Keys!

I am an only child; I do not have siblings. Never felt the need for any too. Except, when both my parents ganged up against me, and my arguments alone did’nt stand ground. Perhaps then, a sibling who could be part of my defense team would have helped. But otherwise, I didn’t really need anyone.
Both my parents are professionals and have worked throughout the time I was raised. My Mom proudly narrates that she was back to work three months after I was born. She is also proud of the fact that I was raised in a crèche, run by a neighbour, since I was 6 months old.
Since I was 10, I have been spending a lot of time alone at home. Until that age, Mom (She’s a teacher) and I both went to school at 12 pm and got back at 6 pm, conveniently synchronized.
At 10, when I graduated onto the fifth grade, I had morning school, from 7 am to 1pm. Since I was old enough according to Mom, I was handed a set of house-keys and allowed to stay home alone after school. Thus; I had my first set of house keys at the age of 10. That, in retrospect, was a lot of freedom, at a rather young age, which none of my friends enjoyed.
By handing me the house keys, Mom had entrusted me with the responsibility of the house for six hours everyday. Six hours of being alone at home, every weekday, for the next 13 years of my life, was an important lesson in responsibility, independence and in a little way, house management.
The keys gave me independence. I no longer had to wait in a crèche, until Mom came home from work. And when I went home, I had the house all to myself. I started to make my own decisions at a very young age.
Time spent alone at home, made me think a lot, so I became frequently introspective. Since I am quite talkative and there were no siblings to talk with, I spoke to myself; sometimes aloud, at others through prose or poetry. It is around then, that I began to write. Being home, alone, also made me responsible, not just towards the house, but generally towards my own life and possessions.
As I grew up in these circumstances, I started valuing my time spent with myself. It became an important part of my life. I also acquired the skill of withdrawing myself from the world whenever I felt like it, much to their annoyance. It didn’t matter how many people or how much noise surrounded me, I could contract into my shell and delve.
It is through this one act, of handing over a set of house keys to me, at a very young age, that my Mom indirectly introduced me to qualities such as independence, responsibility and decision-making. By having me be home alone, she unknowingly instilled in me, value for time spent with myself. In those moments of being home-alone, I gravitated towards expressing myself through poetry and prose, both essential parts of me, even today.
It’s almost as if the keys opened the doors to growing up.