Watevah

It's an understatement that all mummies in the world like to compare - my son is taller than yours, my daughter is smarter than his, my baby is cuter than hers.. yada yada yada.. you get the drift.

I used to tutor kids before I was a mummy myself. Some kids were reading by 2.5 years old. Zoweee! And mummies would expect them to write and spell by 3, cos they got bored re-telling how the kids can read Dr. Zues and recognise about 200 chinese characters. Gotta have some other things to brag about at the saloons and also during mahjung sessions, pronto!

Some kids were smart and lucky to breeze thru the spelling process, but they would get stuck when challenged to write stories. Seriously how on earth can they comprehend the complexity of a beginning, middle and end framework when they have only lived on earth for less than 4 years? It was a mixture of awe and pity I had for the kids.

I had an amazing student who read by age 2, wrote stories by age 4. Yes, yes, again and again, I told the mom, she is amazing.. she is talented. However, it struck me that she wasn't concern about the development. She knew the girl aced and nailed everything academically. But she still needed to hear it. After awhile, she even wanted to know how 'badly' or how slowly the other kids were progressing. *shake head, make tut tut sound*

Having surrounded by kiasu moms for a period of time, I am surprised that I am less kancheong, especially about matters concerning the oh-so-boring ABCs and 1,2,3s. Any given day, I'd choose politeness and decorum over the ability to spell tyranasau-even-I-can't-spell-it rex.

Once in a while, some retarded mums come along and irk the bejesus out of me by wondering aloud if Gooly was solving algebras or has finished reading Harry Potter and the Seven Dwarfs, cos their bookwormy kids have. Normally, I'd answer the truth, albeit silently, which is:

"You crazy ah, you think he got nothing to do ah? There are balls to kick, and cartoons to watch, you know..?"

What comes out from my polite mouth will be, of course:

"Wow, so panai one your daughter/son.." which is really a compliment. No sarcasm intended. The kids are indeed brilliant in every sense, but the parents are another story.

They must think I am insane for not subliming Gooly. So they try to test-try me again to be sure, just so there is something to talk about on MSN. When it appeared that I think making up a story using narration is equally awesome as writing it, they think of other things to compare.

One fella wondered how come Gooly is not eating spicy food YET cos his Letchumi is dipping her roti canai into curry fish already. And another time, some aunty commented that her grand daughter could gulp down a chicken drumstick and ten grapes at one go when Gooly could only chow down half a wing and 2 grapes. Wuah.. the quantity and type of diet consumed also can be measured and compared.

I should really say, watevuh to these folks.. cos I seriously don't fret about superlatives. I am happy that Gooly is clever, not cleverer, not cleverest. It's ok if Mirium could run faster. We can live without winning the suffixes -er and -est. I pity the kids whose parents/grandparents can't.

In return, they probably pity Gooly for an insane mum who has minimal understanding about being the best..

*shrug*