APAD 115: Lotus

My six year old niece, Beebop, has taken a liking for writing. At her age, I am amazed at how adept she is at that, even writing text messages to us. Being a big fan of old-fashioned letter-writing, I encourage her a lot. I think writing, and reading (my other love), are worthwhile pursuits that improves the mind of children without spending a lot of money.

Last year when her father, my younger brother, went home for the Christmas holidays, I sent Beebop a handwritten letter to go with the small present that I bought for her. As her aunt, I want to give something to her that will allow her to practice her love for writing and her creativity.  So instead of the usual toys and clothes, I gifted her with a nice writing paper, several rolls of deco tapes and some twines. It is up to her – I thought – what she’ll make of them. She texted me back when she received it. She said she loved it so much.

When her father returned to Phnom Penh, naturally, my niece sent me a parcel in return with my name written on the brown paper bag, in her own handwriting. Inside the parcel were goodies from home – packs of piaya, dried mangoes, etc. – that I sorely missed. But the “star” of the package was the sweet thank you note with cute doodles like any six year old would draw.

So anyway, to encourage her love for written words further, I sent her a postcard last Sunday. It has a nice yellow lotus flower on the stamp.

Postcards and stamps are also good educational tools to learn about the many places and things around the world. With the help of imagination, postcards and stamps take you just about anywhere without leaving your home!

It’s a pity that with everyone around her busy with chores everyday, there is no one she can really turn to. But I hope that by engaging her in a letter exchange with me, she will learn to love the written words through letters as much as I have. And I’m very much here to support her. I wonder how she’ll react when she receives the postcard. I also hope she notices the hand-stamped animals there 🙂