Shrav started going to the Sports classes in his neighborhood. He started learning cricket in a nearby academy. There he gets to meet and interact with a couple of older boys. This is the first time, he is interacting with senior boys who are elder to him by 5-6 years. He liked that bunch of boys a lot and started to hang around with them even on those days when there is no cricket practice. He started going to the local parks on his own and playing with them.

Shrav’s parents were very happy that their boy is growing up and started to get a circle of friends outside the family friends and relatives kids. They thought that playing with other boys will drain away Shrav’s excess energies and it would be good for him in the long run too. As typically boys at this age will be having unlimited energy levels, which neither parents nor Sana can match. All these boys want at this age is a physical play which involves a lot of running around and falling down. But, Sana started missing Shrav, as he started spending less time with her. Though he still likes playing with Sana and reading along with her, his active playmates are those bigger boys.

It’s a Saturday and Shrav went out in the morning itself to play the cricket match with his gang of friends. So, Sana spent the whole afternoon reading books and in the morning she attended her kid’s school classes, which are conducted to teach the Indian Culture and traditions once a week. Shrav came home around 5 PM tired and in a very angry mood. He started snapping at people who tried to offer him some snacks or refreshments. People thought that he would come out of that mood after he is refreshed. But no, that mood continued well into dinner time.

After Sana’s family moved into the neighborhood, Sana and Shrav’s families always have dinner on the weekends together. While having dinner, Sana tried cracking some jokes with Shrav. Shrav retorted with few bad words to Sana and he kept on snapping Sana. Sana felt so bad for Shrav’s behavior, as he never used those bad words to date. No one in their families used those words, even when they become really angry. So, parents started thinking about the root cause for this behavior from Shrav, instead of scolding him then and there. They understood that Shrav is learning all this from the older boys.

But from that day onwards, it became a regular routine for Shrav to keep using bad words and cuss words as and when he feels like that. He doesn’t seem to realize that he is hurting people with this attitude of his. Shrav’s mom gave a new name to this mood of Shrav. She called it “Crabby Wabby” mood. Sana liked this new name a lot and she started teasing Shrav with this new name a lot.

Shrav got tired of this new silly “Crabby Wabby” name. So, he went and asked his mom what does this new name mean? Shrav’s mom asked him to go and get a box full of band-aid’s from the nearby medical shop. By the time, Shrav returned from the medical shop, Shrav’s mom finished her work in the kitchen and also called Sana for the discussion.

Shrav: Mom, tell me what’s this new name you are calling me “Crabby Wabby” with? What does it mean?

Shrav’s mom: Wait, wait…let me take one band-aid.

Shrav: In an annoyed tone, What the heck you are talking about?

Shrav’s mom takes out a band-aid and pastes it on Shrav’s hand. Shrav now really gets irritated and he starts using the bad cuss words to express his annoyance. The more bad words Shrav uses, Shrav’s mom pastes more band-aids on his arm. Finally, Shrav controls his anger, as curiosity gets better of him. So he asks his mom in a peaceful tone as to why she is doing all this.

Shrav’s mom tells Shrav to peel off those band-aid’s one after one. Shrav tries to peel them off and it hurts him a lot. Shrav was still not able to understand anything even now. The same is the case with Sana. Then, Shrav’s mom explains:

When you use bad words, it hurts other people who are receiving them a lot. Though they might not show it outwards, it still hurts their sentiments and then they would not be able to talk freely to you. Just like the pain you are getting while removing the band-aid’s one after the other. The glue marks of the band-aid are also seen on your arms, isn’t it? So, that’s why we shouldn’t hurt anyone even while we are in an angry mood. Feeling angry is OK, but hurting people using bad words is NOT OK. We need to understand why we are getting angry and have to work on the root cause of it, instead of hurting people around us.

Now, Shrav understands the impact of bad words, but still, he is not able to understand the meaning of the new name given to him. So he once again asks his mom to explain to him about the new name.

Shrav’s mom: Crabby is another word for being Angry and Wabby is a nasty wasp, which stings whenever it comes across any hurdle. The bad words used by Shrav are hurting (stinging) people just like how a Wabby does. So that’s why Crabby Wabby is the new name for people who behave badly. Sana and Shrav were totally impressed with this explanation and they started appreciating the quick wit of Shrav’s mom.

This post is part of #SSSeries that @Shravmusings is hosting. Please message us in case you want to join this fun event. You can read other stories in this segment here.