by SU DHARMAPALA
Tony Abbott could learn something from my funny little four-year old. You see, four year old children are disarmingly honest and forthright.
My son only really started speaking properly recently. It was like he held everything in for a long time and he is now letting it all out. So while I am terribly proud of this suddenly articulate little man who uses words like “terribly spectacular”, I am also desperately trying to teach him tact.
Case in point: last week at Woolworths we were at the checkout when a lady who was morbidly obese queued behind us.
Now, we had been reading a great deal about the body and good nutrition lately so it didn’t surprise me much when my son mumbled something about fat cells. Having a background in biochemistry, I had explained to him that excess sugar gets stored as fat. But I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me whole when he pointed to the fizzy drinks in her cart and said in a loud voice, “My mummy says fizzy drinks gives you fat cells and you are already have loads of fat cells. Why do you want to collect more?”
I was genuinely trapped. I could not back out and leave – I had unloaded half my cart already – so I took refuge in apologising profusely and admonishing my child for rudeness. I was mortified. At which point my son took umbrage and called me on it.
“But you tell me to always tell the truth! And I was telling the truth. This lady has loads of fat cells. Why does she want more?”