his ears but his fascination for crows was unwavering. I recall a time when the family went out to the zoo on a Sunday afternoon. My wife was trying to get him excited about the big cats that were gnashing their teeth and circling in their pens. But his interests lay elsewhere. He ran after a crow that took off from the back of a hippopotamus. He was looking up and running, tracing the flight of the crow. The nice family outing ended when he ran into a puddle and submerged himself in mud.
Not long after this fascinated-with-crow incident, we had another fascinated-with-crow incident. His mother was reading him out a story of a king and queen when a crow started cawing outside our window. My son’s ears cocked up. And suddenly he recited the following lines:
The crow was flying high and high
Pecked the Queen
The King was angry
The crow was jealous
Now, how in the world did he blurt out these lines? To this day I don’t know. But that day I was absolutely convinced that my son is going to be a literary sensation. My wife quickly jotted these lines down in her diary lest his literary awakening was lost forever.
But after that nothing happened. Not a single verse came out from his pencil, pen or ballpoint-pen. We cajoled him and coaxed him but to no avail. He and verse, the twain did not meet ever again. Mind you, he often got stars for his compositions in school. But we could never coax out a verse from his pen ever.
So, what had happened? I know one verse does not a poet make. But he had imagination –which indeed he still has in abundance- and a huge enthusiasm for reading. So why did he not carry on from his King and Queen poem? Was there something which I and my wife, as parents, should have done differently? Was there something which his teachers should have done differently? Or, was he not wired to be a poet at all?
I do not have the answers.
What do you think? Do you have the answers? Or perhaps some pointers where I and others could find the answers?
Interesting problem, I have a son who is great at drawing but never developed it, a younger daughter who continuously creates beautiful drawings – on things that she loves.
The important thing is that children do not have the perverse calcification scheme that we have in terms of classifying creative activity into drawings and poetry. Children are born creative and exercise that creativity – at their own will and in their own style. So I guess we should practice permissive parenting that allows children to find their own source of excitement and meaning.
I remember clearly my little cousin doing the same thing in the Colombo – zoo. He was chasing doves. So I guess, you child is seeing the magic of phenomenon’s – that no longer excites you, perhaps the magic of flight. Perhaps you should think – may be I should groom him to be a pilot ? …….., You can add to this list.
My recommendation is to give up and share the excitement that child sees in that god dammed crow – that is black and beautiful