Ayub: I don’t want chicken.
Me: Eat your chicken, it’s yummy.
Ayub: No, it’s not yummy.
Me: It’s good for you. Eat your chicken, then you’ll be big and strong like Ayah.
Ayub: Ayah is a man.
Me: Yup. If you eat your chicken you’ll be a big, strong man like Ayah.
(Ayub pokes at his chicken and starts eating a few pieces)
Ayub: Mama?
Me: Yes?
Ayub: I don’t want to be a man. I want to be a boy. I don’t want to eat chicken. Chicken make Ayub a man. Ayub is a boy.
Me: Ok. But if you eat your chicken, you’ll be a strong, tall boy. Don’t you want to be a strong, tall boy?
(Ayub goes back to poking his chicken and eating a few more pieces)
Ayub: Mama?
Me: Yes?
Ayub: Ayub don’t want to be strong, tall boy. Ayub want to be Ayub.
Me: But…
Ayub: No. Ayub is Ayub.
(And that’s final apparently!)
