Children and their innocence. At times, they can be a joy to watch and handle; at times, maybe bit of an annoyance. However, there is always that fine line between ‘ooohhhh! So fun n cute to handle’ vs ‘arrrgghhh!!! Driving me up the wall’ situation.
Well, I had a fair share of one or the other situation (depending on how you see it) with my nephew YJ recently. He is 8 years old, very OCD for his age (yes, that particular trait is confirmed when he started lining Nescafe sachets, Coffee-mate sachets in their individual row with the brand name all facing upwards!)
I was not only questioned but tested in ways that I cannot even imagine, when this particular conversation took place between YJ and me, whilst driving him to my dad’s house:
YJ: Aunty…where is “PARRIS” (pronounced by YJ as PAR-RIS)
ME: Huh? Where is dat? (YJ repeats the question)….*am thinking my Geography cannot be that bad…think PB think hard!*….*then it dawned on me….* ahhh YJ…U mean Paris?
YJ: Yah lar..neh that one with that triangle-looking building…neh the tall tall one, looks like sharp cone?
ME: Ah! U mean the Eiffel Tower in Paris? Well, Paris is in France? And do you know what is the capital of France? *this is me trying to outsmart the boy!*
YJ: Aiyah u ah..didn’t I just say Paris? Of course the capital is Paris lar..hai yah!
ME: *OOPS*
YJ: Aunty, why they build the EFEEL TOWER (as pronounced by YJ)? Why they build that big Statue instead and gave it to the United States of America (yes, that boy actually described America as the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA)?
ME: *I was stumped with that*….*Think PB…why why ah?*….errrr…errr…..
YJ: Why can’t they build the statue and put it back in their own country and give the Efeel tower to the Americans?
ME: Boy, I think they gave the Statue of Liberty as a sign of peace.*I think so…yikes!*
YJ: Why sign of peace? They got fight in World War 2 meah? (ME THINKING HARD AT THIS POINT….did they fight in WW2???)…Why do they need the Efeel Tower? Is it so that they can see the rest of their country ah? Or see the other countries next to them? But why then the France people (instead of calling them French), is nice to the Americans, cos they gave them the Statue ah? And why the statue got that lady holding a torch? Does it light up ah? *blah blah blah ……yes more questions were thrown at me for another good 10 minutes before we finally arrived at my dad’s house! What a relief…cos the more he asked…the more I felt STUPID!*
But then again, looking back…as annoying as the questions were (at that point), if you take a step back and think about it, they are valid questions from YJ’s perspective. They see things very differently from adults. Why? Could be they are still very much shielded from the horror and pain of this world? Or maybe they just see things as it is…no hidden agenda or whatsoever, just as it is….and it is at times like this that I could also learn to see things as they are…”Un-complicate my life”.
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