Musings of a five year old!

Five is a magical age. Kids think when they are five.

Sarah (my colleague) is often left speechless about the kind of topics her daughter brings up and is often left to wonder if a fairytale answer for everything will suffice any longer. More importantly, should she cripple her with the view of a sugar coated world while her child is expected to know a lot about the world from the moment she climbs down her pram to wobble her way around.

In one of her interrogations about the world little Stacy asked her mum why a "black" lady has a "white" child (from her husband's previous marriage) and a brown child (the child from her own wedlock). It totally escaped her how a family can be of so many different shades. In another instance, she deemed her mother incapable of being a teacher at the school- "you are not white".

A pink top with hello kitty and a lollypop no longer defines a five year old girl. She is smart, inquisitive and (if i may say so) sensible.

Sometimes parents come under the brunt of their wrath when they don’t abide by the principles these kids live their lives by. No, Stacy doesn’t ask her mum if she is a princess in disguise or ask for a unicorn on her birthday. (These are privileges parents have lost a long time back)

Back from school one day, Stacy, told her mum with a frowny face, "Mum, Jonny in my class has jelly legs". Sarah laughed out loud thinking that during lunch break Johnny must have dropped jelly on his legs that day. Stacy's thoughtful frown changed into a grim look as she reprimanded her, mother-"It's not funny. He's my friend" and walked away. Imagine Sarah's shock and regret when the next day, while dropping her daughter to the school, she saw little Jonny in a wheelchair and realised that he couldn’t walk. I think then she wished her daughter had reprimanded her a bit more. Later that day, Stacy came up with a solution to the problem, "I think, he should put his legs in the freezer for a day that should make them hard enough for him to walk on".

Five is a magical year. Kids think when they are five.