Thursday, August 28, 2014

You Won't Know It's Yummy Unless You Taste It


Reema turned six this year. And from the day she celebrated her sixth birthday, she started feeling that she had become a big girl.

You could see her big girl attitude in many of her actions lately. She organized her school bag all by herself. She made her bed everyday immediately after she woke up in the morning. She brushed her teeth on time every morning and every evening without any reminders from her mom and dad. She finished her homework without being nagged anymore. She made sure that she found enough time daily to play some games. In short she had started doing many activities on her own initiative and that too quite independently.

Her mom and dad were very appreciative of the good change in her. They would say, "Reema, we are so proud of you, you have become so organized!" Reema liked the praise showered on her by her parents.

Her parents were now looking forward to her taking liking to some food items that were really good for her health but for some reason she had developed a dislike for them. These food items included eggs and certain egg preparations though she wouldn't mind eating the cakes that had egg in them. Rather she loved cakes.

Her mom thought of re-introducing eggs in her meals. One day she prepared caramelized egg pudding. She placed the pudding on an attractive serving dish and brought it on the dining table. She had prepared some other nice dishes too. That day her mom had invited some guests for dinner. The guests included their family friends- two couples and their two daughters Ana and Neena. Ana and Neena were of Reema's age.

When all of them settled around the dining table for their dinner, Reema's mom requested, "Kindly go ahead with the dinner."

Reema was not a fussy eater in the normal course but lately she had become a bit choosy. And certainly she had reservations about the egg and egg preparations. So she ate the soup and the main course but when it was egg pudding's turn she declared, "Today I do not wish to take the dessert because my tummy is already quite full and it can't additionally take the pudding even if I want to." She didn't whine or sounded ill-mannered in refusing to eat the egg pudding. She was quite polite and nice outwardly but inside she was quite upset and angry.

She thought, "Why mom has to make egg pudding and make me eat it? Perhaps my mom thought that in front of the guests and my friend Ana and Neena I would not make a scene and eat the pudding quietly. But she is wrong. I am still refusing to eat it and my friends still don't know that I do not eat eggs. Am I not smart?"

Everyone else on the table ate the egg pudding with gusto. The guests praised it profusely saying, "The egg pudding is brilliantly delicious." The girls Ana and Neena chirped, "Hey Reema, it is super yummy. Please eat it. Please. If you don't eat it you are going to miss it badly. We are going in for the second helping and will eat your share too."

After hearing what Ana and Neena and their parents had to say about the egg pudding, Reema started repenting for refusing to eat the pudding. She was feeling sad about the yummy pudding. But she had a big ego because now she was a big girl.  Once having refused how could she volunteer to ask for it? It was a prestige issue for her.

Her mom was looking at Reema's face and her body language. She knew what was happening in her daughter's mind. After all a mother always knows what goes on in her child's mind without child speaking about it. She knew that Reema wanted to eat the egg pudding but her ego was coming in her way. And therefore she was sulking.

Her mom had told Reema many times that sulking never solved any problem. But Reema didn't know how to get out of her sulking mood. She was looking at mom to help her out.

Mom realizing that her daughter was seeking her help to come out of her sulking mood said, "Reema, see your friend Ana and Neena want you to give them your company in eating the pudding which they think is very yummy. You won't know it's yummy unless you taste it. And if you find that it's yummy you may like to eat at least a small portion of it just to give them the company."

"You are right mommy. I won't know it's yummy unless I taste it. Can you please serve a bit of it on my plate just to taste it," Reema said.

Then Reema tasted the small portion of the egg pudding and she exclaimed, "Wow, it's really super super yummy. I think my stomach will make some room for it even if it is full."

Then she served two scoops full of pudding on her plate and gave company to Ana and Neena.

Reema's mom and dad felt glad to see happiness on their daughter's face.

Novels and Stories

Novel "Good People" http://good-people-novel.blogspot.com/
Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories http://funny-shortstories.blogspot.com/
Stories Children Will Love http://stories-children.blogspot.com/

The novel "Good People", "Funny (and Not So Funny) Short Stories" and "Stories Children Will Love" are available in the form of eBook and printed book from Amazon online. Hurry up, get your copies.

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