Being a child certainly has its perks. You can pretty much get away with anything on this planet and people will say, ‘Aww, how cute!’, ‘Isn’t that adorable?’ and ‘My, my. That’s a BIG word for a toddler,’ and more to that effect.

I am constantly reminded of this fact when I see my 5 year old playing and making up stories as she goes along. The other day , I was up to my ears (possibly, even my brain) in work, when she strutted into the room, with a white teddybear tucked under one arm and a big, hairy doll (which for the life of me I can’t identify!) held in the other.

She walked straight upto me and declared, ‘Amma, I need you to say hi to somebody’. Only half-listening, I muttered, ‘Ah? Ya, okay, sure, Hi’. I then went back to my work. She wouldn’t budge from that spot until I dropped my pen and turned around to look her squarely in the eye.

She held out the teddy bear, smiled and said, ‘Say hi to Akatapichuku’!

I stared, not knowing whether I should laugh or smile and finally went with a smothered chuckle. I said, ‘That can’t be his name.’

She looked at me with a pert expression and said, ‘I know. It is a funny name, but I like it and that’s his name’.

Well, how do you argue with logic  like that? And to her credit, she had everyone from the grandparents to a local family friend addressing the bear by that name by the end of the day. There’s something to be said for the tenacity of a toddler.