One fine Sunday afternoon, my brother and his chubby daughter went to visit our house. The little girl was sleeping when they came so my brother told me to watch over her while he goes out shopping for some toiletries.
"And she when wakes up?", I asked.
"Just give her some milk, I'll be back as soon as I can."
Then I sat near her, I carefully brushed aside her hair and pinched her chubby cheeks. It's a wonder to see how a child sleeps. So peaceful and innocent, it makes you think back about the time when you were at her age. Did anyone care for you while you were crying loud until you fall asleep? Such is a sweet and soothing feeling a child could give when they are at your side.
It did not take long before I fell asleep too, and probably it's the biggest mistake I've ever done. I was awakened by a solid slap on my face. When I opened
my eyes, my chubby little niece is crying so hard, I tried to comfort her and give her the milk my brother told me. To my surprise, she did not take it. Instead, she continued to cry and called her "papa" while kicking her feet vigorously. So I got up, put her in my arms and tried to stop her weeping. But she punched me at my face and screamed so loud. She waved hand gestures with her forefinger pointing sideways. She wanted to go out and wait for her dad outside the house. Since I don't have any choice, I put her down and we started walking outside. She doesn't want anyone go near her so she continuously pushed my arms and threatened me that she'll burst into another scream if I get near her.
So here I was, walking at the left side of that girl and everytime some vehicles would pass us by, she would wave her hand and said "papa...papa". I don't know if I' m stupid or what. As I replied to her pleading "oh dear that's not your daddy, that's a monkey !" but I guess a two year old girl wouldn't understand what i'm saying. She doesn't have any idea about my sense of humor because her mind is still pure.
One thing I've noticed is that while walking with her, I tried to hold her hand while I'm at her back so that she wouldn't see my face and she would take my hand mistakenly assuming that it was her father's fingers holding her. For a moment, she was silent and felt secured. That gave me a relief and told her that we need to get back inside the house. Then she began to cry again. Her sweet smile turned in an instant to a horrifying scream. I am not a patient guy so I took her up to carry her home while she was crying, punching and kicking my arms and face. She weigh at least 50 lbs ( heavy for short) and I'm almost out of breath just by carrying her. She was telling me "Anjen... anjen (I guess what she mean is he's there)" while pointing her finger at my back telling me to go back to where I picked her up. When we reached our house, I put her down and wouldn't let her go out again. It's a battle between an ear-piercing scream and a hard headed uncle. When she knew she couldn't beat me and maybe ran out of energy so she just sat down sulking, closed her eyes and slept.
I just laughed at the simplicity of a child's need. In a moment, they were peaceful and then they'll cause havoc on any adults just by the simple tears on their eyes. They could be funny, smiling and loveable but they could be irritating, messy and loud. Simple needs such as comfort from their parents were imprinted in them that they could differentiate the difference between her father and her uncle, her mother to her Auntie, and to anyone whom she doesn't recognized. Maybe there was an internal bond between child and parents that was formed when the day the baby was taken out of their mother's womb. I guess there's nothing that can compare to parental love they could give towards their child. That might be the explanation why she had hold my hand when she mistakenly took it as her father's. On the other hand, we were also like my niece, there are moments in our lives that we felt alone and left behind by our loved ones, heart broken from our romantic relationships, troubled past, and failures. These will result to self pity, remorse and miserable lives. But apart from all of these, just as we thought that there's nobody around in this cursed world could ever understand us, there's a shadow of a man who walks with us. Though may not be visible but still walking by our side extending His Hands to comfort us. All we have to do is to trust Him, take His hands and have faith.
Again, I was awakened by a hard slap on the face. Apparently, I too have fallen asleep after the rigorous tug of war with my niece. I opened my eyes and saw her smiling at me with my brother on her back. She was waving goodbye to me and she woke me up to let me know they are leaving. At the whisper of my brother to her ear, she quickly went near me to hug me tight, kiss me on the cheek and said "blah-bly" (bye-bye) then she ran towards her father's side to hold his arms, turn around and leave.
I closed my eyes and went back to sleep with a smile on my face.
"And she when wakes up?", I asked.
"Just give her some milk, I'll be back as soon as I can."
Then I sat near her, I carefully brushed aside her hair and pinched her chubby cheeks. It's a wonder to see how a child sleeps. So peaceful and innocent, it makes you think back about the time when you were at her age. Did anyone care for you while you were crying loud until you fall asleep? Such is a sweet and soothing feeling a child could give when they are at your side.
It did not take long before I fell asleep too, and probably it's the biggest mistake I've ever done. I was awakened by a solid slap on my face. When I opened
my eyes, my chubby little niece is crying so hard, I tried to comfort her and give her the milk my brother told me. To my surprise, she did not take it. Instead, she continued to cry and called her "papa" while kicking her feet vigorously. So I got up, put her in my arms and tried to stop her weeping. But she punched me at my face and screamed so loud. She waved hand gestures with her forefinger pointing sideways. She wanted to go out and wait for her dad outside the house. Since I don't have any choice, I put her down and we started walking outside. She doesn't want anyone go near her so she continuously pushed my arms and threatened me that she'll burst into another scream if I get near her.
So here I was, walking at the left side of that girl and everytime some vehicles would pass us by, she would wave her hand and said "papa...papa". I don't know if I' m stupid or what. As I replied to her pleading "oh dear that's not your daddy, that's a monkey !" but I guess a two year old girl wouldn't understand what i'm saying. She doesn't have any idea about my sense of humor because her mind is still pure.
One thing I've noticed is that while walking with her, I tried to hold her hand while I'm at her back so that she wouldn't see my face and she would take my hand mistakenly assuming that it was her father's fingers holding her. For a moment, she was silent and felt secured. That gave me a relief and told her that we need to get back inside the house. Then she began to cry again. Her sweet smile turned in an instant to a horrifying scream. I am not a patient guy so I took her up to carry her home while she was crying, punching and kicking my arms and face. She weigh at least 50 lbs ( heavy for short) and I'm almost out of breath just by carrying her. She was telling me "Anjen... anjen (I guess what she mean is he's there)" while pointing her finger at my back telling me to go back to where I picked her up. When we reached our house, I put her down and wouldn't let her go out again. It's a battle between an ear-piercing scream and a hard headed uncle. When she knew she couldn't beat me and maybe ran out of energy so she just sat down sulking, closed her eyes and slept.
I just laughed at the simplicity of a child's need. In a moment, they were peaceful and then they'll cause havoc on any adults just by the simple tears on their eyes. They could be funny, smiling and loveable but they could be irritating, messy and loud. Simple needs such as comfort from their parents were imprinted in them that they could differentiate the difference between her father and her uncle, her mother to her Auntie, and to anyone whom she doesn't recognized. Maybe there was an internal bond between child and parents that was formed when the day the baby was taken out of their mother's womb. I guess there's nothing that can compare to parental love they could give towards their child. That might be the explanation why she had hold my hand when she mistakenly took it as her father's. On the other hand, we were also like my niece, there are moments in our lives that we felt alone and left behind by our loved ones, heart broken from our romantic relationships, troubled past, and failures. These will result to self pity, remorse and miserable lives. But apart from all of these, just as we thought that there's nobody around in this cursed world could ever understand us, there's a shadow of a man who walks with us. Though may not be visible but still walking by our side extending His Hands to comfort us. All we have to do is to trust Him, take His hands and have faith.
Again, I was awakened by a hard slap on the face. Apparently, I too have fallen asleep after the rigorous tug of war with my niece. I opened my eyes and saw her smiling at me with my brother on her back. She was waving goodbye to me and she woke me up to let me know they are leaving. At the whisper of my brother to her ear, she quickly went near me to hug me tight, kiss me on the cheek and said "blah-bly" (bye-bye) then she ran towards her father's side to hold his arms, turn around and leave.
I closed my eyes and went back to sleep with a smile on my face.
Lovely face of my cute niece :-)
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