
We've never been big on chinese food in the household- Not proper Cantonese dumplings, but I mean the Chow Mein etc that passes for Chinese food in most Western countries. Mainly because my daughter has a nasty peanut allergy, and often peanut oil is used to stir-fry the veg.
So why, when I made a chickenish dish this afternoon, did I catch her eating with chop sticks? And not fumbling, eating like a sage? Perfect grip! I can't eat with chopsticks like that!
I was very impressed, until later.
We'd finished the main course, and were on to dessert- store-bought icecreams, and I found myself choking up over the words 'Hannah! You can't eat icecream with chopsticks!' But she could. And she did. I can't even play chopsticks on the piano.
How the heck does a child learn spontaneous chopstick grip? Surely she could be bestowed a more useful gift, like unravelling mysteries of physics?
I could try and pimp her to a chinese advertising agency, make her weight in yuan.