Growing up and being a grown-up are two different things altogether. One means you're older, maybe a tad wiser. The other means that you're in a position where you must do a few things to merit that title. Like teaching your kids, setting an example (a good one, obviously), passing on tradition and customs and so on.
Today, we celebrated Tamil New Years day like we always do. We ate. Period. But like I always do on festival days, I dressed up my children in Indian clothes. My tomboy daughter didn't want to wear a 'paavadai' but I insisted and said "I'm going to wear a salwar". And she said, "That's not fair, amma. You anyway wear salwars. If you want me to wear a paavadai, then you wear a sari"!
Touche!
And so we celebrated, wearing paavadai, kurta-pyjama, dhoti and sari!
My first lesson in this new year is the realization and acceptance that I have a lot of growing up to do to in order to call myself a grown-up.
And all thanks to my 'little grown-up'.
