How To Get A Shot of Childhood
Today's task: entertain three kids for two hours without switching the TV on.
So the neighbor had to go out and she's left the kids with me. One's 8, the and the other is 4. Seeing this, the other neighbor's visiting 5 yr-old decides to join in. They plonk themselves on chairs and wait expectantly.
In a house where the only thing with four wheels is the TV trolley, and "toys" are of the mobile-phone variety, having kids over can be a challenge. I fish out an old stuffed dog (thank god for complimentary Emirates toys), a pack of crayons and some paper and lay them out.
I watch as the 8-yr old diligently makes "Chota Bheem" while his little brother attempts to make Tom (to his credit, it did look like Spike upside down). The 5-yr old - whose work is more of the modern-art variety (see this prank on the Museum of Modern Art) - acts as the critic, "Chota Bheem has a bigger stomach.", she complains (she then goes on to color Chota Bheem pink).
Then the kids get bored. I look up to see the time. Just 15 minutes up! This, along with a conversation about food where Popeye was completely unknown to the kids and was mistaken for papaya instead - made me feel old. Since when had passing time become so difficult? The TV looked tempting, but the effect of scores of Mass Media lectures pull me back. Plus, a TV without Popeye wasn't good enough.
I bring more paper and start folding it to make planes. Nice move. We spend the next hour flying planes in the hall, and I don't even realize the time "flying" by. At the end, there's three kids flying planes and one 5yr-old waving a broom around. Boats of different varieties follow. We solemnly sailed the ships in the Lake of the Bucket.
In the end, I did switch on the TV, but watched Built for the Kill: Lions on Nat Geo Wild instead of those banal Doraemon and Shinchan.
The 8 yr-old seemed to be frustrated with lions managing to kill deer, buffaloes and sundry animals.
"Why don't all the deer attack the lion together?"
"They're scared of lions. And they don't have sharp teeth or claws.", I say.
We see a giraffe drown in ankle-deep water (it slipped and broke on his its legs and then couldn't lift its head up) after an ambush, and the lions proceed to feast on the carcass.
"What happens if the lions go in the water?", persists the 8 yr-old.
"They can swim", I hazard a guess.
"What if it's deep water?"
"They can sense it, so they won't go in too deep."
"What if there's a deep well right in the way and the lion doesn't see it?"
I had never quite thought of this possibility. I don't think the lions will have, either.
"Then they'll drown, I suppose."
Satisfied, the kid returned to the lions devouring the giraffe.
Now I know what to do the next time lions chase me.
So the neighbor had to go out and she's left the kids with me. One's 8, the and the other is 4. Seeing this, the other neighbor's visiting 5 yr-old decides to join in. They plonk themselves on chairs and wait expectantly.
 |
| Boats laid out to dry. |
I watch as the 8-yr old diligently makes "Chota Bheem" while his little brother attempts to make Tom (to his credit, it did look like Spike upside down). The 5-yr old - whose work is more of the modern-art variety (see this prank on the Museum of Modern Art) - acts as the critic, "Chota Bheem has a bigger stomach.", she complains (she then goes on to color Chota Bheem pink).
Then the kids get bored. I look up to see the time. Just 15 minutes up! This, along with a conversation about food where Popeye was completely unknown to the kids and was mistaken for papaya instead - made me feel old. Since when had passing time become so difficult? The TV looked tempting, but the effect of scores of Mass Media lectures pull me back. Plus, a TV without Popeye wasn't good enough.
I bring more paper and start folding it to make planes. Nice move. We spend the next hour flying planes in the hall, and I don't even realize the time "flying" by. At the end, there's three kids flying planes and one 5yr-old waving a broom around. Boats of different varieties follow. We solemnly sailed the ships in the Lake of the Bucket.
In the end, I did switch on the TV, but watched Built for the Kill: Lions on Nat Geo Wild instead of those banal Doraemon and Shinchan.
The 8 yr-old seemed to be frustrated with lions managing to kill deer, buffaloes and sundry animals.
"Why don't all the deer attack the lion together?"
"They're scared of lions. And they don't have sharp teeth or claws.", I say.
We see a giraffe drown in ankle-deep water (it slipped and broke on his its legs and then couldn't lift its head up) after an ambush, and the lions proceed to feast on the carcass.
"What happens if the lions go in the water?", persists the 8 yr-old.
"They can swim", I hazard a guess.
"What if it's deep water?"
"They can sense it, so they won't go in too deep."
"What if there's a deep well right in the way and the lion doesn't see it?"
I had never quite thought of this possibility. I don't think the lions will have, either.
"Then they'll drown, I suppose."
Satisfied, the kid returned to the lions devouring the giraffe.
Now I know what to do the next time lions chase me.
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