~Children and The Tale of a Pillow~

During class today, the kids were assigned 15 min of playtime- a standard routine. They were left to their own devices which wasn't too many...some lego blocks, books, puzzles- that sort of stuff. Ten mins and alot of noise later, this girl thrusted a small container of building blocks in my face and proclaimed: "this bowl of rice is for you, t'cher. finish it ok?" In the container was one-half of a pencil case. 'This is your scoop, t'cher. Eat now please?" she said before demonstrating how to use the 'spoon'. Feeling pressured, I caved in.

They never fail to surprise me with the things they say and do. Kids do have very active imagination and can make toys out of the most mundane things. Girls usually make cooking toys (masak masak*) and boys construct robots and planes that dip to the ground, complete with sound effects.

My four year old cousin, Nicole, likes to play pretend. Usually, she wears this ridiculous plastic high heels and carry this dainty winnie-the-pooh handbag and parade around the house in circles, going about her 'working routine'. She can get very busy. So everywhere she went, she carried that worn-out winnie-pooh bag which should have retired a long time ago. Children are funny people.

Think about it. When you were younger, did you ever had your own winnie-pooh bag that followed wherever you went? This prized possession can come in so many forms- a small blanket, a pillow, pacifier, bag, a rag doll..the list goes on. Whatever happened to it?

For me, it was a huge, soft, pink pillow. And a smelly one at that. Of course to me, the pillow was aromatherapy...even if it smelled like history. Out of habit, I would always pluck the corners of the pillow, thumb in mouth, and rub the pillow edges till i fall asleep. But it was a weird pillow, i remembered feeling a big nail inside the pillow and i always wondered what else was stored in between the wool. I tied a rubberband around the nail. I had it for ten years and i swear i gave it a name.

That all changed when my father read somewhere that pillows shouldnt be kept for more than 5 years. Apparently, they become a breeding haven for germs. He then dropped the bomb: " Throw away lah.. i'm going to throw it away first thing tomorrow morning".

I panicked only for a moment. Then I protested. Didn't work. Next morning, i woke up early and stuffed the fat pillow into my school bag, while i carried my books in a separate bag. I shamelessly brought her to school that day. Of course my father was puzzled about the whereabouts of that old pillow. I lied, saying that i had thrown it away. Operation Pillow was going smoothly so far.

My lie caught up with me as soon as the pillow mysteriously re-emerged in the house. And my father very quickly outsmarted me. He wasn't going to tell me when he was throwing it away. But threw away he did. Needless to say, i was devastated. Being a petty kid, I did not talk to my father for 2 days. And he bribed me with a meagre $2. Again, I caved in.

My old friend died just like that. She could never be replace and i never did try.

* What's the point of this story? Sorry, I don't have one. I just wanted to write something...anything. So this is it. Let's dedicate a moment to our 'special friends' and hear about your prized possession.