'Jumping on the water, shushushooo.'

Two days ago, it was raining heavily. Isha ran up to the window and looked out yearningly. 'Amma, I want to go out and dance in the rain'. The conditioned mama inside me wanted to say 'No Isha, you cannot. You will catch a cold.' But I stopped for a few seconds and thought about it. 'Really? With a few minutes of getting wet in the rain, would one catch a cold?' The child in me that had been stopped from dancing in the rain many times got excited too. And I said 'Ok, come let's go'. So, we both went out singing and dancing in the rain, with curious neighbours looking on. Isha tasted the rain and said it was sweet!

Then, she wanted to go up to the terrace. So, we went up there for a while. We soon started to shiver in cold. 'I feel cold like that bird' (Some bird she had seen in a cartoon). She joyously jumped into puddles and made up her own song. 'Jumping on the water, shushushu.' At one point when she couldn't take her shivering any more, she asked to go inside and watch the rain through the window.

Really, letting our kids do harmless things like dancing in the rain (that we weren't allowed to do) is very healing! When we give ourselves the permission to do it along with them, it is fun to watch the smile that it actually brings on our faces. :)

It actually baffles me to think why anyone would want to stop the expression of such pure joy of communing with nature! There is no danger in this, nor any violation of anyone else's space. Just the letting-go of our ideas about children, and the cheap kick we (our hurt ego) get(s) out of controlling them. Now that we have a whole rainy month ahead of us, let us make use of this wonderful opportunity to allow ourselves the joy and the healing from watching kids dance in the rain, and join them if possible.

It has been four days now. No, there is no sign of a cold or anything. But then, she gets the goodness of a whole organic sweet-lime from reStore everyday!