Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Moral Philosophy Lesson with Paolo

after all these years, i still never know when im going to be handed a pop quiz on Life.

last night, Paolo and Bea were still up watching Aladdin on Disney Channel, while i was already in bed falling off to sleep.

a little while later, Paolo nudged me and asked, "Mama, Aladdin is a hero but he's also a thief. is it okay to be a thief and be a hero too?"

groggily, i stalled for time as i searched my brain for some satisfying answer, "I don't know, palangga ("my loved one" in Ilonggo, our native language), what does Aladdin steal?"

"Aladdin steals food when he's hungry. "

"I see... well... stealing is still bad, honey, but how do you feel about Aladdin's stealing?"

"I feel sorry for him because he's hungry."

"Hmmm... makes you want to forgive him huh?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, i guess it depends on your reason for stealing too..."

Paolo thought about it for a while, then ran back to the TV.

i thought i handled that pretty well, and so i went back to sleep.

a few moments later, he ran back to the room and shook me, "Mama, Aladdin's problem is solved!"

"huh???... what... how come?"

"he can eat dozens of grapes and apples and oranges now!"

"how did he do that?"

"he found a rich girlfriend, Jasmine the princess!"

: S

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps there will be a Jasmine in Paolo`s future. : )

Timothy said...

so, the answer to my probems is a rich princess? see, i knew it all along! so, where is she?

Nine Lives said...

hahaa.. thanks for your comments, guys.

Paolo's perspective really jarred me into realizing how men (even little soon-to-be-men)think while watching fairy tales.

We big and little girls swoon over the romance and fantasy of it all (and never question the improbability and illogic), while men can see other things into it, huh?