Babes-toddlers

Sitting on the bus last week, which is a bit of a feat on its own, as even though I get on at the first bus stop as my number 43 bus leaves the terminal, a mad scramble begins. Manouvering your
way between the barriers as to where is the ideal spot to stand, can be ruined by some other
brighter spark than you, who has now decided to stand in front of the barrier on the narrow kerb
ledge, so as to be the first for the 10 metre sprint to be the one to bag the seat on the bus!! You may well ask why I do not do the same, but not being as lightfooted as a gazelle, I choose to stand safely within the stampede, sharpening my elbows carefully each morning before I leave home, to be able to push myself effortlessly through the throng!

So, as I was sitting in one of my two favorite seats on the bus (these are singles just in front of the turntable accordion that connects the long buses) I noticed a child in front of me, dressed to the hilt as a michelin man, roughly at the age of 9 months sitting on his mother's lap. In China what I have noticed amongst the younger children, is that firstly you do not see any babe under the age of 6 months out on the streets and should you, they are usually being pushed in a stroller by an expat!! To this date, I have not seen any chinese person pushing a baby in a pushchair below the age of a year and that too being highly unusual.

I will stop a moment to add here, that on a recent trip to the Carrefour supermarket chain, at the checkout I was surprised to see a couple (of course plus grandmother) purchasing a simple stroller, only to understand too quickly that these people were in fact not Chinese, but Japenese!

As you go around the city, it is not common to see many young children out and about, as here the kindergarden for the very young will be staying at home with one of the grandparents, aunts or uncles etc.. As most young couples do not have children till they are in their mid thirties, due to the one child ruling and the need to build a career and save some money, the grandparents could well be at retirement age, so as to enable them to help the younger family.

The one child ruling is very difficult for some and an ideal solution for others. The downside of it is more for the children than the adults, as it puts enormous pressure on the child to succeed and allows them to become king of the roost.

As back to the bus, I was just glancing at the baby in arms, as I miss my little grand-daughter so much and remember when she was only a few weeks old, taking her in her carrier to the supermarket with me (never too young to shop for chocolate) when I noticed what appeared to be a toggle from his snow suit between his legs. To my utter amazement I realized that this was not in fact a piece from his garment, but his small penis hanging freely exposed between his legs!!

I was so shocked that this baby was wrapped up so well all over, but his bottom and private parts were exposed not only to fellow travellers, but also to the elements, that I mentioned it more than once to others to understand why this would occur and if I was right in not saying anything. Well. my astonishment was soon to become a mouth opening gape, as I was informed
that it is the norma for babies in China to go freely without a nappy, only wearing one maybe in the first weeks of their life, until they will eventually become toilet trained.

China worries incessantly at present as to what the west will say about them at the olympics, but what concerns me more is what visitors will think about the toilet habits here of this nation.
Children freely relieve themselves in public places, both boys and girls and I have been told that peeing on the bus by a young child is also common on the more local services (something I myself have not seen) plus in the supermarket. Going once to the public toilets and being shown the hole in the ground, this of course put me off for the rest of my stay. Probably more hygenic than a toilet seat, I am afraid that it is not for me.

The shocks though did not stop coming, as when I was teaching a young class of 3 - 5 year olds (english is begun at a very young age here, something that we could learn from) one mother knocked on the door, made her son stand up and pulled down his pants whilst she held a paper
cup in front of him for him to pee in.

I am not sure if this behaviour is left over from the middle ages, when to be the kings privy servant was considered a great honor and one held by either an aristocrat or clergy! These children are made to feel that they are the rulers of the house, which it appears to be so, with little discipline and lots of spoiling. To the latter, well I am guilty of the same, but to be told off when you do something wrong, should be done, with no physical punishment, just a look or tone of voice - but how that is possible when they are encouraged to pick their noses, go to the toilet where they please, not use a tissue to blow their noses, but have it blown for them - I dont know.