“HOW MUCH DO YOU EARN FOR AN HOUR?”

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his five year old son waiting to see him at the door.

Son: “Dad, may I ask you something?”

Dad: “Sure, why don’t you?”

Son: “How much do you earn for an hour in your work?”

Dad: “Why are you asking this?”

Son: “I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make in an hour?”

Dad: “If you must know; I make Rs. 100 an hour.”

The son went into the house. After some time he returned and asked: “Dad, may I please borrow some money from you…           Rs.  50 exactly?”

The father was annoyed. He shouted at the boy, “Is it for this you asked about my one hour’s pay? I am not going to pay a single paisa for whatever reason! You go to your room and study.”

Then the man started to think over about his reaction. “Oh! I should not have been so rash on my son.  He usually does not ask for money. So there may be something he really wanted to buy. Who else can he ask?”

He went to his son’s room, opened the door and found the boy lying on his bed. The man tenderly asked, “Are you asleep my son?” The son replied that he is not sleeping.

The man said, “I am sorry that I talked to you so irritated. Here is Rs. 50 you asked for.”

The boy got up; hugged his father and said, “Thank you Dad!”

He took out some crumpled currency notes from underneath the pillow; counted the money again and exclaimed, “Now I have enough I wanted!” He further said, “Dad, now I have Rs. 100 which is enough to buy an hour of your time. Will you kindly come tomorrow evening one hour early from your work? I need to spend some free time with you and have a nice dinner along.”

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son and begged for forgiveness.

This is a reminder for all of us who work so hard for the ‘welfare’ of our children. We are so concerned about the future welfare of our children that many a times we forget the immediate needs of our children. Let us be reminded that we should not let time slip through without having spent some time with those who really matter to us. Who knows how much time is left for us to love and be loved!