Ryan is at that age where he is asking loads of questions, some funny, some nonsensical, some annoying and repetitive like "mummy buat apa tu" x 1000 times a day (haha yes I'm horrible)
Example 1
R : Wow Mango... Ryan love mango
Me : Ok
R: Mummy kenapa mango yellow?
Me: errr.... *mumble* sbb it grows under the sun... errrr Ryan look adik buat apa tu (distraction 101)
Anyway if you're wondering mango is yellow because it contains up to 25 different carotenoids that can be isolated from mango pulp, the densest of which was beta-carotene, which accounts for the yellow-orange pigmentation of most mango species.
Example 2 @the ATM machine
R: Kenapa duit keluar from there?
Me: Sebab mummy work, and my boss pay me gaji, and put it in the bank and if mummy nak money, I can go to the nearest ATM to get duit.
R: Oooooooo.... dapat gaji boleh beli Ryan present???
Me: *sensing where this may be going* Errr Ryan apa tu?? pointing randomly at something
However, some questions are a bit more difficult to answer
Example 3 @in front of my grandad cemetery
Me: Ryan, look itu kubur atuk mummy. Jom baca Al-Fatihah
R: Ehhh kenapa atuk mummy kat situ?
Me: Atuk mummy dah meninggal, Atuk jumpa Allah, bila orang meninggal, kita kena tanam their body in the cemetery
R: oooohhhhh.... mummy Allah tak boleh ambik atuk Ryan, atuk Ryan tinggal dengan Ryan je kat rumah....
Me: errrrrrrrr...... Ryan look ada ambulance la kat depan hospital
How do you explain death to a 3.8 year old? I had to do it earlier this year when Lan's great grandmother pass away and we brought him to arwah funeral. I don't think he fully understood the concept of death and losing a person forever yet but we did try to explain to him without making it too scary (which is almost impossible)
Anyway, I tried a bit of logic yesterday to stop Ryan from having a melt down and it worked. Lan and I promised Ryan that he can get a new toy car since he did well in class. So we went to Jusco and told him to choose a toy within RM50 budget. My son of course had to choose a RM80 truck the size of my palm which I think is a bit pricey considering that it has no special features (i.e it does not move on its own, makes no sound etc). We tried to convinced him to choose something else... I even pointed out a crane model, as tall as his sisters and over his RM50 limit because it was at least worth the price. All met with a big NO "Ryan dah ada", "Ryan tak suka", "Tak cantik", "tak mahu" etc.
I know I had to put my foot down and make the decision which will be deemed "uncool" in his eyes, so I said "sorry, I'm not going to buy the truck for you". He stood still, lips quivering, refusing to move, showing all the sign of starting a temper tantrum, so I decided to try one last trick before running for the door :p
Me: Ryan, mummy ada RM100 je at the moment. If I buy you the truck which cost RM80, we have to go home straight and we can't go buy pizza and ice cream and cha time....
R: Nak jugak truck
Me: Ok fine, but kesian adik nanti tak dapat underwear baru, underwear adik dah small, nanti adik Ryan kena pergi school without underwear and kena marah dengan teacher. Tapi takpelah, Ryan dapat truck baru
R: adik takde underwear?
Me: Takde... kesian dia kan? kita tengok toys kat luar boleh?
R: *muka sedih* ok-laaaaa
I did buy him a lego set later, which is within his toy budget limit. I guess I need to practice more LOGIC with him now that he's older. Hopefully this will curb more future tantrums, though mummy has to exercise more patience because admittedly I do succumb to the screaming and nagging trap especially after a rough day at work.
Imagine when Iman and Ranya starts asking these questions too *bite fingers*
