The Gentleman and The Banshee

He is suave and cultured. She is hot and fiery. He quietly charms friends and foes alike with an easy smile and practiced grace. She spits fire at anyone trying to get too close. He is a hot favorite among anyone who knows him. She...well, let's just say diplomatically that....she inspires mixed feelings.

No, I am not talking about the lead pair in some fanciful Mills&Boon novel but about my own two children. It never ceases to amaze me that two human beings, both spawned by me and both brought up in near similar conditions can be so completely different. I have seen it with other people. The husband himself, born the youngest of three, is completely different from the other two. And yet, this phenomenon among my own kids, so young at that, always fascinates me.

Kuttan was a much easier child. To take care of, to manage, to take out on vacations, to put to sleep, to love. The princess on the other hand, has taken it upon herself to make this parenting gig as difficult for me as possible. She screams at any alleged opposition and, quite literally, spits on people's faces. The other small kids in the apartment have taken to hiding from her as she unleashes her fury dispassionately on all. Disciplining by stern words, a teeeeny bit of spanking or ignoring have, so far, only seemed to aggravate the problem. The husband swears she needs to go to school pronto and have some discipline beaten into her. I, on the other hand, hesitate, loath to snuff out that glorious spirit of hers.

And yet, it seems as though nature has given me its own version on Yin and Yang- a perfect harmony in my two kids. When I am being too harsh with kuttan during study time, as his gentle eyes cloud with tears, his own Banshee comes screaming at me waving her chubby little arms and speaking furious gibberish. It saves me from my uncontrollable rage and makes kuttan smile again. When she misbehaves in the playground, beats up too many kids and is being cornered by older kids, still standing defiantly, with UTTER disregard to her size, very close to being beaten up, I see kuttan walking up to her and gently leading her by the arm off the scene. Nobody else, not even the husband or I, can calm the princess in situations such as these. And so the days pass, with me being a spectator witnessing the shaping of two adults. I hope their love for each other grows and stands strong all through their lives. Love you me babies!! You make my life so much richer!