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jayred's Nestle-Cailler Chocolate Factory photoset
Apr
21
That’s my three-year-old niece Yannah posing beside her grandma’s small, yellow car parked in the family garage-cum-garden in the Philippines.
One lazy afternoon, during my recent month-long vacation in Manila, we played a pretend-we-are-driving game using my Mom’s reclining chairs. I let her “drive” me to places — to Quezon City, to Cavite, and to Tagaytay — with imaginary seatbelts securely in place which she had insisted on. Unlike most Filipinos who loathe seatbelts, my US-born niece has a great love affair with seatbelts. She has been trained well by her parents to follow the rules on road safety.
At one point, Yannah asked me: “Tita (Auntie), can we drive to Switzerland?”
“Not really,” I responded with amusement. ” We have to take the plane. But we can drive around Switzerland when you go visit me there one day. However, we have to watch out for those electronic police radars. We cannot drive there the way we do here in the Philippines.”
“Oh, okay,” she muttered as she stared at me blankly. She understands the concept of seatbelts, I know. But that of radars’? I doubt it.
“Let’s take the plane to Israel then.” (Yannah, together with her engineer-parents and her baby brother, will fly to the Holy Land next week and stay there for 20 months. Her knowledge of Israel exists only because the whole family will be transported once again to another foreign land.)
“Is Yaya Glo going with you to Israel?” I asked her about her nanny Glo who’s in her mid-fifties.
Pausing for a bit, Yannah replied, “Um, no.”
“Why?”
“Old people are not allowed to visit Israel,” replied my niece who’s accustomed to making her own rules.
I then asked her if Grandma and Grandpa could join her in Israel. She said “no” because “Grandma’s too dark” and “Grandpa’s sick” (my Dad has Parkinson’s Disease).
“How about me?” I challenged her. (I really want to revisit Israel, one of my favorite countries in the world.)
She answered my question with a question, “Are you old already?”
“Not really,” I meekly responded, though I do feel old sometimes (especially when I’m here in law-crazed Switzerland). “Ok, drive on.”
We then resumed our make-believe driving game.
Ah, the innocence of children. And the rules they make — funny and endearing. (Although I fervently hope my niece won’t become a legislator someday for obvious reasons.) I’m pretty sure Yannah had nary an idea of what I was talking about when I mentioned to her Switzerland’s electronic police radars.
But then again, she’s just a child. No need to stress her out with complicated talks about the purpose of those dreaded and super precise radars (i.e. to catch motorists who violate traffic regulations and fine them accordingly). No need to explain to her that constantly looking at the car speedometer can be a stressful driving experience. No need to share with her that Swiss police fines can be quite hefty.
Life is complicated as it is. Let her be a child with her weird rules. And let her aunt, who’s losing a considerable amount of hair by the day, deal with Switzerland’s plethora of rules and regulations intended for grown-ups.
RANDOM TIP: Have fun with kids. Don’t discuss rigid Swiss laws with them. They have rules of their own.
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10 Responses to “Toddler Rules”
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www.flickr.com jayred's Swiss Transport Museum photoset
Hello Jayred,
Too bad you have to uphold rigid Swiss rules over there when you come from a country where rules can be bent more often than not (if you know how to do it and whom to do it with) LOL. Of course, I prefer the middleground where “better-thought-of” rules are enforced and “stupid” rules are discarded. How I wish that citizens would follow rules that safeguard their well-being and that goverments would stop legislating laws that make life more stressful. Oh well, who says life is perfect!
On a lighter note, your niece is very cute (so is the car):). And your parents’ house looks nice. No wonder you feel homesick! You have a nice place to go back to, a niece who amuses you, rules that are less rigid and sometimes “breakable”, prices that are still affordable despite the inflation, and a language you can speak without using a dictionary. Don’t you wish you were back here again?
JAYRED: Indeed, life is not perfect, Lit. Major. I’ve experienced both extremes — rigid Switzerland and lax Philippines. (Personally, I find it disgusting that the law enforcers in the Philippines are the first ones to break the law!) What I can’t take sometimes are the ever-so rigid rules in our Swiss apartment! The caretaker belongs to the old generation and is not that flexible. As for the electronic police radars, ugh: they stress me out.
Thanks for the compliment (it was my niece who chose the color of my Mom’s car). Yup, I do feel homesick here. Sometimes I wonder where my identity went! LOL.
Cute little girl. Kids are adorable at that age.
JAYRED: Thanks, Irene. I do love toddlers!
Jayred, your niece Yannah is soo cute - and sharp. Holding a U.S. passport, she can go like anywere! But the “old” people are usually born in homeland Philippines. So she is probably right about her “old” nanny who cannot go to Israel.
JAYRED: Thanks, MWM. She is really cute and sharp. Hmm…maybe she did have a valid point after all. LOL.
Cute niece, cute car and cute house !
JAYRED: Merci beaucoup, Sidney! And you’re a cute photoblogger.
Hi Jayred! Your niece is such a cutie, and smart too! At nakakatuwa ang conversation nyo! I know what you mean by: “Let her be a child…” There’s no point in complicating her life…
Your piece reminds me of my little “pamangkin(s)!” God bless!
JAYRED: Hi, Scanns! Thanks: my niece is truly cute and smart (perhaps it’s in the genes? LOL). Yes, I don’t see the point of making her life “complicated.” You have pamangkins din. I bet you enjoy their company so much. Take care and God bless.
You have a really cute and smart niece (and your mom’s taste for cars is really cool)!:) Thanks for sharing about your interesting game of let’s pretend and conversation with your niece.:) I can’t help but think of this line from a poem.. “The child is father to the man” (was it by Wordsworth???). You are a very nice Tita…you know how to listen to and respect children!:) God bless her and her family on their trip to Israel.
JAYRED: Aw…thanks, Sining.
I try to be a nice Aunt, yes. And with such adorable pamangkins (I also have a nephew), it’s such an easy task to be one. (What an erudite verse you shared there. I’m not sure if it’s Wordsworth. I must admit I’ve forgotten already most of my world lit knowledge. Maybe commenter Lit. Major would know, hehe….)
Hellooo Ate Jayred!
Remember me? I used to be one of the staffwriters of Ms. Ethel. (^^,) Glad to see you on the internet.
JAYRED: Hello, Rhea! Nabuhay ka.
Nice to see you here in the blogosphere. Of course, I remember you. You were one of the good MB lifestyle writers in your batch. You take care, ok?
That is all too cute. And yeah kids are smart early!
JAYRED: Thanks Expat Traveler. And this particular kid is really smart.
i like the exchange of words with your niece. smart little kid.
JAYRED: Thanks, Bingskee. Smart like her Tita. LOL.
[...] in the Philippines, but later raised in the US and then in Israel. Like his five-year-old sister Yannah, he is an expat’s kid. Along with his Ate (older sister), he went to an Israeli daycare, [...]