Rooting For The Little People

Most people would be surprised to know that I get along with kids better than with adults. I dunno, may be because I have the same E.Q. as that of a three-year old or maybe because the kid in me just refuses to grow up. I think I'd prefer the latter, hahaha! These tiny little people invigorates me far more than a 5-day vacation, they really do. I always have the most hilarious time asking them trivial question. You see, the trick with kids is that to treat them like an adult. Kids can smell fear, that's for sure.

I know some people who'd cringe at the mere thought of being stuck with a toddler all day. Actually, I don't really look forward on being stuck with a toddler myself but I kinda think I could hold my own when the need arises. Anyways, I headed up north last weekend to spend time with my 3 year old baby brother and my 4 year old nephew. You know, when you go out with two toddlers in tow, it would be sensible to be ready when things goes batshitcrazy. In all my smugness, they sure as hell got me the time we went out for lunch.

Yeah, I'm not even sure if what happened fits the funny or the crazy side. , I was treating them lunch. My nephew's name BJ, is short for Brian Jay (Sharaaaap...!) and my baby bro is Waki, short for Joaquin. Kids do and say the darnedest things, I tell you.

10 minutes after the food arrived

BJ: “Aunt Tina, I wanna puke”

Tina: “Really? Are you serious?”

BJ: yes

Tina: “Have you taken lunch before we got here?”

I looked at his soup, saw that it was barely touched and got a bit worried.

BJ: “no”

So here I am, alone with two kids and one is about to puke. It's every single women's worst nightmare. Stuck with two kids on a busy crowd and no one to help you out. I looked at my 3 year old brother and said:

Tina: “Baby, BJ is about to throw up. Is it okay if we go to the bathroom for a sec while you wait here?”

Waki: (nodding his head ) “okay”

I know it's bad to leave a 3 year old kid all by himself but the thing was, this is a small town and most of the people who was there know me and my brother, second, the minute Waki sees someone puke, well he will puke his guts out too (I've seen it happen the first time) I know I shouldn't leave him there but I had no choice, my nephew looked green around the gills already.

So I briefed my brother to not talk to strangers, look after the food and promised that I'll be back in a flash. He nodded his head solemnly and looked worriedly at BJ. We trotted to the bathroom but we never made it to the sink, BJ puked the minute I opened the door. Why go to the sink when he can pretty much have the freedom to puke on his aunt's left foot, right?

When I asked him if he still wanna throw up, he shook his head and said, he wants to go back to our table. We got back and I saw my brother right where I left him, wolfing down a heaping spoonful of pancit-palabok. We sat and I continued fussing over them. Waki was a bit surprised that we got back real quick and asked if BJ is gonna be okay. I smiled, assured him that BJ is okay while I continue wiping food from his mouth, BJ is back in in his usual greedy self, slurping melted sundae.

5 seconds later:

Waki: “I wanna puke too”

I looked at Waki squarely, and with all seriousness, I asked:

Tina: “Seriously?”

Waki: “I have a rock stuck in here...” (points at his throat)

I looked long and hard at Waki, then shifted my gaze at my nephew. BJ seemed to have read my mind (bless his mischievous little heart).

BJ: “It's okay Tita, you can leave me here and I'll look after the food”

That's all I needed to hear. I hurriedly escorted my baby brother at the bathroom and we even made it to the sink. He puked ten seconds later. Man, This is actually the second time they held a Puking Contest. After everyone was done throwing up, I told them to finish the Ice Cream fast because we are about to leave, no point on sticking around for round two.

When I got home, I told my Aunt what happened and she said:

Aunt: “Yes, he's been sick last night. I told him he's gonna have to make a trip to the doctor for a check-up. He got scared and said he didn't want to. I asked him how do you expect to get well?
He said, I'm just gonna pray (to God) to get well.”

Sha-zaaam! How cool is that?

Fast-forward 8:30 PM, I tucked my little brother in and he was about to fall asleep. This is my favorite time to ask him trivial questions because I'm thinking if kids do lie, they'd be too sleepy to even try when their about to doze off right?

Tina: “So are you happy at school?” (He's into the Day-Care stage of his life)

Waki: “Yes, very much... I'm happy”

Tina: “Even though Neneng isn't there?”

Neneng is the nick of this girl he has a “crush” on. He's three what does he know, right? But I get a kick out of teasing him about it.

Waki: “Yes, I like Neneng. I have a crush on her”

Tina: (chuckling) “Really? But what if you find out she doesn't like you back? What would you do?”

Waki: “She likes me”

Tina: “Yeah? How do you know?”

Waki: “Because I have a heart”

Always rooting for the little people,