Biskey, the Dream Teacher

Biskey, the Dream Teacher

Today I took my son to KFC.  I like chicken, but only the breast, and usually in HK when I order, I never get breast, despite repeated requests for it.  Today, as usual, when I tried to order, the woman insisted she was giving me breast, when I knew it was thigh, and sure enough, when I sat down, it was thigh, which I dislike. 

Disappointed, I tried to find a way to deal with my disappointment in a positive way.  Rather than blame the worker for not understanding me, I said, “Kai, this is my problem.  I only like breast meat, but I have never learned how to express this in Cantonese.  I can’t be upset because I need to learn how to explain myself better in their language.  But I wish I were eating breast right now.”   

Kai surprised me with an entirely different point of view.  “You know Mommy, the important thing is that you have food to eat.  It doesn’t matter if it is thigh or breast; at least you have something to eat and enjoy.  That’s what’s important in life. 

"It’s like when I wanted to play in the park when we went to “put-put” golf.  I really wanted to play there more, but we had to go someplace else.  At first, I was disappointed because I wanted to enjoy it more, but then I realized that the place we were going might be just as fun, so I decided to look forward to the new place rather than feel sad about leaving.” 

“And you were absolutely right, weren’t you, Kai?  We went to my friend’s house and you made a good friend and played with him all night and really loved it there!” 

“Yeah, so I learned it’s better to think about what the good points are instead of feeling bad about the sad points.” 

Now, I am a bit of a pessimist, and any effort I make to look on the bright side of things is usually a concerted effort on my part.  I have been trying though to be more positive in my thinking.  I had thought it was a positive thing to say the problem was mine because I need to communicate better, but Kai one-upped me with his belief that I should be grateful for having any food at all.  Just as he surprised me the day at the park, when he decided that he wasn’t going to feel sad about leaving, because the next place might be just as fun.  I was pretty blown away by that mature comment that day as well.  

He really surprises me with his wisdom sometimes, far beyond his years. 

So I asked him, “Who taught you to have such a wonderful attitude?”  (thinking he would say Daddy or somebody, but his answer completely surprised me.)

“I learned it in my dreams.”

“In….your….dreams?  And who teaches you?”

“I don’t remember her whole name; it’s pretty long.  But it’s like Biskey.  She lived in Japan.  And then moved to South Africa, but she didn’t like South Africa much, because she was always being chased and she was tired of running, so she went back to Japan and now she’s in Hong Kong.  She teaches kids, and babies, how to do things, like taste and smell and enjoy.  She made a class and I’m in her class.  I talk to her a lot, in my dreams. She knows English too.   I learned those ideas from her. 

She looks like a big tree.  At first, I thought she was a tree, but she isn’t.  She’s a girl.  And she is always teaching me things.  She has been teaching for a long time.  She taught you, Mommy, when you were two years old.  She taught you how to love.”

Kai looks at me with shining eyes, and rocks back and forth in his chair as he eats his chicken, grinning ear to ear. 

I don’t know what to make of this story.  Part of me really wants to believe there is a Biskey in the world, teaching children how to love and think positively.  It was a pretty elaborate story to come up with off the top of one’s head.  If it was just a story, I’m pretty impressed by the elaborate story scheme and character development.  If it’s true…..there are certainly stranger things in this world.  

Who would Biskey be?  A dead relative?   Many people in my family, including myself, have a gift of communicating with the dead in our dreams.  Has this gift been passed on to my son? 

Could it be an Angel?  Most religions have angelic figures in their mythology, and there is no reason to not believe that there are probably life forms on Earth living in a different plane of existence, which we have called gods and angles, for lack of a better name.  It’s cool to think there is an angel that instructs kids in their dreams how to live a positive life.

Anyway, thank you Biskey, whomever or whatever you are,  for teaching my son such wise and wonderful concepts.  Hopefully, through him, I can learn these lessons too. 

Or re-learn them, apparently.