What child is this?
Christmas eve. My baby brother Benjamin (a little under two years old) is present. As is tradition in our part of the world, the presents are opened on the evening of the 24th, and my younger brother Stian is set out to play the part of Santa, while unremarkably having snuck out of the room.
Having prepared Benjamin for a couple of days that Santa will be arriving this evening, when Stian leaves the room, we wait in excitement to see how Benji will respond. While Stian is getting ready, Benji turns to the apparently undervalued game of ‘turning the Duplo (Lego) bucket upside-down, scattering about thirty pieces or so on the floor, and thereafter tidying up, by putting them back into the bucket’ (apparently, he has recently taken a liking of tidying up – ‘rydde’ – and delights in every opportunity he gets to throw something in the garbage bin).
Anyways, Santa (AKA Stian, but Benji luckily doesn’t notice this), enters the room with a bag full of presents. Benji is still playing on the floor with the Duplo pieces, and barely looks up as Santa enters. Dad tries and ask him if he would like to go to Santa to get a present, and the answer is a resounding ‘nei!’ (no), and Benji returns to sorting the Duplo pieces into the bucket.
So, some more convincing is needed, and for the next 5 minutes, the exersize becomes convincing the little child that he actually wants to go to Santa and get his present. When he has finally gotten the present, he is actually more interested in returning to his playing Duplo than unwrapping the present. (the present incidentally turned out to contain even more Lego 
)
A strange child indeed…
2 comments december 25th, 2007