O for observing an owl

In the first parents-teachers meeting held with Tuneer’s class teacher in May last year, the first line of the report read,

“Tuneer is a soft-spoken and sweet child with sharp observation skills.”

Until then, the family members already had experiences with his nature of observing things. He rarely adapted to new situations spontaneously or made friends with new people instantly. He preferred to stay at a distance noticing the happenings and then deciding if he liked it enough to get involved or preferred to stay away. Even in his preschool, he had no inclination to try anything new until and unless he knew the final outcome of his efforts through someone else’s performance. Yet when he finished his preschool in March, he knew the names of all his twenty-four classmates along with their preferences in things like sports or puzzles. It was a startling revelation for me. The final report card started with,

“Tuneer is a bright and sensitive child with a natural flair for keenly observing people and his surroundings.”

Other than the basics of education, my boy had well utilized his time at preschool to hone his hobby related to observation.

Development of observation skills
Development of observation skills: Age – 2 yrs

While it sounds like a great quality to possess, it gets a little difficult to cook up stories to help save us embarrassing situations quite often. Like last week, he refused to shake hands with one of our acquaintances who had paid us a visit. He claimed that the uncle had eaten rosogolla with hands. However much the poor man kept saying that he had washed his hands after eating, the boy insisted that this uncle had wiped it in his handkerchief instead. Thankfully, I brought tea at that moment putting an end to this unnecessary argument. This is just one of the many times when the boy has held on to his stand rather than giving in to our cooked up theories because he had observed the truth. 

There’s also another aspect to this trait that he possesses. Initially, he would come back and enact most of the things that happened in his preschool in the form of pretend play. Some of these were quite hilarious like his imitating the helper didi who dozed off whenever the kids played outdoors and the way she was rebuked by the teachers, whenever caught. This felt funny until that day when my father-in-law casually remarked about how if the boy could divulge so much about his school at home, it was possible that the teachers knew about the proceedings at home as well.`

In the meanwhile, the boy had started taking a keen interest in the pets of Gods.  The boy had always been partial towards his favorite Ma Saraswati and her swan but the owl in picture books accompanying Goddess Lakshmi turned out to be a matter of great curiosity for him. In Bengali, an owl is called ‘pencha’ and he kept pestering us to show him one. I had a picture of an owl from the trip to the Lady Hydari Park in Shillong but that didn’t come across as interesting to him. Co-incidentally, when we went for Saraswati puja to my in-laws this January, he saw a white owl on the parapet of a window in the house. He was so happy to finally see his dream coming true. Until then had no proactive interest in learning English words, yet he kept asking me to teach the English word for pencha. 

The reaction post observation and analysis
The reaction that needed to be controlled post his observation and analysis

Immediately after we came back to Kolkata and were scheduled for the first round of interview at the school featuring on top in our list. By then, Tuneer had already learned started identifying familiar animals like tiger and elephant, and birds like a crow and parrot among others. I had not attached any particular importance to the word owl. When we went for the interview, Tuneer was taken aside and amidst the four pictures that were shown to him, one was that of an owl. Even in the second round of the interview held the following month, he was asked to randomly pick some picture cards and identify the animals. The second one was that of an owl, who by now had become his friend. This happened to be the same school where he attended the interview wearing his pink shirt and is this is where he started schooling since yesterday.

The logical part in me says that it was Tuneer’s observation skills that piqued his curiosity in knowing and identifying the owl finally giving him an upper edge in the interview. But a part of me feels disturbed by the uncanny sequence of events. I keep wondering if the white owl, who Tuneer had been wishing to meet for so long had turned up to give us the cue about an impending ray of hope in this brouhaha of school admissions. Whatever be it, It is better to stay a secret because if the toddler figures out any more information about the owl, I would be bombarded with questions again. Of late, his observation areas have shifted towards assessment of my reactions related to his creative antics. 

Hope you enjoyed reading my post. I will be back with a post on ‘P’ tomorrow. You can find the rest of my posts in this series here.

Author: Sonia Chatterjee

Who am I? An erstwhile banker turned blogger/writer/author. Any qualifications? A Post-Graduate degree in Chemistry followed by a second Post-Graduate Diploma in Management. I completed a one-year MFA in creative writing course from the Writer's Village University, U.S. in Dec 2020. Though I must admit that I am still trying to figure out how and when I can connect all these dots. Have I done any real work? If two years in market research, six years in banking as a branch head, three-plus years of blogging, writing, and publishing a book can be considered as real work, then yes! Where do I live? After spending life like a nomad for sixteen years in Delhi, Bangalore & Mysore, I am back to where it all started from - Kolkata. My favorite things - Books, coffee, travel, food, and my five-year-old son. What is this blog about? Through Sonia's musings, I intend to explore writing in various genres, create social awareness, spread laughter, and give words to emotions. Anything for readers? You can check out my book 'Deal of Death' on Amazon Kindle. If you like fast-paced thrillers, this Detective fiction introducing the woman sleuth, Raya Ray could turn out to be your perfect weekend read.

41 thoughts on “O for observing an owl”

  2. First things first! Apologies for not being able to read a few of your posts from last week due to roller coaster schedule, but this one brought a smile on my lips for the way your munchkin is soaking up skills and surprising you day after day. He does seem to be an observant and interesting kid with exceptional grasping power. These anecdotes always help me to de-stress and revisit my childhood from varied perspectives. Keep enthralling us for I believe you have amazing energy levels and creative streak so much suited to this challenge 🙂 .

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  4. I have been a casualty of this sharing of everything that happens at home in school. All my sons teaches were well aware about my health and progress when i was carrying my daughter. Kids dont hesitate speaking their mind. Honestly.

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  7. I love to read about Tuneer. I am already feeling a bond with him. My observation is he is smart enough to judge the situation in advance. People maybe think he is not taking initiatives but he is storing all the information for his further usages.#ScientistMind Am I right?

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  8. My daughter too cannot tolerate any unhygienic habits from anybody. Her mother has instilled an overzealous sense of hygiene in her much to my chagrin because I am a bit casual. Since you have told me I am one of Tuneer’s most favourite uncles, I am happy I am not in the habit of eating Rosogollas with my hands. So there is no chance of losing my position in the list of Tuneer’s favourite uncles using that yardstick. But I do use my bare hands to eat several things and being south Indians we even eat rice with hand. This is usually looked down upon in the north. But I am sure he will not hold such things against his dear Jai uncle who has written a post on Messi just for him. 🙂

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      1. Great going Tuneer 😁 and yes teachers will now know everything about his family! My son’s teacher knew that I had a second baby, her name and also what everyone at home calls her 😅

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  9. This post reminded me of my elder one. She is a keen observer too and on the other hand, my younger one and husband are not good observers. Good to know about Tuneer and his observational skills.

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  11. Hahahah…I am in love with Tuneer….especially not shaking hands ..Omg…that can be so embarrassing, isn’t it? I relate to him so well as my grandson also is similar and loves animals. I am going to meet him in a few days and he asked for Oneeeee Tshirt with Trex on it, Oneeeeee with an elephant and so on. God bless 🙂

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  12. So far i know, Kids do not lie unnecessarily,so in this view the question is…did he really wash the hands after taking “Rosogolla”?
    Good to know about his observation skill, personally i believe its much necessary in life and will help him a lot in life ahead.

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  13. The rosogulla-hands incident must have been so awkward for you guys! 😛 I was giggling as I read it..trust kids to be candid enough to embarrass their parents in front of guests…hehehhe

    About the owl, Sonia, I am definite there is some connection between the bird and your boy, and it is so special! As an animal and a bird parent, I feel that kids who have such a connection with the animal kingdom are special, and their bond goes back a long way! His friend, the owl, will surely look out for him, Sonia! So overwhelmed reading this post.
    Do give Tuneer a tight hug on my behalf.
    Love!

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  14. There is something about an owl, especially a white owl…I wish I would see one too. I would name him Hedwig. 😛
    Sorry, I digressed: as usual, stellar post with lots to learn for parents and parents-to-be. You own this theme like a boss!

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  15. 😂😂 Tuneer! Shooo cute and smart kid! Rosogulla incident! He refused to shake hands, I can’t stop laughing. Whenever, I read about him, his cute activities never fail to bring a big smile on my face:)

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  16. Many see things but don’t observe. Like many who hear but not listen. To observe and to listen, the stimulus has to be registered in the brain. It appears that such a thing happens with your child and it is a good thing. Obviously he sees enough and remembers enough to enact what happens at school at home. Now be careful and be at your best self when your son is around.

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  17. My younger son is just like Tuneer. He is very observant and notices minor details. He also does not open up to new people easily. I enjoyed the funny incident you narrated, and I know as a mum we often land in hot spots due to our kids.

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  18. Children are born to embarass parents. Period. I can imagine the Rosogulla Uncles plight! I believe in signs, Sonia. The Owl is also a symbol of Protection and Wisdom, and I would say Tuneer has someone watching over him and blessing him.

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  19. Kids are great observers, kuch nahi chupa sakte inse and their questions? My goodness.
    Tuneer 😍😍
    I love the you way incorporate Tuneer’s developmetal phases with the admission stories,it make it more interesting and enjoyable to read.

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  20. hahhaha I love reading about him. Well, my mom told me how I behaved in my school interview 19 years back. I recited all the poems that were not even asked and forced the principle to listen.

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  22. Lovely narration. I like the way your little one observes things and then asks you questions. A child’s mind is a curious one and we should always answer their queries. I hope the owl is the secret charm for you and Tuneer. though don’t let the cat out of the bag. Hope his first day at school was good.

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  23. This post is very thoughtful, seeing the world’s through the kid’s eyes. And they are very deep observant and don’t prefer to lie unless they see others doing that and slowly learn to imitate

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  25. Sonia, could not read your blog as much as I wanted to do it regularly.
    Family hustles and festivities have barred me to do the blog reading completely.

    Anyway, I am glad that I could read it today. Love the anecdote of Tuneer’s life. Kids have such a incuisitive minds and as parents, we should encourage them to learn from every thing. Love to him

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  27. He is quite an observant kid Sonia, and as they say, learning with real examples are the best. His keen observations are definitely working well. Kids are loud mouthpieces, I could not send Kavya once to school last year due to missed alarm. She asked me the reason for this holiday (we are very punctual on attendance) and I told her Sorry, sweetie I got up late hence missed the time.
    Next day mentioned in the diary health reason for sick leave. My madam explained the teacher bit by bit on how her mom missed the alarm and when she got up it was already late to take bathe and cook for tiffins. Hence, Mom said ‘don’t go today, anyways it is a Friday so nothing much is going to happen in school today.’ The teacher didn’t forget to tease me on my blatant lie on the PTM and I came back home red-faced.

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  28. Children are good at copying others, Tuneer is one fine example of that. He is fascinated by owls, I think he must have inherited the trait of looking things closely from you:)

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  32. Kids and their observation skills. I dont even want to get started about this. With three kids in age range 6-3 in the household, we live through moments of embarrassment almost daily. The trouble becomes many fold when owing to an observation they start drawing analogies. Enjoyed reading about how your boy’s been giving you some sweet memories to cherish because of his observation skills.

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  34. Tuneer is bright and hats off to his observation skills.
    Glad he was able to spot a white owl! You may be right – that may be a sign or divine intervention. Sometimes I also perceive incidents in a similar fashion… I guess we often find cues that resonate with our current state of emotions!
    Opportunity Cost

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  35. He is definitely a very smart kid. I think the Owl could be one of his Animal Totems or Spirit Animals. Do look it up on Google. About its significance etc. Oh and show him Hedwig na, in Harry Potter! 😀
    I am blog-hopping on O right now, and you already visited my P post! Hahaha!
    Anyway find my O post @ How To Write Original Content For Content Marketing | 5 Tips to Make Your Content More Original

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  36. Tuneer’s observation skills will definitely go a long way! Even my daughter is a keen observer and a messenger too. If she forgets some parts, she fills it with her own stories and deliver at the doorstep 😅

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  37. I’m not really superstitious or believe in signs but the white owl in this case did brighten up things for Tuneer. I’ve observed that quiet or shy kids are often deeply observant and surprise us with their special powers. I do hope his preschool teachers don’t know as much about you as you know about them. 😀
    Has he insisted on getting on owl for a pet yet? Don’t let him watch Harry Potter anytime soon, pretty please. 🙂

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  38. Pingback: W for 5Ws and 1H – soniasmusings

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