In this memory, my little brother is two years old. He has recently learned how to count numbers, and he wants to practice his new knowledge whenever and wherever possible. Every day, when he goes to bathroom with our mother to poop, while squatting over the toilet bowl, he holds out his hand and shape it into a number.
“This is… ONE!!”
Then he makes two with his numbers.
“This is… TWO!!”
My brother now makes three with his fingers.
“This is… THREE!!”
His counting continues until the moment he leaves the bathroom.
In our old apartment block, we share the hallway with one neighbour. One day, she tells my mother with a smile that she often hears my brother’s counting voice in the hallway She thinks it is lovely. My mother laughs.
“I really don’t understand why he has to count numbers while sitting in the toilet among all the places in the world!”