A Client-PR Consultant Conversation

This afternoon, you managed to build up a three stack cards. You were so thrilled, and I hurriedly took a shot of it so that you can show it to your dad later on. And then, we had this funny conversation:

You: Mama, can you arrange so that the picture would appear in the newspaper?
Me: Why would you want that?
You: So that people would know that I managed to make it
Me: Yeah, but why would the papers be interested to publish it?
You: Becoz it’s not an easy job to do, and I can do it
Me: Yeah, but there are a lot of things happening out there, and there are many things that are much more important to be published. You know that the papers have only limited space….

Hahaha, I felt like I was talking to a client. Don’t worry hon, I’m publishing it in our blog. So hopefully, people would know……

Muffin and Pie

Your dad was hospitalized for dengue, and when visiting him this afternoon, you asked for the muffin that the hospital served for your dad.

Then, while munching the muffin, you asked me casually:

You: Mama, can you make muffin?
Me: No, honey, I don’t know how
You: What about pie?
Me: I don’t know how to make pie either
You: Mama, you should go to Google
Me: Oh yeah?
You: Yeah, just type ‘how to make muffin and pie', Google will tell you how and you can learn making them
Me: Hmmmm, okay…… (totally speechless)

Picture from www.muffin-paradies.de/image/baeck.gif

About Death

Chrisye, the Indonesian music legend, passed away at 4 am today. He died because of lung cancer. Probably because he smoked too much

Our first conversation about death took place when you were about 4 years old, not long after we watched Lion King, where Mufasa died. So I told you that every man on earth will die some day. And you looked worried.

You: So you are going to die too?
Me: Yes, honey
You: But I don’t want you to die!!
Me: Well I hope I’m not going to die soon….. I will die when I am old
You: Old, like eyang?
Me: Yes, honey
You: So how come eyang has not died yet?

(I paused, half smiling, half confused, not sure how to answer that naive question tactically)

Me: Well, eyang is still in a good health condition at the moment, so nobody’s going to die soon
You: Ok, but, mama, you cannot die!!! I don’t want to sleep on my own!
Me: So, when are you going to be ready to sleep on your own?
You: Not in a thousand years……

So, honey, someday, I will be gone too. And when that time comes, I want you to remember me as a fun person, not just somebody that you can always confide on anything, but also a buddy that you can talk about silly things. A wise mother who gives you a freedom to be what you want to be. I believe you will be a fine young man, not because I’m there by your side, but just because you are. I just hope I will be given a chance to see what a fine man you turn out to be.

Mountain Talk

One effective way to wake you up in the morning is by making a conversation about a subject that you are interested in. So this is what we talked about this morning:

Me: Wake up, honey, the sun is already up. Do you know that the sun is actually a very big fireball? You should never see the sun directly or your eyes will get hurt
You: And I will be wearing glasses?
Me: Yes. It’s actually very bright, and it’s very, very hot there. Next to the sun is planet Venus. Because of its proximity to the sun, Venus is also very hot and it’s red, just like a charcoal. Next to Venus is Mars, and then our planet Earth
You: What about our planet, Mama? Is there fire in our planet?
Me: Not exactly. The fire is inside the earth. We can only see it when there is a mountain erupted
You: Is there any mountain erupted?
Me: Yes, recently, Mount Merapi, nearby Jogja.
You: But I didn’t see it…..
Me: Yes, because it’s far from here
You: Where?
Me: Well it is located between Bandung and Bali (the two places outside Jakarta you have been to).
You: How far?
Me: It takes you around six hours by car
You: How long does it take by plane?
Me: About an hour
You: But I didn’t see any fire when I was there (you must have confused it with Tangkuban Perahu)
Me: That’s a different mountain that we went to, honey. That one is Tangkuban Perahu, near Bandung, and it’s an in-active mountain. So there’s no fire in Tangkuban Perahu (I later found out that Tangkuban Perahu is actually an active mountain! Mild eruption occured in 1969)
You: So what’s in Tangkuban Perahu?
Me: Well, there’s still some hot stuff there, I’m not really sure. There is a lot of sulphur, which is quite smelly, remember? We call Merapi an active mountain, because sometimes it still erupted, while Tangkuban Perahu is called in-active mountain because it doesn’t erupted anymore
You: But has it erupted before?
Me: Yes, it did
You: Were there people then?
Me: Must be, I don’t really know, it’s a long time ago
You: Before I was born?
Me: Yes before you were born
You: Before you were even born?
Me: Yes, honey

With that last words, you started getting ready for school.

Question of the Day

You: Mama, why is the sun always following us?
Me: Because the sun is so big and it is on top of us, so we can see it from wherever we are

You paused, as if you were really thinking hard about something. Then come the next question:

You: Mama, why is it the shape of our planet round?
Me: ……..???? (anybody out there can help me explain this very smart question?

(Written on 26 August 2006 – a conversation in a car on our way back from your swimming lesson)