I was five years old,
I played with babies,
I splashed in puddles,
That made them laugh,
I was happy.
When I started working I played cricket and
marbles with ten years old in our compound,
And when they fought,
Their mothers came  to interfere ,
I would quietly slip away.
And enjoy their verbal arguments from my window.
When my siblings got married and had their first child,
I would happily agree to baby sit for them instead of going to Masjid (mosque),
They would give me lots of instructions,
I listened from one ear and took out from the  other,
Told them to scoot and if they heard cries and turned behind they would become stones like in the fairy tale,
I would plop down near the babies with a book and a bag of crisps,
Watched them coo,  gurgle and cry some,
After all  crying makes the lungs strong.
I love children,
And when I had my own,
I enjoyed them utmost,
My son was a newspaper,
He would just blurt out any gossip we had at home to visitors,
When he was in grade four while he was having dinner I sat with him,
And pretended I was taking him for a drive in a Mercedes which was the chair,
He wrote an  essay about it and the teacher put it on the board on Parent's Day.
It was embarrassing and hilarious.
Now my children are away I coach young children in the afternoon,
Cause I love having children around me.
25/5/2025