Concepts of growing up

Kids seem to think that they have always been this old (as they are at any given time), think of themselves as very big and important, and of younger kids as rather insignificant, and cannot imagine that they themselves had been younger at one time. And this makes for a lot of interesting discussions.

For a while now, Sid is taking a lot of pride in being "big, of three years". He thinks that he can do a lot of things, which "little babies" (in essence, all kids younger than him) cannot. The littlest babies are of "0 years" and cannot do anything at all. And he hates [a blow to his ego? :-)] that some of his playmates are older than him. For example, he'll start crying that 'A' is 4 years old, while he is only 3. We try to console him that on his next birthday, he will also be 4. Then he cheers up a little too much and says that he will then be 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. We then have to inflate the balloon of his happiness, that 'A' won't stay 4 forever - he will be 11 when Sid is 10. And this is a frequent theme of conversation in our home.

Also, though he cannot quite understand that he had been much younger and grew up, he has accepted the fact from our regular assertions, but he still cannot comprehend that there was a time when he just wasn't there. So, from endless questions, he has developed his own inferences.

Another conversation on these themes yesterday night goes like:

Sid: [another half-sleepy crying fit on being younger than 'A']

Me: [deplyoing pacifying tactics] Par aap 3 years ke ho, 'R' aur 'S' se big ho. Wo to abhi 3 years ki hui bhi nahin

Sid: Wo dono 3 years ki kab hongi?

Me: Thode dinon mein unka b'day aayega, tab wo 3 years ki ho jayengi. [for good measure] Aap to itne din pahle jab aapka b'daya tha, 3 years ke ho bhi gaye the.

[Quite a bit of going around in circles around this]

Sid: Jab mera b'day aaya tha, tab main 3 ka ho gaya? Uske pahle main 2 years ka tha?

Me: [Giving up trying to explain that you grow gradually, b'day doesn't suddenly make you an year older]. Haan.

Sid: Kyun?

Me: [Trying to close the topic and go to sleep]: Kyunki aap 3 years pahle born hue the. aap hamare paas 3 years pahle aaye the.

Sid: [Absolutely no intention of sleeping] Tab mujhe aapki yaad aa rahi thi.

Me: Kab?

Sid: Jab aap mere paas nahin the. Mujhe aapki yaad aa rahi thi aur main ro raha tha.

Me: [Perplexed and alarmed] Ham kab aapke paas nahin the? Ham to hamesha aapke paas the.

Sid: Nahin, jab main sky mein tha.

Me: Aap sky mein kab the?

Sid: Jab main 0 years ka tha uske pahle. Tab main bhagwanji ke paas tha aur main ro raha tha.

Uh oh. Couldnt think of anything but to hug him and tell him, isiliye bhagwanji ne aapko hamare paas bhej diya.

***

A translation of the conversation ....

Sid: [another half-sleepy crying fit on being younger than 'A']

Me: [deplyoing pacifying tactics] But you are 3 years old, older than 'R' and 'S'. They arent even 3 yet.

Sid: When will they turn 3?

Me: They'll have their birthdays after few days, then they will also be 3 [for good measure] You turned 3 so many days back, when you had yur b'day..

[Quite a bit of going around in circles around this]

Sid: On my b'day I became 3? Before that, was I 2?

Me: [Giving up trying to explain that you grow gradually, b'day doesn't suddenly make you an year older]. Yes.

Sid: Why?

Me: [Trying to close the topic and go to sleep]: Because you were 3 years ago. You came to us 3 years ago.

Sid: [Absolutely no intention of sleeping] I was missing you then.

Me: When?

Sid: When you weren't there with me. I was missing you and crying for you.

Me: [Perplexed and alarmed] But when were we not with you? We have been with you always.

Sid: No, when I was in the sky.

Me: When were you in sky?

Sid: Oh, when I was 0 years, before that. Then I was with God, and crying for you.

Uh oh. Couldnt think of anything but to hug him and tell him, That's why God sent you to us.