He's not so friendly!! ...

I still recall vividly....

It was on 18th May, late late Sunday evening. After almost a day of "wartime" with 3 kids, I decided to "chill out" a little and spend some quality time with just Joel. I asked of Lele and Sam to lookout for the twins, while I brought Joel out to run some errands. (Gosh imagine bringing a pre-schooler to go marketing is considered a chillout! How pathethic)

After the errand, Joel and I passed by the playground just downstairs on the way home. He spotted two kids there, and was eager to join them. He asked" Can we go there! (Pointing to the playground), it would be fun!! I promised!!" That's his exact words, and I could see his eyes sparkling with delight! As I promised him "quality time" , I stopped the stroller that he was sitting in, and let him alight. He ran to the slides, and was smiling happily to the boy whom was just perhaps a year older. The boy apparently showed no interest in interacting with him, and Joel still kept on trying to befriend. However, after a few tries, Joel suddenly ran to me, holding me and said "He's not so friendly..." . I could see the disappointment in his eyes, and he's almost bursting into tears. What could I do??

"No Joel, he should be fine, you just need to say hello!" And there Joel went again, this time, he succeeded. With a few hello's, the other boy finally acknowledged, and my guess was right...my son was blabbering to him in English. And the other child( Whom is more fluent in Mandarin) was initally confused and did not react. "Hello" being the international language, broke the ice and ended up seem to be the only word they had in common.

Two things noted:
1. Joel needs to learn more Mandarin.
2. My boy has grown!! And has learnt to acknowledged how other's feel! He's not just a toddler anymore! More challenge to come....