Soul searching with Tom and Jerry

Never had I thought I'd be mentioning 'Tom and Jerry' and 'soul seraching' in the same post. But then there's a first time for everything. Here's how it happened...

The other day I was sipping my evening tea while the kids sat with their milk watching Tom and Jerry. That particular episode had Tom dying and going to heaven. At the gates he's denied entry because he'd spent his life chasing a poor mouse. He's given a glimpse of hell (the usual .. a monster boiling him in oil or whatever else they use). However, he's told, if he could get a letter of forgiveness signed by Jerry he'd get a place in heaven. Off he goes to plead with Jerry. Finally he gets his letter signed after the usual chase and drama.

Hrit watched with rapt attention and then piled me with questions about the soul and heaven and hell. Can it walk, can it talk, how does it go to heaven, is there really a train (like there was in TnJ), what actually happens in hell, what does the soul do when it's in heaven (Really, what does one do in heaven?). I rejoiced secretly... I had found the way to keep him off naughty things.. Little did I know his conscience was working over time.

He had a fitful sleep that night. Once he woke up saying "Mama I had a bad dream.. a monster hit me". Since he's almost always fighting monsters while awake I thought he'd simply carried them on to his dreams. Then at about 1 pm he sat up and said, "Mama who do we have to get the letter signed from?" That's what the tossing and turning had been all about.

My dear son had been thinking of all the naughty things he'd done and wondering who all he would have to go to for his letter (s) of forgiveness. I could almost see his brain frantically going over the umpteen times he'd pulled Naisha's hair, or fought with the neighbour's daughter or filled water in the soap dispenser, or thrown things down from the balcony.

Had I been less sleepy or he less distressed I'd have laughed. But the poor boy was almost in tears and all I could do was console him and put him back to sleep.

The things that stick!
*********

Then today he apparently defeated another boy in a bout during his Taekwando class. That boy happens to be a year older and a green belt while Hrit is still a yellow belt. He also happens to be a friend of Hrit's. I pretty much puffed up with pride. Here's how our conversation went.
Hrit : I won only because I was concentrating and he wasn't. Then everyone clapped for me and no one clapped for him.
Me (smiling): Wow Hrit that's wonderful.
Hrit: No mama don't smile, it's not nice. He's my friend you know and no one clapped for him.

Lesson learnt!

Labels: