Playtime with Neighbouring Kids
Fast forward to a time when my brother and I were around 5 and 7 years old. A bit hazy about the actual time but we were still running around the street, playing and screaming shrilly in excitement , playing cops and robbers, hide and seek and bat and ball. We played masak masak, cooking using flowers and leaves in the garden. We found cup shaped leaves where we imagined we were enjoying some tea with friends. Mimicking adults.
Running around like Crazy
One boy was good at making wooden pistols attached with rubberbands and some firing pin. These crude wooden 'guns' shot hard green cherry seeds from the large shady cherry tree by the roadside. We had to run when he started shooting crazily. Smile... so, so childish.. thats who we were, kids.
We lived by the edge of the river and cars could not drive through. It was our urban tarmac playfield, quite pathetic when I think back. But we made do with what we had.
Mooncake Festival
One mooncake festival we decided to have a stage show. We did not know anything about worshipping the moon or other religious rites. Some people would display some candles and make some offerings. To many of us mooncake festival meant getting to eat all the lovely mooncakes and playing with the colourful lanterns. We would have our own collection and we always needed a few extra because they burnt easily.
Lanterns On Fire, Hair on Fire
Once while trying to fit a small candle into the lantern I smelt something strange. Like something burning. It turned out that my hair was singed and nearly caught fire! Alhamdulillah it did not get further than that. Or I would not be typing this now, smiling at my misadventures.
We took all kinds of blankets and tablecloths to make a backdrop. Kids dressed in adult clothes and costumes play acted an opera. Adults sat and watched to humour us. It was fun and made happy childhood memories.
Islam brings us from Darkness into Light
When I discovered Islam and started studying, I advised my mother not to bother about the festival because man had already gone to the moon. We should not bother about any old wife's tales but we could carry on enjoying halal mooncake and biscuits when the shops started selling them. I made some mooncakes once but it was too much work to do it alone. The snow skin mooncakes were easier but due to the high sugar content of the fillings, I did not bother anymore. Really unhealthy to eat mooncakes actually. Such things literally kills us with 'joy'.
I loved my Dolls
Actually I had a whole collection of dolls from UK. How did I ever get such a huge collection? I was a sickly child, always with fever, sore throat, flu etc. Dr. Goonting our family doctor was also known as my 'godfather' . Everytime we had to see him, my father would let me choose a toy from the shop next door to the clinic to help cheer me up. Those days we did not use capsules. Horrid sourish or bitter concoctions were pulverised into powder and packed in little paper sachets. We had to swallow them with water. Eeeaghh!!!!
Pearly my Silent Friend
One of my favourite larger dolls was called Pearly. Made of some kind of porcelain, she was perhaps about 2 feet tall. I vaguely remember Pearly had a lovely gossamer like blue organza dress. Guess people like dolls because they do not talk back. They are always there for us and remain our faithful companions. We are the ones who abandon them eventually.
Better Not to Waste Money
Actually its not a good idea to buy a child fragile toys. They may break easily and that would cause more upsets than joy. And probably too costly to purchase, raising the bar and making the child expect even more the next time. Mmmm...
I would usually choose a doll. I loved to cuddle them and dress them up, feed the babies with their milk bottles and put curlers in their long golden silky hair. Yes, some dolls actually come with a mouth where we can feed it and water actually comes out from behind. The doll can also wear diapers. And that was over 40 years ago.My dolls had long eye lashes and can open and close their eyes. Do not know why I did not give them any names. Only Pearly.
Toys are Educational Too
Toys are important to our emotional development as children. With dolls and teddy bears we learnt how to express our love and affection. If our parents could not keep us company, we were happy to be with our toys, our faithful companions. We learnt how to take care of our possessions and also how to share.
Parents have to guide their children all the times, even in how to play with their toys and possessions. We have to be cautious about the choice of toys, comics, books and movies that we buy for them. We have great responsibility so our kids will not to use their nafs (selfish vain desires) to mishandle their toys and belongings.
Children can Absorb Knowledge like a Sponge
Children are smart and can absorb knowledge like a sponge especially from birth to age of 5 years. They can learn responsibility, cleanliness, tidyness, discipline and orderliness through play. They also need to appreciate their parents' sacrifices and Allah SWT's blessings when they enjoy their toys and books. It is an educational and emotional process for them.
Sibling Rivalry
I was very upset with my younger brother. We never got along much even when we were young. Maybe sibling rivalry. Maybe because I had more toys than him. He should realise that he ought to be grateful that he did not get sick as often as I did. Once he scribbled on the face of my doll and poked her blind with his ball pen. He also cut her hair with a pair of scissors. Butchering her lovely fringe. I was really really upset with him. Long forgiven but I still remember the event.
Playsets and Kitchenette
I had some nice playthings. Teasets, toy ovenette and others that I cannot recollect right now. Lots of story books, comics, wooden blocks, train sets, home made doll house etc. Childhood was a relatively happy time though we had some family issues, just like many other homes.
Hardy Little Kids
Even as a child, I prefer to separate matters so that we could bear our burdens in parts and not as a whole. I learnt pretty fast as a young child. My parents were not communicating too well for years. They tried to protect us and never fought or argued in front of us. We began to think it was a normal kind of life and that everyone else's family was something like that.
Actually we were not too far wrong. Indeed it turned out many friends too faced some complicated issues at home.
I will tell you some stories of my childhood friends and their experiences one day. Some were forced to be like young adults at childhood. They did not have any choice. They had to grow up quickly. I think we were hardy and brave little kids. We just did not understand too much at that time, which was actually a good thing. Alhamdulillah!
No comments:
Post a Comment