Making Babies Cry

I’ve always been the first to admit that working with children is not my greatest strength. It did, however, come as quite a shock to me when I found that I was capable of making two different children cry on two consecutive days. Boy, am I proud.

The first child was a little girl, probably about two years old. She and her dad were getting down from the bus at the Aluva bus stand. I was getting down there too, but I hadn’t yet moved from my seat because there was a long line of people all trying to do the same thing. When this child saw me sitting on the bench, she stopped walking, gripped her father’s hand more tightly, and started to whimper. Dad tried to pull her along, but she would not budge. No way was she walking past that scary white thing sitting on the back bench of the bus. But her dad didn’t understand, and he continued to pull her along. She finally budged, and, not taking her eyes off me, proceeded to break into full-blown sobs. I knew there was nothing I could have done, but I still felt really bad about it.

And then, the very next day, I went and made another child cry.

This also happened on a bus. I was on my way back to the UC College stop after a late dinner in Aluva, and the bus was really crowded. I was, again, on the back bench, and I was sitting next to a young woman with a baby boy. He seemed very interested in me, and throughout the ride, he entertained himself by touching my face, pulling on my earrings, and placing his fingers in my nose and mouth. He was smiling and laughing, and so was his mother.

Then we were at my stop, and I began to get up from my seat. The baby grabbed on to my shawl as I walked toward the door, and, as I pulled it free from his tiny hands, I saw his precious little smile turn into a sad little frown. Apparently, he did not want me to go. But I had to go, and just like that, I made my second child cry.

This time, however, the tears were a bit of an ego boost. That second baby really liked me!