My kids – they don’t look anything like me. I’ve been mistaken for their carer instead of their mother so many times I’ve lost count nor care any more. Some won’t believe till one of my kids blurt out, “mama” to call me in public.

Most of their behavior are from their father too…well except one: love for geography, especially Benjamin.

Maps!

Benjamin started to show his interest with the map on our living room wall before he turned two years old. I guess he was attracted to the colors and I taught him the countries which he gladly, openly accepted. He easily memorized some of them, the big, prominent ones.

I took down the map when we rearranged furnitures in the living room and it has not been up on the wall for almost a year. The almost worn out map was rolled and kept in one corner in the bedroom, forgotten, gathering dust. Last night, when I moved some things, Benjamin saw it and exclaimed gleefully, “Mama, the map! the map! I found the map, let’s put it up again!”

Oh yeah. That map. I put it up near his bed and within his reach when he’s on top of the bed. So last night, instead of reading books during bed time, he had fun pointing at the map and oh my God, he still remembers some of the countries, even if he had not seen the map for almost a year! I love it when his face lights up every time I clap and kiss him whenever he proudly points to: America! Greenland! Italy! Brazil! Philippines! Japan! Australia! India! Madagascar!

Oh, Benjamin. The places you’ll go. When I was seven, my father gave me the most precious and memorable gift: The World Atlas book. I spent so much time flipping through the pages of that book while it laid flat on the floor (it was huge). My father would show me the countries and what’s in there, the history, etc. That opened up my passion for leaning about new things, love for history and travelling to places I have never seen.