Children on the Subway

Okay, so I just recently moved to New York City. Like most New Yorkers, I move around this town via subway about 90% of the time, and for the most part my rides are uneventful. How could they be memorable when people are sitting around with a hazy, detached look in their eyes? Yesterday though, might stick in my mind for awhile. Sitting before me was not the regular dreary adult subway rider on his way to work or home or an event; it was a family of four: a father, a mother, and two little kids. For all you New Yorkers, an entire family on a subway is a very unusual sight to see.

I sat there observing this family for a good 30 minutes on my way to Lower Manhattan. The father, probably Dominican ( half black/ half Latin) sat there like a thug with his baggy jeans, over-sized shirt, and an expression on his face that gave-off a distaste for having kids and a family. The mother, however, was more attentive to her two kids consisting of one girl, probably age 6, and one boy, probably age 2.

The 2 year old boy sat in a stroller, and his older sister sat on one of the subway seats. This little 2 year old boy is probably the cutest thing you would have ever seen. The chubbiest thing you could have imagined, he was squealing in an efforts to communicate to his sister. He tried to grab everything his sister was grabbing, from the subway pole she grabbed on to, to any object she was taking from the stroller he sat in. From how he followed his sister's every move, there was a strong connection between these two.

Before leaving the train, I heard the two year old boy trying with every effort to communicate to his sister; however, his efforts only lead to inaudible noises. His sister, in an attempt to bond with him, began mimicking his noises; if he were to babble, she would babble, if he were to squeal, she would squeal. This back and forth play was so funny, and it reverberated throughout the train car. And as the train doors opened to let me out, I could still hear the younger brother squeal to his older sister, while the older sister would mimic his noises. I love the simplicity of childhood, and the logic that governs those years.