Kitreena and I had a little discussion on children literature after lunch today. Well, a nursery rhyme, to say the obvious – if it is not too obvious from my title. Apparently it was playing in and getting through her head as she was trying to make sense of that one little famous egg story of Humpty Dumpty.
She was peeling her dessert, a mandarin orange, ever so slowly when she, seemed like out of nowhere, started to ask :
Kitreena: Mom, do you know why Humpty Dumpty broke?
Yeah, really. Why did Humpty Dumpty break? And why have I never asked myself that question?
Mom: No, I don’t. Why, monch?
Kitreena: Because he was an egg. Eggs can’t sit. They would break.
Silently thinking, “Oh you smartie pants you!”
Mom: Oh ok! I see. If so, what was an egg doing on the wall then?
Kitreena: Because he wanted to enjoy a good view.
I should go find me a wall this weekend, then.
Mom: Why do you think he was called Humpty Dumpty? He was just an egg.
Kitreena: Because that’s his name. Somebody’s got to give him a name to make him a story.
Aaahh good logic! My questions are starting to sound silly by now. Well, takpe-takpe.
Mom: Why couldn’t all the King’s horses and all the King’s men put him together again, you think?
Kitreena: Because there were just too many broken pieces of eggshell, Mom. It was a very high wall. And the King’s men were busy, they didn’t have time to fix a broken egg. And horses don’t fix broken eggs, Mom.
Silly me! That is why you don’t discuss children literature with children using adult logic.
Questa è Enida 
muahahahahahahaha~ nice one kitreena~ well done~ like mother like daughter indeed~ well thats how its goes~ hehehehehe~
Kitreena oh kitreena. She will definitely outsmart me when i see her next. Aiyoh!!!
Wait ’til she discovers Lewis Carroll’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND.Jenguh mendengar debat Mad Hatter nanti.
Oh I can so lah hear it coming already, Lisa.
Kit and I actually had a discussion on Tchaikovski’s work couple weeks ago when we were in St. Petersburg. She asked me the difference between Mattel’s and Russian Ballet’s intrepretations of Swan Lake! It was good that she had seen the Barbie’s Swan Lake DVD (she had it all memorized by the time she was four – thanks to my KaCher who bought Kitreena most of her Barbie DVD’s). So when Kit saw the Tchaikovski’s work in real ballet performance, she started asking questions. Well, she started questioning things, actually.
I should do a bit of reading jugak soon to prepare myself. Tchaikovski is nowhere near Humpty Dumpty that I can easily goreng about… or rebus, or poach or scramble. Or can I?
We should have boiled Humpty Dumpty then so boleh makan dgn Nasi Lemak…that would be a typical malay boy(my son’s ) answer yang teramat suka dgn telur rebus.
But Kitreena is so much smarter, she has answers for everything kan. I must ask her to solve some of my humpty dumpty problems.
Yes, Wiz. We should have! I lurrrvvve soft-boiled eggs for the sheer shell love of eggs! Not so much dengan Nasik Lemak. Dengan a piece of toast je in the morning. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on top. Mmmmhhh! Molto molto gusto!
I think Kitreena is no smarter than any other kids her age. She just thinks about everything! I mean literally everything. And too much about everything is no good. Many nights, her thoughts just keep her awake and the thinking almost always scares her to be alone with herself. It scares ME at times. But I am glad she is able to reach out and talk about it with me.
We have had a few adegan bertangis-tangisan actually, because I didn’t know how to handle her thinking and talking all the time. I still don’t know how. But I am determined that reading is the solution. I’m now encouraging her to read before bed so that her thoughts are somewhat channeled and controlled.
By the way, I dulu kunun menang poem recital competition masa darjah satu reciting none other than… jeng jeng jeng! Humpty Dumpty! I was so dumb, I didn’t even know it was a competition until I was announced a champion. Got three books as the prize. I finished ’em all before going back to the classroom from the school hall! Yay!