If tomorrow comes....

Note : This has nothing to do with Sidney Sheldon's novel with the same title!

I dropped my daughter off at day care this morning. Nothing unusual, but tis a monday morning and she lingered and looked at me with longing eyes as I was waving bye to her. She wanted to be with me rather than go into her daycare and I wanted to be with her much rather than come in to work. We gazed at each other like lovers separated by society,family and circumstances. The door closed in my face and as I got into my car and started driving, an incident narrated by my uncle came to mind. This happened several years ago when my uncle's daughter, cousin M was in kindergarten.
Mama, as I call my uncle, used to drop off his daughter at school and proceed to his workplace. M always whined and fussed about going to school. Everyday, mami and/or mama had to explain to her why she needs to go to school, how it's important for her to get a good education that would make her independent and add value and blah blah! And she was never convinced. They'd show her examples of her older sibling, cousins and other kids who also went to school. And she'd point to every kid she knew in the 0-3 yrs age group who got to stay home. Explaining the age logic had no effect on her. This process would also delay mama in getting to work. Sometimes, when M lay on the floor protesting, mama would exclaim "The only difference between me and her is that I cannot lay on the floor and cry like her, I too do not feel like going to work!"
One morning as M was doing her usual routine of " I don't feel like going to school!", mama quite unexpectedly said in a fit of frustration, "Okay, you don't have to go. You get to stay home today." M was overjoyed to hear this and immediately overcome by skepticism at this sudden gratuitousness. Mama continued,"But tomorrow morning, you'll get ready without any complaining, absolutely no fussing!"
Suited her just fine. Who has seen tomorrow? Today is here and now and the real deal! She grabbed the offer! Mama made the transaction more solid by asking M to swear in front of the God's idols in the house, by placing her palm on the ground. M followed without any hesitation. The deal was sealed! Mama was convinced that maybe since the cajoling and explaining wasn't working, giving in might! That she would get bored, realize school is more fun and would stop the daily drama. Much to mami's agony, he made this decision and left to work.
M spent the day doing everything she could - stealthily feeding spoons of sugar from the kitchen to ants crawling on the compound wall outside, watching TV, trying to drape one of her mom's sarees and the like. What fun! School was torture, an establishment for strangling the freedom of mind and the creative use of time! Phew! Needless to say, the day passed in the blink of an eye.
It was the next morning now. After brushing her teeth, M started her usual - "I don't want to go to school"! Mama was not totally shocked but this irked him. He asked her " Did you not promise me yesterday, did you not swear by putting your palm on the ground in front of God?". M's reply after thinking for a bit - "Yeah, but you didn't see I kept my palm a half inch above the ground, I didn't really touch the floor!"
Mama laughed his heart out at the answer. He was actually laughing out loud even as he narrated this incident to me. We were amused at M's ingenuity and wit! Recounting this tale actually replaced my sadness with a chuckle and I am glad I entered work with a smile!