Fiction & Nonfiction

The Things Children Say

The Things Children Say....


Sometimes the things children say take us by surprise or fill us with wonder.

I clearly remember a few such incidents when children took my breath away with their words of adult wisdom.

Years back, on a bright summer noon, I went to pick up my three-year-old son from school. I heard the lunch bell ringing as I entered the premises. The hungry young children started coming down the stairs like a river in spate. After awhile, when the way was cleared a bit, I went up the stairs to my son’s classroom. His teacher, Miss. Dorothy, was in the corridor leaning on the parapet.

“Hello there. Your son has just left. When I asked him why he wasn’t going with others, you know what he said? He said ‘Let the crowd go’. Imagine a three year old kid saying that,” said Dorothy, flashing a smile. Sounding too wise at the age of three? Well, it happened so.

My three-year-old niece said something that made her parents drop a jaw.
Preeti, the little girl, and her parents were getting ready to go out on that evening. Her grandparents lived downstairs.
When they were about to leave, she said to her mom and dad,  “I want to stay at home.  Who will look after grandma and grandpa while we are gone?”
A stunning understanding of a situation, I thought when I heard of it.

During a long gone summer vacation, my children and I joined my husband aboard a merchant navy ship for a short voyage. He was working as the Chief Engineer in the ship. The captain and the crew loved the kids' company.

When the ship was brought alongside in Los Angeles, the shore people came aboard on various chores. One such visitor took notice of the two kids playing Chinese checkers in the lounge. Out of curiosity he went to them, and when he saw them engaged in this interesting activity, he wanted to play with them. When he started losing, Santosh, my four-and- a-half years old son said, “You have to concentrate when you play."
The visitor was taken aback.

Later when he met me at the dining table, he asked much to my delight,  “Do all the children in India speak so well?”
He was evidently impressed by “concentrate” and the right grammar used by a child.

Sometimes it is the idea behind their words, at other times it is their feeling of love or their spontaneity that throws light on us. I found on many an occasion what the children say is worth paying attention to.


Word count: 434

Written for "Coloring the world contest" with the phrase prompt "The Things Children Say"