Parents are in the kitchen while Jr. has just started eating breakfast on the couch. The little one wanders in to the living room with her blankie and announces "Daddy, your favorite person in the world is now awake!". Given the way she said it in a cute voice, I was as usual going to come in and give her a big hug.
So I walk from the kitchen with a tea glass in hand.
Jr. gives me a glare and a mean look and says "I knew it. See, she declares she is your favorite person and what do you do? come out with a smile?"
It has been an ordeal the last few weeks to literally prove to them that they are both loved the same. While Jr. is not trying to make a point, the little one has really been pushing it.
Then I read out a post from my SIL that mentioned how their older daughter same down to breakfast and said she was feeling sad. When asked why, she had mentioned it was because her baby sister was sick.
The kids heard it and the responses were :
LO : Ooooh.. that is soo sweet!
Jr. : She is making a terrible mistake. She just doesn't know it yet. She will regret it as the younger sister will turn into her worst horror! I know.. from experience!
The little one ignored it matter of factly like a fast ball outside the off stump, while the parents looked at each other and went "where did we go wrong?"
A few hours later there is a fight of sorts because Jr. has to go for some practice and she does not want the little one tagging along.
Jr. : No. She is not coming. Why does she come to all my stuff but when I try to come with you for any of her stuff she protests?
LO: that is not true
Jr. : I am not talking to you. I am talking to Amma
LO : but you are talking about ME!
Jr. goes on to ignore her and the little one shouts
"I can go where I want to you know.. I have rights. This is America. I am not in India!"
Me and San burst out laughing.
Me : Where do you get that crap from? You can go anywhere you want in India also. It is a free country.
San starts counting the total number of weeks she has spent in India as a conscious person within two hands and we go "you have not been there much! why are you saying that?"
She said "Sorry! I said it as a funny thing."
After much prodding and digging around it hours later figured out that what she wanted to say was this is free country. . but to emphasize she had to pick an opposite corner and she picked the only other country that comes to her mind automatically. The logic of "if I am good, everything else is bad.. and if I have to pick an example of everything else, I go with my second favorite" made my head spin.
Trust me, these are kids that we work hard to have a world awareness. Something we find most kids growing up in the US to be lacking. In the last twenty years if there is one thing that I find surprisingly waning is the abiilty of Americans we meet daily to empathize with things that happen in other parts of the world. Blame it on the school system here, the political system or the media changing over time, but it is there.
It is funny that as kids we knew every US state capital as part of Georgraphy but many our friends here in grad school could not put even the four Indian metros on a map. Never figured out why that was?
When all this was going through my head, was reminded of another recent conversation few weeks ago. Was driving the kids back from a saturday afternoon class when we were talking about their school.
Jr. : I think we should stop social studies as a subject in school
LO : I agree!
Me : why? you don't want to know what goes on in other parts of the world?
Jr. and LO (at same time) : That is NOT what they teach in social studies.
Me : then what DO they teach?
Jr. : Things that have already happened before. Who killed who and who killed who back and stuff like that. Why do we need to know that. We only need to learn things that will help in the future. We dont need to know who we are supposed to like and not like! that does not help people to become one and work together
LO : I agree with her appa. What happened has already happened. we do not need to know people have been fighting all the time.
They both had no problem with Georgraphy! They had a point. If our kids have a futuristic outlook and they want everyone in this world to get along, they see no point in all these dark reminders of the past!
Maybe we should stop teaching history for a few decades in schools and see if conflicts across the world simmer down or subside.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could do an experiment like that in our lifetime?
Our kids constantly show us how their thought process is so different from ours, on a daily basis. It is good to watch and learn!
