You know how parents sometimes make up stories with a moral when they want to teach their child something? Like how a girl ate too many chocolates and ruined her teeth? Or a boy watched too many videos and had to go and get 5 huge, eye-injections? (Yes, mine are blatantly obvious but they are also made up on the spur of the moment).

But the child continues to outshine and one-up us so here is what happened one fine afternoon:

Rumi was playing with a bell that hangs in our window. This beautiful, delicate bell has come to us Auroville from a very dear friend and it is one of those things in our house that invite total reverence.

The child was yanking the bell like a monkey and I could just see its fragile twine snapping and me shrieking my head off in the next few seconds so I artfully tied the bell higher up beyond her reach.

What followed is this story that she just spontaneously fabricated about a friend whose mum tied the bell out of his reach and what followed!

I’m humbled, and deeply embarrassed about all my previous fake attempts to outsmart her!

Here’s the video: