When Yaya was little, I explained to her that she should never lie to me. I told her, it is not the lie per se that would bother me, but the fact that from then I wouldn’t be able to trust her ever.

It was not an easy thing to achieve. I had to learn to be a better parent. When they broke a dish, .. or the time they cut their own hair or the time they snipped and shredded my expensive bed linen ( to this day, I haven’t found what possessed them to do that) I had to learn not to get really mad and yell at them.

I had to learn not to snoop on my children and give them the right to privacy, when so many times I was tempted to find out who they are chatting with or what they are up to.

Yaya is honest to the core. ( so are her siblings)

Few of Yaya’s classmates already got their P plate ( driver’s license) and have bought their own car. ( Digressing a bit here, When people in India bash western culture and how bad it is, they ignore good things like this..that children start working part time from the time they are 14 years old and save up their money to buy their own cars/bikes etc),

Yaya’s classes finish two weeks before her siblings and she and her friends are planning to drive down to Melbourne.

I really don’t want her to go. It is not that I don’t trust my child, somehow my trust doesn’t extend to her friends, even though I know they have all been raised well. I am worried about driver’s inexperience ( a 22 year old flipped her 4 WD and killed her passenger few days ago).. the rational part of me knows whatever has to happen will happen and accidents don’t happen only to inexperienced drivers. But we are talking about my precious oldest child here..

I don’t have any rational excuse for not allowing her to go..

When my children were little, I was so exhausted running after them trying to keep them safe and I couldn’t wait for them to grow up.. and now I wish they  stayed little…. forever..