Cornered!

Being a teacher at the Kindergarten should qualify as one of those difficult (yet rewarding ofcourse!) professions. My five year old told me that he and his best friend do not sit adjacent to each other anymore, and that he was moved to the far corner of the row in which they sat. Wondering if he was aware of why she had done this i asked, 'Why?'. He answered, 'So that we both can talk from this corner to that!'!!!

A tooth for tooth a tusk for tusk

My just-turned-five-year-old has his first milk tooth shaking and i always catch him fingering the tooth. Just to keep him from touching the tooth i said, 'If you keep touching the shaking tooth, the new one will come out like a tusk!'. The long pensive look that he was giving himself in the bathroom mirror was clear indication of running imagination. Would he let it pass? After a couple of seconds he said, "Amma, if i keep touching my nose, it would grow very long. If i keep touching my ears, they would grow wide. .. And i would be an African Elephant!!

Toon & Teen

Our recent visit to HomeCenter at 'Lifestyle' brought out an interesting incident. As we were browsing through the ' Interiors' section, the soon-to-be-five year old was taking a close look at a lamp shade with cartoons on it, and declared, 'I like this!'. His teenage sister who has to share the room with him when we move to our flat said , 'It is time you show some maturity and stop looking at such baby stuff. Look at something more elegant that makes the room look better. Grow up now so that we can get on with life ....'
The sternness of her innuendo drove the message of disapproval so strongly that he quietly moved away from the object that had all his attention.

Dad & Daughter

My girl who has entered teens loves the malls like all the other kids her age do. Well aware of this, her dad annouced that we were all to go to one of her favourite mall and she would have to stay back home to finish her homework. "In your dreams" came the reply from her. I asked him , " Does she come in your dreams?". Without hesitation and before he could reply came her answer, "If i did, it would be his nightmare". !!!

Of hands and trunks

Learning lessons dont stop no matter how old you get. I have all the reasons to believe that the learning sessions are more frequent if you have a little one around to teach you a thing or two. The most resent lesson learnt? It is that one not only needs to think rationally while dishing out an example, but also do it very carefully and definitely should use some imagination. Here is the reason why ...
"Why are humans two legged creatures and not four?', he asked.
"Because we need hands to work, to write, to eat, to hold and to play", i replied.
"Four legged ones can't do all these?".
"Must be difficult to write" i said. I should have left it at that. But trying to throw more light i offered, " Elephants can't play tennis". There! Erroneous example and it took him less than a second to point it out to me.
"They can use their trunk! Two elephants can play tennis with their trunks if they are taught. An elephant cannot play tennis with a giraffe, but two giraffes can maybe play football?".

Dissection of the mind

My son and me were having the usual before-going-to-sleep talk at bedtime when he educated me with "Amma, do you know, the claws of a crab can grow back if they are cut?". I was surprised and acknowledging the truth in the statement, i asked where he came across this information. He said he they showed it on TV. From here we reached earthworms and i was educated that if the earthworm was cut into two, they grow into two earthworms. Cartoons! this time i was sure. Before i had the time to correct this partial truth came the cannonade of his questions, "If the worm is cut into two, they grow into two earthworms. But can we join it back for it to become one earthworm? Does the earthworm like being one or two??? We cannot fix it if we cut, can we?

If one steps aside from the line of science for a minute, one would see it with
the child's perspective. A point to ponder. What do the earthworms think?

Power is Strength

My four year old contracted Flu and the two of us landed at the poly clinic to which we are very frequent visitors since his birth. Specialists pertaining to various specialities consult at the polyclinic and a new addition of opthalmology had been made. At the waiting room, a brand new showcase of glasses was an evident change made to the unchanged interiors that stood adamant for years. Everyone had no choice but to notice it. With years of familiarity behind him, my little one confidently went up to the lady at the reception and asked her, 'Do you have glasses for 4 year olds?'

She said, 'Yes.'

'Can i wear them?'

'They are power glasses'. She replied.

Yes, right, he asked the inevitable question.

'If you wear them, do you get strenght??!'

After a second or two of silence, she laughed and repled, 'I wish i could say yes!'...

Clouded Dream

Cartoons! Don't we associate it with humour, creativity and imagination? Well what beats our imagination is how our little ones are associating, interpreting and understanding this stream. My four year old, who loves cartoons (who doesnt?) was screaming 'Run, run' aloud in his sleep. When he woke up, i asked him about his dream and he said, ' There was a volcano, and i was running away,

did you see?'

I said ' It was your dream, how could i have seen it?'

He waved his hands over this head and asked ' Didn't you see it over my head?'

Puzzled and unsettled i said ' the dream happens in your mind, others cannot see it'

'Yes, you can' he replied.

Bewildered by his conviction i questioned ' What makes you think so?'

Came his reply, ' Dont you remember we saw it on tv? When tom has a dream, a

cloud appears over his head and we can see tom chasing Jerry inside the cloud!!?? .........'

Foxed

Message arrived from school during the weekend that the following monday would be 'Fancy Dress' day for my four year old.

The little one has never been comfortable in any costume. I asked him what he would like to dress up as and the answer i dreaded, 'Dinosaur' arrived. I had to request him for something simpler as there was not much time for preparation. He considered and finally wanted to dress up like a 'fox'.

Yes, ran to the craft shop to get felt paper,woollen, glue, cardboard, colurs and all those that went into turning him into a cute fox with a really bushy tail. My daughter made a lovely snout with all her artistic skills which looked really good and sat up with me in the night helping me complete the costume. The following day, when i dressed him up at school, the little 'fox' was all happy. Half and hour later, with the judges running late, the kids were really restless and the fox was the most restive of the lot. He started feeling highly uncomfortable in his costume and complained of sickness to the teacher. He started to cry and wanted to just go home. He took off the snout and refused to wear it again. I had no choice but to paint his whiskers and nose with eyeliner liquid.

The parents were asked to leave the children with the teachers and to return only when the judges had done their rounds. This took another hour and by then, the fox had completely lost it. Finally the ordeal was over and he come out of the class

room. The painted whiskers and snout had beem washed down by the tears. One ear was missing, but the tail was intact.

I asked him 'How did it go?'

He said 'Fine'.

'Did Aunty ask you anyting? '

'She asked who i am, and i said Giraffe'.

'Why???'

'Because i got tired of being a fox.'!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I laughed, but my daughter is still furious .....