The naivety and brilliance of kids amuse me; some children can speak with such coherence and gusto, but yet at the same time, exude a childlike innocence that reminds us that they are still kids at the end of the day. My neighbours’ daughter recently returned home with 2 tots in tow for a short visit and they showed me why kids can be so adorable sometimes.

The older one, a girl, is 6 years old, outspoken, and has this exuberance about her; the younger, a boy, is slightly over one, cheery and always having a smile on his face. The girl would almost always run over to the gate to say hello whenever she hears the jingle of keys coming from any one of my family returning home. And whenever she goes out, she would sometimes peer in through my gates to see if anyone was home.

Her brother, on the other hand, lives in a world of his own. He likes hanging out near the doorway where I could see him and every so often, gets distracted by his next door neighbours. That and opening lift doors. He reacts to these by frantically pointing, uttering incomprehensible babble, but always wearing a smile so infectious that’s sure to brighten up anyone’s day.

A couple of days before they return to Australia, my Mum noticed both of them, standing by the gate, sulking and looking despondent. Sensing that something was amiss, she probe further and learnt that their mother went out and locked them in the apartment alone. Or so it seems. The girl then told my Mum a sob story of how pitiful they were, how they didn’t have anything to eat, and maybe their mother didn’t want them anymore.

Fortunately, at the end of the day, it was all a misunderstanding. Their mother was actually out hanging laundry in the balcony but the girl was mistaken that she had left the apartment to do so, like back in Aussie, and didn’t return. My Mum didn’t quite buy the girl’s story because as a parent herself, she can’t imagine that any parent would leave their children that young home alone.

Funny the story may be, this episode reminds me that kids are still kids, no matter how mature their conversations may reflect them to be. It’s their childlike innocence and senseless gibberish jabbers that makes them adorable. Now that they have gone back home, days are quieter and less cheery. It’s no wonder some say kids are bundles of joy for their families and people around them!