Ooh, good too hear!

You know, I wanted my kid to get into one of the best schools too. He's still in preschool even now and this was 1.5 yrs back. He wasn't even 4 then. But everyone said it takes atleast 2 years of preparation. I don't know what came over me then and made me so stupid that I wanted my kid to excel. He was so young. I spent 2 hours daily coaching him. And it was so hard, both for him and me. But he did it. He did all the exercises. He memorised them all just to make me happy. One day, one of the exercises was too much for him and he cried. My son never cries, not loudly. Chitta dukhera sukka sukka matra, he doesn't go whaaa ever. And I made him cry! That day, I died a little inside. I decided it doesn't have to be this way. He doesn't have to get into that stupid school. And I told him he doesn't ever have to do these exercises again. He'll only do whatever age appropriate stuff they tell him to do at school. That's all. So now, he'll join a nearby school (still a pretty good school but not the one). He will get to be a kid. He will be happy. That's all that matters. I didn't realize how hard it was for him. No kid should go through so much pressure just to get into grade 1.

Your parents did what they thought was right for you. But I feel that was so misguided. And I thought I would never repeat the mistakes of my parents no matter how good their intentions were. And yet, I almost did.