This happened last year, when Shreyas was almost 4.
We were moving from Abu Dhabi to Singapore and while my husband was going directly to Singapore to find accommodation, school etc., me and Shreyas were going to Chennai for sometime to stay with my parents.
Shreyas was really excited about going to Chennai and staying with his grandparents. But true to his nature, he was also worried about leaving his grandparents alone again and going to Singapore. So, just to stop him from worrying I’d told him that once we settle down in the new place, his grandparents will come and live with us, which made him really happy.
When we were getting ready to go to Chennai, I advised him on rules that he has to follow in the new place and also warned him that Chennai was famous for mosquitoes and every night he has to strictly follow the night-time ritual of taking bath and then applying the mosquito repellent cream. (FYI, Shreyas absolutely hates mosquitoes and the mosquito repellent cream, hence the warning).When he heard this I could see that he was really scared, but he did not say anything and so i left it at that.
The next day, just before we were going to leave home for the airport he came to me and asked seriously, “Amma, you know what, grandpa and grandma are anyway going to come to Singapore to stay with us, do we still have to visit them in Chennai? Can’t we directly go to Singapore ? We can have fun when they come to Singapore.” I knew the reason behind this idea of his and asked him if he was scared because of mosquitoes and he clearly refused.
Male ego, you see 🙂