"That's not my Mommy! That's Margaret's Mommy! Oh no... where's my Mommy?"
If it was a normal day, Bing Bing would have run to me, greeted me with her biggest smile, given me her warmest hug and her most gentle kiss. That day she gave me a quickest hug and her most hurried kiss. She was having a concern - Sienna, her friend was crying.
Bing Bing rushed back beside Sienna. She gave Sienna a long hug. She patted on Sienna's shoulder. She bent down to the level that Sienna was sitting. Bing Bing showed her most concerned face and sweetly asked:
"Are you okay Sienna? Do you need anything? Here you go, do you want to read a book?"
Vanessa - their teacher showed up and gave Sienna comfort. Vanessa couldn't help noticing the act of kindness that Bing Bing had showed.
"Margaret, that's very kind of you to care for your friend Sienna. Thank you. You're such a sweetie, sweetheart."
I was very pleased to see that. In fact, I have noticed that act of kindness from Bing Bing in many situations. Before I could make a comment, Vanessa turned to me:
"I think Margaret can make a wonderful doctor!"
"Oh? How so?" - I puzzled.
"Margaret is a highly independent child. She likes to concentrate doing her own work most of the time. But if there's a situation arising - a child crying, a kid screaming, a friend falling, Margaret is always the first to stop her work, come to her friend, show her empathy and provide comfort. Until the child has calmed down, Margaret gets back to her work quickly."
"That's definitely something that I've picked up from Margaret too. She was playing by herself with great focus. When she heard me chopping chicken loudly on the chopping board, she ran to the kitchen and asked me to be careful before she continued with her playing." - I happily added.
"Absolutely. She's developed a sense, an act and a quality of kindness and empathy that's very mature for her age. We're all very impressed and Margaret is one of the most popular kids here because of that. She is well loved by all her friends!" - Vanessa continued.
From that day on, I continued to observe Bing Bing. I often even created situations to explore how she would react. She never failed - kindness is really embedded in this child. She never leave anyone alone when they are in pain, in need or in misery. Sometimes she just automatically helped adults and kids who just dropped something on the ground, who was trying to get something near her etc. She sacrifices her own wants, needs and priorities to attend care for others. That is a very difficult thing to do even for adults, as especially difficult for a toddler whose sole purpose is to get what they want. I am happy but also concerned. A tiny thought came to my mind - will her friends be kind to Bing Bing as well? - what happens if a child is aggressive towards Bing Bing?
It took a little longer for me to find out. We went to Alan's colleague's house one day for a play date. Lucy was a 3 year old girl who didn't spend much time in childcare. She was not particularly sociable and friendly as a result (that's just my guess). But Lucy had one of the most amazing indoor slides. They were both excited to get on but Lucy didn't seem to understand the concept of taking turns - one of the most important concepts that children have to learn in kindergarten! Lucy kept pushing Bing Bing and I thought that my kind little girl would just give in but Bing Bing stopped Lucy and said this pretty loudly:
"Hey! Hey! No pushing okay! Don't push me!" - Bing Bing was annoyed.
That was a very pleasant surprise for me and Alan - not quite so pleasant for Lucy's parents.
Lucy still didn't get it. I guess this concept does take a lot of time to master!
"HEY! NO PUSHING! IT'S MY TURN! GO AWAY!" - Bing Bing was really pissed.
I didn't want to make the situation awkward so I explained to Bing Bing that Lucy didn't go to a kindergarten, she was not used to having friends and sharing toys with others and that maybe Bing Bing could find something else to play and give Lucy some time playing with the slide by herself. Bing Bing could come back in a short while once Lucy's finished playing.
Bing Bing decided to go off and play with Lucy's sister - a 10-month-old baby. Bing Bing had a great time!
Yesterday, Bing Bing was in a music class, she was sitting in the teacher's chair with so much pride. A 3 year old girl, Reeya, approached Bing Bing showing her interest in the teacher's chair. Bing Bing moved her bottom to one side and patted her hand down on the other - suggesting that they both share the chair. For some reason Bing Bing got out of the chair to climb back up again but Reeya saw an opportunity and sat down on the chair quickly - claiming the whole seat.
Alan and I were watching from afar and thought "Oh, Bing Bing is going to get her "Hey! Hey!" at the girl now, isn't she?". Surprisingly, Bing Bing smiled at the girl (who just took her seat!). Bing Bing ran to an electric socket on the wall, about 2 metres away and started exploring. Reeya was watching and following Bing Bing to see what she was looking at. Once Reeya reached the socket and kneeled down, Bing Bing picked up her fastest running speed back to the chair and claim the seat with a biggest smile at Reeya. - Điệu hổ Ly sơn??
"Man! She's one clever girl! Awesome tactics to problem solve this situation" - Alan exclaimed next to me (whose mouth was wide open).
I remember one saying "Don't take my kindness as coward-ness!" and Bing Bing has showed me just that. Now my worries have gone. I know for a fact that Bing Bing has both, like Cinderella's mother once said to her child "Be kind and have courage". Something I have to learn too.
A proud mother :)
No comments:
Post a Comment