Indian kids are naughtier than American kids!??

My daughter is getting to be a Master Brat. A friend of ours whose son is just six weeks elder to my daughter came on her annual visit to her family in Bangalore. My friend’s son is American born and raised but of Indian parentage, my daughter is American born but Indian raised of mixed parentage.

My friend’s son is a sweet, quiet, well-behaved little boy. My daughter is very sweet with episodes of extreme naughtiness in between episodes of sweetness.

We met up at the boy’s grandmother’s house. My daughter started out nice, giving hugs and shaking hands. The boy wasn’t very enthusiastic about being with her, since he had just woken up from a nap. Over the course of the afternoon, my daughter pushed him three times, knocking him over once; wedged herself between his mother and him in order to gobble up his snacks; chased him away from the windows she was hogging. I scolded her at each point and took her out of the room in some cases. I also apologized to my friend for her behavior.

My friend said, “Actually, it’s nice to see a child who’s a little naughty.”

“Why, because she’s not your kid?,” I quipped.

“She’s completely normal for an Indian kid. Indian kids are naughtier than American kids, because there’s so many adults around to dote on them,” she elaborated.

I dunno, I almost feel as though my nation’s integrity is at stake. It can’t be that we Americans don’t have the naughtiest children on the planet!