The Good Birds and the Bad

Chloe has been down with gastro-virus since last Sat, so it was just Nigel & I in the daily hike from staff apartments to the Cove this morning. On route, we witness a group of mynahs fighting, with one being pinned down.

After explaining to Nigel that the birds were fighting just like how his friends and siblings always do, he asked, "So which is the bad bird?". I drew an analogy to the fall he had last evening after a friend of his pushed him down and asked, "So were you the bad boy or your friend?", to which he answered, "I am the good boy and my friend was naughty to have pushed me down. So the bird who fell just now was the good bird, right?". Of course his answer was "RIGHT".

After some moments, he changed his mind, "Actually all the birds were good mummy, my friend was a good boy too!". That's my Nigel, very forgiving of people who offended him. In fact, when I fetched him yesterday from school, although he narrated his fall and all, he had forgiven his friend, gave him a big hug before he left, with the assurance that all was well.

And since Chloe was not around, I had the luxury of reading a story of a hermit crab outgrowing his shell to Nigel, drawing analogy of him outgrowing his clothes. He enjoyed the story so much, he requested that I read another one before leaving for work, a request that I acceded. When I left he was in tears, because Chloe was not around or was it that he knew that was one rare attention slot that mummy had given him for a long time and he has to wait a long while before the next one comes along?

I feel guilty on two counts, being pettier than Nigel and not giving him enough attention.