tornado in the sky

Lying

A curly haired 9-year-old girl pointed to a purple bruise on her forearm and said to me, “Mommy pinched me.”
Mommy waved her hand in the air and said, “She is so cute sometimes that I just pinch her until it bruises accidentally.”

I figured: okay. I bruise easily too, mistakes happen. However, a nagging part in me screams, “LIES. WOMAN! YOU LIE!” reflecting Joe Wilson more than anything.

“She slaps me sometimes too,” Says Curly Top. She turned to Mommy and confronted, “You’re always so angry at home. You’re not angry now because there are people around you, and you’re telling them things otherwise because you don’t want to appear like a bad person.”

I looked at Curly Top, put my right hand in the air and invited her for a high five. She humoured me back and slapped her palm on mine. Honest children, unite! But then I received a metaphorical slap on the face from myself telling me that Curly is going to get a scolding once I’m out of sight, or once Mommy and her are in the car.

I looked at Mommy and told her, “You’re either going to teach your child to be honest or lie to people. Let her voice out her honesty. More than anything, she’d be a charmer in school because she’d be more obliged to speak and contribute with no restrictions shackled to her from home she brought with her to the classroom. Your child’s future is in your hands now.”

Mommy looked at me, slightly surprised that I would tell her how to raise Curly. I hesitated and said, “Please don’t slap her later.”

Curly Top nodded, hugged me and whispered, “Thanks, Ka Teah. You’re my hero.”

Brothers Grimm

The collection of Brothers Grimm stories are nothing but a joy and a half. Although we’ve heard of stories that are repeatedly told when we grew up, we know little of the stories of what is actually written. A lot of the content that we are familiar with are free of sadism, and guarded for the child’s ears, ie. Disney’s rendition. Did you know that Snowwhite’s step mother died from dancing until she dropped dead? Oh, brutality! My favourite kind of stories!

I have personally warmed myself towards stories unrecognisable from popular fables. They are either hilarious or just beautifully ruthless in terms of punishments for its bad characters. My favourite story from the Brothers Grimm collection is definitely The Devil’s Three Golden Hair*, for its cunning nature, and for its mirth. Nothing is funnier than the devil who has an awesome grandmother, who is kind to strangers, and who picks out lice from her grandson’s head… just like any grandmother should.

* READ IT!