QUEST FOR THE BEST

QUEST FOR THE BEST

 Have  you ever noticed that as soon as we are blessed with a child ;we dive headlong into a mad,” Quest for the Best”? We leave no stone  unturned in trying to provide him the best doctors,the best teachers, best school, best coach , best books…in fact nothing but the best would do for our precious little one. Sounds familiar? Very much so…  I, myself am guilty of being  slightly obsessed with this ‘best’. So far so good… the problem begins when we start expecting our children to ,‘pay us back’ by being the best  student, best athlete, best musician, best painter etc.

If for some reason they are not able to match our self –styled  standards of excellence we begin to feel cheated  , betrayed almost let down.

And this is where  the problem  begins.

Firstly , in this quest for “best-ness” we tend to overlook our child’s uniqueness. Instead of celebrating his individuality we start measuring him on pre-set yardsticks set by others.

And secondly children , if they sense our disappointment, often develop low self-esteem and fail to realize their  true potential.I have often wondered how children feel  when  we  judge them. I have written some lines from a child’s perspective  and I think some of us would identify with this;…..so here goes…..               

             

WHAT”S WRONG WITH BEING AVERAGE?                                                                                                                                                                               By: Parul Mathur

You always wanted the “best   ”for me   of that I’m quite sure                   

But my   best was never quite good enough-   you always wanted   something more.

You dreamt that I would top my class, so I guess I’ve let you down

No matter how hard I try,   I will never be the talk of the town.

You always picked the best books best clothes even my best friends for me

Still I could not become the kind of BEST you wanted me to be.

You are always trying to match my school grades with the boy who lives next door

You keep changing my football coach ‘cause    you are not happy with my score

I’m okay with being the tenth in my class—who wants to be at the top?

So what if all my stage performances are always such a flop

I’ve never won a prize at school   and it bothers you no end

That the smartest geek in my class is still not my best   friend .

I’ve never been the teacher’s pet (she  does’nt  even know my name!)

And quite unlike all your friends kids; I have no claim to fame.

I cannot draw, or paint, or sing –I’m not good looking or tall

And as for basketball and chess, well, I’m just   no good at all.

But I get by with passing grades at school  , I play football and swim,

And though I don’t look like a movie star, I still love hitting the gym.

I love school and sports and games and just to hang out with kids my age

But what I want to ask you is --------

WHAT’S WRONG WITH BEING AVERAGE  ?

So let’s go  and take a second look at that ‘’average’ child sitting at home  .It takes only the best parents in the world to find something special in that average child!!!!!