Sunday, November 9, 2008

Who's innocent?

Are children innocent?
Cute, cuddly, chubby cheeks with cherubic smiles, kids can win your heart at a glance. But those angels' faces may hide imps' hearts. Dennis the Menace, Calvin and Hobbes and Lord of the Flies, though fictional, are true to life. Check it out with some real life samples here.

One year old Sylvie had a serious occupation: pulling clothes down from the bed and putting up shoes on it. Then she retired for the night at late afternoon and got up at 2 a.m., regularly.

My own four year old wasn’t an angel either. He assigned himself a daily chore of re-arranging shoes: all wrong pairs together, facing away from each other.

Kim, three and half year old, made her friend drink Amway liquid soap. But she was smart enough not to drink it herself.

“What does Mummy call you”? I asked three year old Ashwin.
“She calls me Da...” then changed his mind in mid sentence. “She calls me 'Monkey',” he said instead.

Zac, a wee little boy, had just started school.
When Zac's dad heard someone calling his son “Jackson”, he corrected him. “He's not Jackson, his name's Zac, short for Zachariah,” he said.
“But he told me he's Jackson,” protested the other.
“I'm his father, I gave him the name. So I know better,” Zac's dad had to assert.

Aby and Beny, two brothers, are a classic. They fought constantly. Then came time for Aby to start school. At the admission interview, the teacher asked “Do you fight with your brother?”
“No,” Aby replied. “I love my brother. Why should I fight with him?”

Beny also joined Nursery. One of the class boys said he was going to marry the pretty teacher when he grew up. Aby told that to Beny at home.
Aby, older and wiser, said, “By the time he's old enough to get married, the teacher will be in her grave.”
“What will she do in the grave?” Beny asked.
“Nothing. She'll just lie down,” Aby replied.
“Instead of that let her get up and cook for him,” was Beny’s judgment.

Then Beny got tired of studying. “When can I stop going to school?” he asked.
“When you get married,” they told him.
“When can I get married?” he asked.
“When you finish all your exams,” they answered.
The term exams came and were finally over after a week. Beny came back from school greatly relieved. “Mamma, I've finished my exams, now I can get married,” he announced.


The two boys were so boisterous their mother longed to have a little girl for a change. Her wish came true and Christie was born. But Christie didn’t behave much different from her brothers. When she started toddling, she drank distilled water. Her mother took her to the doctor. Soon after coming home, they had to run back. Christie had eaten mosquito repellant.
Their aunt, whom they address by her first name without any pre-fix, had an operation. As she was recouping, the kids sat on her bed and had a conference.
“The doctor cut Mamma’s tummy and three of us came out. But when they cut Bina's tummy, how come there’s no baby?” wondered Beny.
They thought very hard. Then Aby, the eldest, got a brainwave.
“In the old days, doctors were honest. They gave the babies to their mothers. But nowadays they keep the babies for themselves,” he explained.
Serious allegation!

Another kid told me he wants to become a dacoit when he grows up.

Well, these are our ‘innocent’ children. How about the rest?

(Some of the names have been changed to protect identities)

17 comments:

Calliopia said...

Haha what a riot-fest of a post! Adorably naughty kids. But yes, that's a very pertinent issue you address here. However innocent the surface, there's this nasty streak in us all. Real sad. Are you familiar with The Toddlers' Creed? I blogged it here http://calliopes-canticles.blogspot.com/2006/10/toddlers-creed-if-i-want-it-its-mine.html

Malsawmi Jacob said...

Calliopia, even kids really do have this nasty streak - some less, some more. I think there's a thin line between naughty and nasty. And bringing up kids is such a challenge.

Mizohican said...

Seriously! Those are a bunch of "innocent" kids indeed! Haha an cute tawps! :)

Pi mesjay, you liked to Pi Aduhi's blog title, not her physical blog address. It won't work this way. Lemme know if you need help fixing this.

Malsawmi Jacob said...

Illusionaire, i bet you feel quite at one with these kids.

Please do help me with Aduhi's blog link, don't know why it doesn't work while everyone else's does!

Aduhi Chawngthu said...

I'm so glad I don't have children...yet. Reading this post makes me think of my seven year old niece, pangchang deuh phakar tawk mai hi a nia, ka nu in "Mi fa chu nila ka ngei ngawt ang che" a ti thin.

Malsawmi Jacob said...

Aduhi, there are people actually scared of having kids when they see how phakhar & difficult they can be. But one mother said the same kids can be angels and devils both. So don't deprive yourself!

Jerusha said...

I kind of second Aduhi's thoughts! They all sound so adorable, and these stories are super cute - wanting to be a dacoit hahah :) I'm just sure that I'd do a crappy job of raising children :(

Malsawmi Jacob said...

Jerusha, raising kids is no child's play. But i wish i hadn't taken is so over serious and been too anxious about it. My daughter now tells me i tried too hard, may be failed on several points because of that.

Gauri Gharpure said...

I love you for this post. it's pristine, clean and pure, just like a newborn that gets naughtier with time..

Malsawmi Jacob said...

Thanks, Gauri. But newborns are also probably quite naughty, only it takes time to show <>.

Philip Verghese 'Ariel' said...

Well narrated, Thanks for sharing.

DayDreamBeliever said...

haha Only a mother could have written this! Good read. What's been on my mind more, though, is are you guys okay down there, what with all the crazy stuff that's been happening?

Malsawmi Jacob said...

Ariel, thanks for visiting. Please do come again, i'll update soon as i can.

Daydreambeliever, non-mothers also can come across a lot of these cases. We're safe, thanks, it happened on the other end of town though it has psychologically affected all of us.

Gauri Gharpure said...

wishing u a great new year...

Malsawmi Jacob said...

Same to you, Gauri, have a wonderful year.

Tharax said...

a "high" quality piece of writing - the presentation, the lucidity, the language (though i'm not qualified to judge) etc. keep it up.

Malsawmi Jacob said...

Tharax, thanks for visiting and the comment. Haven't been able to update as my hands are full with work. Hope to do soon.