What Was That, Again?

I have a Roo story. But it’s hush-hush okay, because Roo gets embarrassed when I tell Roo stories to people. So promise me you won’t laugh out loud.

Roo likes animals, especially cats and dogs. Whenever he sees them, whether on the street, or at the park, he will always stop and say hello. When he goes too close, his dad would say, “Now, Roo, you don’t know the cat (or dog) okay, and they don’t know you, so you cannot pet or touch them.” So the rule is, if he doesn’t know the animal, or vice versa, he’d better not touch them. Because those animals might bite, scratch or hurt him.

One afternoon, I was in the kitchen, when my hated of all pests, a cockroach, walked down the wall right in front of me. See, I can tolerate mice, any kind of lizard, or even snakes. But cockroach, no. I get all frantic and jumpy when I see them. Roo stopped playing when he heard me shriek, “Cock-roooooach!” Immediately, he came to the kitchen gate and asked, “Are you okay, mommy?”

After things quieted down, or rather, I calmed down, I sat at the table to eat mangoes with Roo. He was all questions.

“Mommy, why are you scared of the cockroach?”

“Mommy, is daddy scared of the cockroach too?”

I explained that I’m not really scared, like frightened, of a cockroach. I just find them disgusting. I don’t want to see them in the house. And that, no, his daddy is not scared of the cockroach.

Roo was quiet for a moment, as if processing everything I said. After a while, he looked up and asked so innocently,

“Mommy, why is daddy not scared of the cockroach?  Does daddy know the cockroach?”