This wooden piggy keychain is kind of a requested gift from me to Hailey, my 6-year-old niece.
I teased her, ‘It’s very cute and colourful, I love it! Can you give it to me?’
She hesitated for a few seconds, ‘You can make a new one!’ She tried to find a win-win solution.
‘But I like this one.’ I pushed a bit.
‘You can make a new one!’ She repeated.
Then her Daddy said, ‘Hailey, you can give this one to Auntie Wing, later you make another one.’
She listened to Daddy, gently placed this keychain in my palm, and made a careful note, ‘you have to wait until it’s dry.’
While she was painting a new one, her Mom warned us, ‘if Hailey later asks which one is nicer, we must say the new one is much better.’ She knows her daughter well, Hailey did ask the same question in doubt. ‘Obviously the new one is the best, I wish I could have that one.’
If I recall my memories, every time I video called Mom, Hailey would tell her Grandma to hang up, meaning I was disturbing her play with Grandma, and she refused to greet or talk to me. I was not upset though, since she barely knew me, and she probably thought this stranger was very annoying. No wonder why she acted so. Sadly enough, this was only the fourth time I’ve seen her in these 6 years. The first time was a month after she was born. The second time I had a short visit to Hong Kong for work. The third time was when I got married, but hardly had time to spend with my family. And now, it’s the fourth time. So one of my main purposes of this trip, was to get along with Hailey.
Our first gathering was at Yum Cha. She was shy at the beginning, but soon she broke the ice by tickling the back of our necks with her little index and middle finger. ‘Tickle tickle.’ She whispers, you react, she feels funny. That’s how the game plays.
We also played bowling in the residential club house and it was her first time. Before hands-on, she already knew the ball would roll back to her, and the bigger the number written on the ball, the heavier it is, as she learnt from TV or Youtube. Then we went back home to play Blokus – where she deliberately blocked me with those Tetris-shaped coloured pieces. With a little advice from her Daddy, she was able to beat Curry Boy and me, cementing her triumph in 2nd place. We had a wonderful evening. By the time we left for the hotel, she didn’t look at us or say good-bye.
A few days later, we went to pick her up at school. Hailey was very surprised and jumped on me in 2 seconds, like the leaping frog at Kadoorie Farm we visited. ‘Come! Follow me!’ She commanded. She showed us the school playground, hanging and rotating herself on the monkey bars, fearlessly rock-climbing to the top, and did a few cart-wheels without gasping. I could tell she was very excited to have us around in just another ordinary school day. But it was such a special day for me since she jumped over me, like she had seen someone she’s very fond of.
During our time together, I particularly remember some of the dialogues between us, and I wrote them in my journal right back to the hotel.
Who am I……
‘Do you know who I am to your Daddy?’ I asked Hailey.
‘I don’t know.’ She shrugged.
‘Sister. I’m your Daddy’s sister.’
‘Wh-at?’ She looked very surprised.
‘And do you know who I am to Uncle Vikash?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Make a guess.’ I urged her.
‘He is your Daddy.’ (What a bold guess)
‘Wh-at? He is my husband.’
Mimi and chest
‘Can you plait me a rope?’ I know she’s able to do, so I made a request.
‘Sure! Pick the colours you like, and I’ll make one for you.’
Then she concentrated on her work. After a while, she held the nearly-done rope measuring its length at me.
‘It should be longer than your mimi.’ She looked serious.
‘Mimi? What’s mimi? It’s chest.’ I was surprised by this noun.
‘No. It’s mimi. Chest is here.’ She pointed a finger somewhere on my breast.
And my sister-in-law couldn’t resist asking, ‘Who told you it’s called mimi?’
‘You.’ Pointing to her Mom, Hailey made a clear answer.
Pick me up
‘Pick me up! You (Curry Boy) hold my head, and you (me) hold my feet. Lift me up and make 3 circles. Then I say Wow, then put me down there. After that, you (me) pick me up again. Then it’s another one’s turn.’
Can you do this math?
‘Can you do 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7?’ She challenged Curry Boy.
‘I can try, but do you know the answer?’ Curry Boy doubted.
‘Yes.’ She answered in confidence.
‘What’s the answer?’
‘Zero.’
‘Zero? It’s wrong.’ We burst out laughing.
‘No, it’s zero. Kayla told me.’ (Kayla is her classmate/bestie)
‘Kayla is wrong.’
‘No, Kayla told me the answer without smiling, she was serious.’ (That’s what kids believe)
Before the intimacy grew between me and Hailey, Mom gave me a head-up, ‘She doesn’t like losing, she’ll cry.’ But it turned out she didn’t cry a bit even she lost any games. Instead, I could surely feel the love and sharing from her, when she gave me the piggy keychain, some cutie stickers, a diamond from her diamond collection, a handmade braid, a little Hello Kitty figure, and some score sheets which we used to play board games.
When we were about to end the visit, she didn’t cry either. She was silent for a while, but she was feeling okay as she reassured her Mom. Then she didn’t go to bed because she wanted to draw us a card.
‘auntie wing and uncle boy boy I am sorry to hear that you have to go back to uk I ll miss you Love from Hailey.’
I, myself, from a stranger to her, became a person she would miss.
After we returned to the UK, my sister-in-law told me Hailey had some comments about us.
‘Auntie Wing is so funny, I found it. I like playing with funny people.’ (I’m FUNNY!!!)
‘What about uncle?’
‘He is okay. I can play with him.’ (Curry Boy is just passable :P)
What makes me so funny? (I’m on cloud 9!)
(to be continued)
