Hitler Mom!

Recently, I was pillion riding my son to school. Just half-way through, he blurted out, "Mummy, you are Hitler." I was too stunned to respond. Kept quite for sometime and let that accusation sink in.

Aryan is just seven. Maybe he had heard of Hitler on National Geography channel. Maybe he simply blurted out with no rhyme or reason. Maybe he's heard me, call my father Hitler. Where did get this name from? I wondered.

Of course, there's was no question of dropping this matter.

Without taxing my brain any further I decided to question him. "What makes you call me Hitler?" I asked Aryan. 

Hesitation. Obviously, Aryan was absolutely clueless. In other words, "he didn't have answer." He had simply blurted out, but with good reason. Reasons, I was very well aware of. Yes, It was no big deal, piecing this puzzle together; but regardless, his spontaneous blame had hit the right spot on my heart. Aryan may have zero or little knowledge of the Fuehrer, but he knows his mother in and out.

I figure, somewhere in his subconscious level he had started forming negative notions about his mother.

Notions that stem from my constant nagging and bickering. 

Aryan's ruthless mother losing steam!

"Aryan, did you complete your homework?" "Aryan, why haven't finished your classwork?" "Aryan, why can't you write legibly?" "Aryan, why don't you pay attention in the class?" "Aryan, eat less, you're gaining weight?" Aryan, stop watching TV".  The list goes on and on, followed by a chain of slaps and shouts. 

If I was in Norway, I realize i would have been put behind bars for putting my child under so much of pressure.

After those grueling study sessions with my son, I always feel like chopping my hands off. But does that matter now?  Isn't the damage already done?

There is no shortcut to success, they say. Blood, sweat, tears, time, and heart are the recipes for success. So, without wanting, I make Aryan follow his study schedule, strictly. Any detour, and he gets his dose.

But is aggression only way to make your child do what he is supposed to do?

I've promised him that I won't hit him. Then, there is another slap. And he reminds me, I've broken my promise, once again.   

Oh! Lord help me. Help me not to raise my hand on my innocent son, once again.

"When a child hits a child, we call it aggression. When a child hits an adult, we call it hostility. When an adult hits an adult, we call it assault. When an adult hits a child, we call it discipline." — Haim G. Ginot