There is a small hairdresser family business close to where we live and where all of us three go to get our hair cut. Niklas and his father got their haircuts about two weeks ago. Last week, it was my turn. I picked Niklas at his crèche and we headed to Markus and Tanja. Niklas said that he was going to get cookies there, where he certainly did every time. So, he was sure of this time as well. When we arrived, Markus met him with a cheerful: “Hello, Niklas, my friend!” Niklas loved this and smiled, a bit blushing, but happy nonetheless to be greeted in such a way. There were some people waiting and all smiled at him. After taking his jacket off, Niklas headed to the cookie jar. He certainly had his share.

While I was getting my hair cut by Tanja, Niklas was playing with his toy-cars and was demonstrating to Markus what his cars can do. He loved being asked about his cars. For a short moment he was even ready to give one of the cars to Tanja, but then thought differently of this.

After my hair was done, Tanja gave Niklas a smooze fruit ice and then she and I went to the cashier machine, so that I could pay. Niklas asked me what I was doing. I told him about paying for my haircut. He said that he wanted to pay for his ice cream. He didn’t want to hear that this was a gift and insisted on paying for it. So I gave him a 20 Danish Crones coin and he paid to Tanja. She wanted to equal my payment by subtracting this sum, but I insisted that the smooze was a separate item paid by Niklas. My two-and-a-half-years old son was very content with this move from my side. He nodded very solemnly.

When we came home and had our supper we talked about what we got at the hairdresser’s. When I prompted that he got an ice cream, he insisted that he didn’t get it, but buy it. Then we talked about haircuts and when I touched my shortly cut hair Niklas asked: “Do you have now a new head?”

From outside, the big toy store in our city was less attractive to my two-and-a-half-years old son than a fashion store. The latter had big screens with bright colored lights and the former was cluttered with so many things that you could not look through. The fashion store was first on our way and my son hurried inside being sure that we could buy something for him there. On my argument, that the things there were too big for him, he said: “I am big! I reach up into the air!”

Niklas is here 2,5 years old.

–        February/March, 2013 –

This morning Niklas has expressed a wish to brush his teeth while I was brushing mine. In order to do so, he brought his little stool into our narrow bathroom, put it in front of the sink and stepped resolutely onto it. I spread his light blue, glittery and translucent toothpaste on his sophisticated junior toothbrush.

After handing Niklas his tooth-brushing tool, I did the same with mine. Because of my fruit intolerance, I use a toothpaste free of sorbitol and other with “-tol” ending ingredients. At least two of those I tried so far have a strange pinkish color of teeth-ridge, including the one I use today.

When Niklas saw my toothpaste, his face changed from smiling one to one full with disgust and he proclaimed: “Den kan ikke smage godt!” which translated from Danish means: “That cannot taste good!” All I could do is agree with him.