From the Mouth of Babes...

Little children seem to exhibit clarity of thought much beyond their years. The brat is a prime example. Most of my students would give an arm and a leg to be able to see problems and suggest solutions as easily as she [and others of her ilk] can. Of course, her abilities can be attributed to the innocence of youth, and it is regrettable that as they grow older kids seem to lose this all too important skill – reading into situations/people exactly as they are minus all the hype and hoopla.

Here are some vignettes from conversations I’ve had with the brat over the past two years…examples of some top-notch analyses.

On why I should not have another baby: “When I am allowed to have only one mommy and one daddy, why should you have two babies? You already have one and that is enough.”

On my complaint that my mom is more patient with the brat than she ever was with me: “She was young when she had you. She didn’t know any better. Moms are like that. They understand things better when they get older and become grandmas.”

On why she threw away her lunch and then lied about it: “I wanted to check if you really have powers like you say you do. I don’t think you have powers. If you did, you would’ve known that I didn’t eat my lunch and that I threw it all out.”

[Explanation to her friends] on why she is not allowed to have a boyfriend: “My mom is an Indian, and Indians don’t have boyfriends.”

On why a pterodactyl “eats like Indians”: “It used to eat only fish…no meat.”

On why I can never match up to my mom’s cooking skills: “Your idlis are almost as soft as hers, but hers are softest.”

On the fact that mom’s job [being a teacher] is more difficult that dad’s job [software engineer]: “You have to stand up and scream at students all day long. Dad gets to play on his computer.”

On Easter [explaining the holiday to her friend Keshav]: “It’s a day when birds lay eggs all around the park, and the eggs have candy inside it.”

I guess that’s what you get when teachers in the public school system are forbidden from using the word Jesus, or even the generic – God, in front of their students!