When I was in class 12 and my pre-board exams were going on, I realised that I was not well prepared for my accounts exam. Well ….. not well prepared is an understatement, I wasn’t prepared at all. My exam timings were from 10:30 am till 01:30 pm (same as board exam timings). My Mom was teaching in the same school and she left early as usual. My father was supposed to drop me off and I was to come back home with Mom in the school bus. I waited for my mother to leave and then I walked up to my Dad and confessed to him that I was not prepared at all. He looked concerned at first but I reassured him that I will be better prepared in a week’s time and he can test me at home.
He told me to stay at home and study. But there was another problem. It was the day of the class photograph. I had to be there for that. I had to be in that photograph. I was supposed to keep that picture with me forever. My dad decided to take a day off from work.
We kept thinking hard and then almost an hour later, we were sitting inside a doctor’s clinic getting me a fake plaster. Yes, my Dad got me a fake plaster so that I could miss my exam and be in the class photograph. I reached school and showed the medical certificate to my teacher who kept caressing my plastered arm. All my friends signed on it. The picture was taken and I was smiling from ear to ear..!!The mission was a success …. until my super over-protective mother saw me in the school bus. Her one scream was equal to a thousand screams.
While scheming this plan, we completely forgot about my mom and her scary reactions. I tried to whisper in her ear but it didn’t help.She was surprised to see my Dad home when we got back. It was only then that we told her. She was furious at first that how could he do this.
His reply was, “When I was in college, I had to get a fake father for my attendance problem. I am glad I was there to help our daughter.”
I don’t know if this is parenting done right or wrong. But I will do the same for my child. My parents love me and are proud of me, for my successes or failures.
Most of all I still treasure that picture and every time I look at it, the sweet memory of my fake plaster keeps flooding back.
