I felt a little nip in the air when I stepped out of my house to drop my son to the school bus yesterday. There was some fog and I drew the attention of my little one to it – ‘Look Kiddo!! Such a beautiful weather.’ He, it seemed, had other priorities as he quipped ‘Yes Papa but we are getting late to the bus.’ As we sped up, he was at his natural talkative best and I was somehow reminded of a conversation which took place in the month of January this year.
It was a cold morning and my little one had big plans. He had woken up early (Why do kids wake up early on weekends?) and wanted me to go out and play with him. I was unwilling to leave the warmth of the blanket and was obviously not in a mood to grant his wishes. In an attempt to distract, I threw a numerical question at him.
‘Suppose you and dada (grandfather) are shelling the peas. If Dada has taken out 5 peas and you 4 peas, how many peas are there with you?’
‘Zero’ pat came the reply.
‘You are not listening properly.’ I repeated the question to him. ‘Think carefully and answer’
‘Zero’ he said.
We were teaching him addition and I was upset that we have not been able to teach him the concept properly. Calming myself and in an attempt to encourage and draw the correct answer, I asked again. ‘Listen carefully Kiddo. You can do it. Suppose you and dada have 4 and 5 peas each. Then how many peas in total are with you guys together.’
‘Zero’ he replied again with a smile.
I was disappointed. ‘You do not pay attention when you are being taught. How can 4 and 5 added together be zero.’
‘4 and 5 together are 9 but dada will eat all the peas and so we will have zero peas.’ He laughed out loud.
I was laughing with him. My father when tasked with shelling the peas has this habit of eating the peas in between. My little one recollected this detail and used it to answer a normal question creatively.
P.S: This is a fun story Kiddo. Being witty is very special. Not everyone is gifted with this. If you have a natural wit, just nurture it. If used properly, wit helps one tide over many difficult situations.
