From the mouth of babes

After a nice lunch, my wife and son are in the mood for an afternoon siesta. A common
practice here, which my parents also follow. Though I don't have this habit, the incessant
rains make it feel like it would be good to curl up in bed. So, the three of us hit the bed
for a short nap.

But like always, it is a tough thing to get my son to take a nap. He sits up on the bed and
starts playing with his 'laptop'. It is actually a plastic cuboidal bag in which came his plastic
alphabet/number blocks. It has a string handle which he slings around his neck and acts
as if he is typing on the laptop. And the following conversation ensues between Mom & son.

Aman : Why does Dad have to go to Madras ?
Mom : Because he needs to work.

Aman : Why does Dad need to work ?
Mom : So that he can earn money.

Aman : Why does Dad need to earn money ?
Mom : So that he can buy you all sorts of toys. You want toys, don't you ?

Aman : No, I don't want any toys.
Mom : You don't ? Why ? I thought you liked toys.

Aman : No, I don't like any toys.

Silence ensues for a few minutes, while Aman gets back to his laptop and we try to sleep.

Aman : Mom, I want a new car. A blue one.
Mom : Ask your Dad. See, this is why he needs to work. So that he can buy cars for you.

Aman : But he can just buy it from Madras.
Mom : Yeah, but don't we need money to buy cars ?

Aman : Yes, I will make money.
Mom : (Wide-eyed now) How will you make money ?

Aman : I will do work.
Mom : What work will you do ?

Aman : I will do the same work that Dad does and make money.
Mom : You will work on the laptop like him and make money ?

Aman : Yes.

I am listening to the whole thing and wonder if kids of my generation were also like this.
The stuff that kids of today talk seem to be so much beyond their age. Maybe it is the
kind of exposure they have from birth. They grow up with mobile phones, internet, DVD
players, cars, air-travel etc etc, most of which in my childhood were just ideas in the minds
of their inventors. Well, we learn new things every day.