Little Honest Little

I have had the experience of telling the truth and was punished for it. I have always thought that honesty is the best policy. It keeps me confident and I am not worried of the outcome as my conscience is left without a blemish. Some have appreciated me for this skill and some have shunned me away as they think that honesty will get me nowhere in today’s world. How did I develop this skill in me? Well it’s been only 3 years since I adopted this skill set and it was taught to me by a child of 2 years.

My nephew, now 5 years old, had this uncanny habit of being honest and blunt about his actions and thoughts. He must have been a little over 2 and being very attached to me used to love going on short bike rides with me. On one such bike ride, I was to go and buy some goodies for christmas from a nearby shopping mall. We were maybe the first to enter the mall that morning and while in the mall, we passed a bakery which had some very good cookies and the both of us wanted to taste some. There was an offer at the bakery of buying 1 kg of cookies and getting a christmas CD and a visit to Santa Claus. I thought of this as a good occasion to introduce him to Santa Clause and I asked for his approval if he wanted to see Santa which he gladly agreed to in the greed of having the cookies.

We bought the cookies and were enjoying it as we walked towards the stall which was housing Santa Clause and all the children were meeting him there. Since we were the first we had all the volunteers approaching us and greeting us. They were some good looking women in the entrance who captured my attention and also my nephews as he was dumb founded and out of words when he saw them and greeted them with silence. As we proceeded into the stall, he took notice of a man in a red suit with big white beard and didnt budge a step ahead. He did not want to proceed any further as he was scared off his wits, I carried him and sat next to Santa Clause in the hope that he will not feel scared if I were to show him that there was nothing wrong with it. But he was reluctant to let go of me or be anywhere near Santa. He held on to me for his life and wouldnt let go. I did not want to push it so I clicked a picture and moved out of the stall. As we exited the stall he stopped crying and was all normal again(thanks to the beautiful helpers in red and green). I kept teasing him on the way back home that he got scared of Santa Clause when he had agreed to meet him.

On reaching home, he hollered to his mother, "Momma, you know I cried. I cried because I got scared of Santa Clause!" I was stunned, I thought he would be so ashamed of the incident that he would not want to share it with anyone, on the contrary he was the one promoting his story and narrating the incident to everyone of what had happened? This blew me away, there were many other incidents which showcased how this child was so proud of his flaws and had no restrictions of telling the world of it. But we as matured adults are scared to show our weakness or flaws to the world in the fear that we will be ridiculed or made fun of!

I proudly say it was my nephew who had inculcated a sense of true honesty in me and helped me grow into a better person. I am not sure if even today he knows what a great teaching he has imparted to me. When he could barely speak clear words his actions were loud enough for me to take notice and add it to my life!