Some things are extremely easy to figure out on text but practically, when you come face to face with any such situations, then it becomes really hard to find out what you want and what you don’t! Same is the case with family and prioritization. Realization came to me very late but thankfully it did and I could stop my family from going the wrong way.
I and my husband have been together since college. We both are advocates in principle, however he is a busy partner at a huge legal firm and I run an NGO. We are a lucky family of 5 which comprises of me, my husband, 2 girls and my eldest boy.
Getting straight to the point, we are a busy couple. Since the time of their birth, our children have seen more of the babysitters and their gran’s house than our parental love. I am not saying that we do not have the time for them; we just aren’t able to take out time for them from our busy schedules.
Time passes and we didn’t know when it happened but now our children were in colleges and a high school respectively. We were still unaware of the daily routine of our house. What they demand we transferred in the form of money into their accounts without ever wondering what they were up to!
I was just returning home one night from a busy day at the NGO. I just turned around the corner and saw my eldest son sitting in front of the local club and catcalling at the girls. He had a wine bottle in one hand and a cigarette in the other. His friends were one of the filthiest lot I had ever seen. He was so drunk that he didn’t even notice my car. I decided I would have a word with him when he returned. So I went on home and kept on waiting and waiting but he didn’t show up. I decided it was time to rein in my family.
I went to my eldest son’s college and got his admission frozen. Next I went up to a rehab centre and got his details entered as a patient. I decided that I would surely get him to straighten up.
This got me thinking. What I had seen with my eldest son could also be happening with his siblings? I immediately met with my daughter’s principal. What I was amazed to know that she had dropped out of college 5 months ago. I was furious. Only my younger girl seemed to be in her place and I thanked God for that.
That evening I called my husband and asked him to come home early. I held an intervention for all my kids and told them that it had been my fault when I hadn’t been able to look after them. But now I had decided to and I would be resigning from the NGO first thing tomorrow. Next up, I asked the three of them to mend their ways or they would be grounded. I told them my plans for each of them and their futures.
Lastly, I asked my husband to give his family more time than his firm.
Thankfully, due to my timely action, things that had gotten out of control came in to their designated places. I was again in the driving seat and I knew which way I had to go now because if it isn’t your family then it’s absolutely nothing at all!
Note: This is a fiction story