Posted By
kaychin on
16 Jan 10, Sat |
Permalink
My nephew came back from the USA early this month and the first thing he said to me was, "What a relief!"
And without prompting, he added, "Singapore is still the best."
When I asked him why, he said because he missed his grandma, and his 'jie jie', Mani, my sister's Indonesian domestic helper who has been looking after him for the past few years, and also his stuff.
When I asked what if everything and everyone he loves can move with him to the USA, he just kept quiet.
My sister told me yesterday that after two days in California, where they had gone for a family reunion, my nephew had declared loudly to all his uncles, aunties and cousins, "I LOVE America. That's it! I am staying here."
But let me put things in perspective - Boon Yi just turned six yesterday.
So does he really know what he's saying?
For his birthday, I had bought him a big Lego pirate set.
His auntie Rosie, a nurse who lives in Fort Worth, Texas, had also given him one when he was there during Christmas.
Add another one from his mom, and one starter kit I bought last year, it is only reasonable for me to assume as long as there are pirates, he will be happy, and can be left alone.
When I sat him down yesterday to instill some Lego discipline into him, it was more difficult than persuading Pat Robertson that Haitians don't deserve the earthquake.
Boon Yi refused to follow the step-by-step instructions, and he kept asking me a difficult question.
Referring to the pirate set, he asked, "But what's the storyline?"
And that really caught me off guard.
I tried to elude the question, thinking that it was one of those one-off utterances, he asked again, "But what's the storyline?"
Fortunately this time, I escaped unscathed because he soon lost his patience with me and went back to his bricks.
But I know dealing with him is going to be more and more difficult.
The questions that he will ask in future, I am sure, will become harder to answer.
Much as I hate to say it, I know it is just not enough to whip out my credit cards and buy him toys.
I know if I want to be a decent uncle, I need to figure out my storyline soon.
Really soon.
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