Hardy is of the opinion that one little child can keep the entire bus busy. Of course, he was paraphrasing … The real saying in Pubjabi is that one child can keep the entire household busy.
Well, this wasn’t busy … This was outright crazy. How two grown men (well maybe grown is not the right word, maybe we should call them middle-aged rather than trying to assume any kind of growing up) can turn clowns is amazing. This was middle-aged to clown in two seconds flat. And why were they the clowning glory of the bus ride today? Because of a little little boy in the bus, who had such beautiful, big eyes, a very cute dude, and who was busy drooling all over his Mom’s dress. And looking at these gents, he made a strange face. This was as if to say, what’s wrong with these guys? Just a moment back, they looked like human beings.
The funny part is the discussion that followed. Mr. Laurel has observed that most children here (in Singapore) are very well behaved, they don’t scream, jump, run about pulling people’s hair, or do any of those fun things which we (and I am sure you too) have done and got scolded for as children. And the question they go to discussing is whether children should be quiet well-behaved (ok, after a certain age) and that the really little children should be little children. They should live their childhood as a really wonderful part of their lives.
Hardy was telling about a friend who, after a few drinks, was philosophizing:
If you have two daughters, you are really lucky;
If you have a son and a daughter, you are reasonably lucky;
If you have two sons, you are screwed!
From the expression of empathy in Laurel’s face, it was quite easy to figure out that he has two boys.
9minnon's Blog 
Nice one. And ya, its fun to play with and make faces at the little kids on buses. Carry on, guys!
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Thank you for the nice words, Atul.
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Try doing that to little ones in the mall. They just love it. And i suppose they think i am crazy too, and its definitely reasonable for them to think that. 😀
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Oh yes, all of us are just a bit crazy, aren’t we?
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I suppose you are right!
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This raises a million dollar question
What is a so called “good/civilised behavior” for a child under 5 in public ?
am curious to know if there is any parameters or set rules for that.
Lets accept, they are children and let them be !!
I dont really why the grown up men/women show faces when a child screems or cries inside a bus and why should their parents feel embarrased and apologetic for that ?
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Should there be any such parameters, Zameer? Or can there be? After all, children are exploring, so they are not aware of the world as it seems to adults. Which, in a way, is a good thing, given that it is from this “unknowing” or “not being aware” that every generation creates a world new and different from that of it’s earlier generations.
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Nice thoughts, guys. Zameer, a very important question you brought up. And i agree that there cannot be parameters. Imagine children always ever only thinking about the world within the parameters of adults. Would there ever be any new discovery, any change, any evolution in the world?
I had read a saying in my son’s school which read:
Children are not here to worship what is known, but to question it.
This made sense because this is what leads to a child learning, and by questioning the way adults or previous generations do things, the child of today, or the grown-up of tomorrow, creates a newer world.
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Thank you, Atul. Agree with you.
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