breakfast at school

nadia nasira is usually the first one to fall asleep, it can be as soon as her head touches the pillow sometimes. however, she couldn't last night. even long after nashwan nasr (the most difficult one to fall asleep) was in dreamland, nadia nasira was still sucking her thumb. i knew something was not right. thumb sucking usually indicates my little girl's state, either hungry or sleepy. so, i asked her if she wanted to eat something. she nodded furiously. we both jumped off the bed and headed downstairs. i was nagging along the way... if you don't eat your dinner well, you will be hungry and you can't fall asleep. oh my, my four year old had a reply to that. nn: that's why lah. you didn't give me susu. mummy: but, you haven't fallen asleep yet! (she only drinks milk in her sleep.) nn: tadi i sleep already. mummy: ?!!?

while we were at the kitchen, she ate some biscuits, some of my dinner and a piece of chicken nugget. she lingered around while i cooked their next day meal.

all of a sudden, she said... mummy, can you cook spaghetti with sos putih for me? she was referring to spaghetti alfedo. i want to bring to school. i want to show my teacher mummy cooked for me. when i tried to negotiate and get out of it, she said... my friends semua bawa makanan mak dia masak... my heart went out to her.

oh yes! at midnight, i cooked pasta (i ran out of spaghetti) alfedo for my little girl. she was so thrilled and she said, thank you mummy for cooking for me.

i reflected on my earlier conversation with her. i tried to think like a 4 year old and i so understood her feelings. she probably saw many of her friends brought home cooked food while she ate what the school had provided for her. she probably longed to bring breakfast specially cooked for her by mummy and be able to tell everyone that her mummy cooked for her.

many a times, we fail to see through what is in the little hearts of our babies....