Peter's defiance

It was a day care for kids. With more than a dozen kids, Lolita was busy daily except weekends. She had a young maid to assist her. The toddlers and children came around 8 am and were picked by 3 pm by their mom or dad. There were lots of toys, dolls, building blocks, toy trains and even play area with slides and swings. They were provided with materials for drawing, coloring, and picture books for reading. They could play till 11 am when they should have something to eat and then sleep for two hours on the beds assigned to each.

The kids though noisy were generally obedient and never threw any tantrums. They may sometimes resist eating or going to bed but generally yielded to persuasion. Today Lolita’s neighbor Agnes had to go out of town very early in the morning and was expected in the evening. Her husband was on tour. She came with Peter and requested that he be taken care of for just this day. She agreed though Peter was demonstratively unwilling to stay. He would not allow Agnes to leave till he finally relented after she sat by his side cajoling and pampering him.

Lolita knew from his face that he had not taken kindly to her. He didn’t mingle with other children even when they exhibited interest to play with him. He stood glum for a while in a corner. There were tears at the corner of his eyes as he looked at the closed front door. This is perhaps the first time he had been left behind by Agnes.

The other children were enjoying playing games or sliding or swinging. Some were busy coloring. One boy climbed up the stairs two or three steps and jumped down. Suddenly Peter jumped on the sofa standing on legs.
“Peter, get down. No standing on the sofa. They will get dirty” Lolita said sternly. He paid no heed to her and started bouncing on the sofa like a madcap. The rest of the children stopped playing and watched curiously with subdued mirth at his disobedience. Lolita obviously could not permit this defiance in front of other toddlers. She grabbed him by his ear and brought him down. With a mournful look that showed hostility, he went to a corner of the room. He turned a deaf ear when the kids called him. She decided that she will no more agree to keep him. She was after all doing this work as social service to the community.

When it was time for food all the children ate bread sandwich, some cookies and drank the milk. Some did with relish while a few did unwillingly with grimace on their faces. But none refused except Peter.He would not touch them and instead turned his face towards the door expectantly. When she forced him, he spilt the milk on the carpet. Lolita turned towards the children and asked them to go back to the hall. She forced Peter to stay back.

“C’mon, Peter, I say eat the bread and drink the milk. You are spoiling other children with your bad behavior.”

He kept mum even after repeated cajoling. She did not get the hint that he was not happy to be here and wanted to go back to his home. There was nothing she could to make him eat. It was time for sleep. While some children went to sleep, a few pretended and were watching Peter through the corner of their eyes.

It was then the buzzer rang. Surprised who it could be, Lolita went to open the door with Peter following her. It was Agnes and Peter jumped on to her   shouting ‘bow wow, bow wow’ and wagging his tail in great glee. Agnes was equally delighted hugging him and rubbing her face on his wet nose. Lolita heaved a great sigh of relief and turned to Peter only to see the hostility had vanished and his tail was wagging happily.