when I was a child i loved to embark on little projects (very much, I'm sure, like everyone else) that gave my little heart such a joy bump - often eliciting my quiet giggles or humming and after that, appreciative 'ooohs and aaahs' or 'What in the world have you done to my <insert an adult's belonging here>?!' from adults (depending on the circumstances).

like the time i drew an impressive picture of Ariel from Walt Disney's The Little Mermaid, on tracing paper. i was seven. i proudly gifted it to my grandmother, who thought it was all sorts of awesome that i should draw more so she could hand them out to my cousins when she visited them. i stopped at the third Ariel cos it got tiring and also cos Ariel was starting to look wonky. i told grandma my cousins can draw their own. heh.

or the other time when i decided Mom's kebaya needed a makeover and started to happily snip away the middle section. the joy bump disappeared as soon as i heard mom coming to her room. let's just say all the creativity whooshed away and in its place stood Fear. i clumsily shoved the disgraced pieces of delicate fabric under mom's wardrobe in hopes of her not noticing my little project on her kebaya. of course she noticed it right away and i was duly punished (after the all-too-familiar 'What in the world have you done to my ...?!' )

but i have to say, the one childhood project that ranks top in my head wasn't one of mine but rather one of my youngest brother's. i remember it was a lazy Sunday morning. he (Syafiq) was four and still talked with a cute lisp. his older brother (Arif, whom he calls Ayep) was lying on the floor watching TV while he was seated on the couch at the back of the living room. now, Syafiq is usually a very chatty kid - he just wouldn't shut up. so when Arif realised that Syafiq had been quiet for way too long (3 minutes or so) he decided to look up and see what he was up to. sure enough, he was up to something. he had snipped off chunks of the front part of his hair with a pair of scissors (god knows where he got those from ) so much so he looked like some crazy dude who got his hair cut by a blind barber, in the dark. he even had the cheek to plaster a huge grin on his face and enthusiastically ask Arif, 'Ayep, lawa tak, Yep?' (read: 'Ayep, how do I look, Yep?' ). Arif almost died of a heart attack. he shouted, 'YOU CUT YOUR HAIR?!' this of course roused Mom's attention, who came out of her room and flipped. half an hour and a real barber visit later, Syafiq came home with a buzz cut (damage control). ah fun times.

on a different note altogether, teaching a class of ten year olds after they've just had their recess (on a rainy day) = not very pleasant. let's just say, wet socks in an air-conditioned room isn't the best idea.

on yet a different note, children and markers should never be put together. this just proves my whole 'childhood project' theory.