Showstoppers

Child's growth, like weather, can be hard to predict. But you know it when you see it.

All I need is seeing how Jasmine is determined to prepare gifts for her mum's birthday and Mother's Day this week. Never mind her grammar mistake. Not that she writes perfect sentences. Far from it. But she rehearsed before writing the birthday card. And yes, for the tote bag she designed and painted, my wife loves it with every inch of her soul.

But perhaps the best example of my daughter's readiness is how we celebrated my wife's birthday together. My wife had suggested to buy tickets of Showstopper! The Improvised Musical. The first time we talked about this idea, it took me a while to realise she means three tickets - including that for our daughter. That's a work of surreal genius, I know. And yet. Can a five-year-old appreciate a bunch of professional performers who create musical impromptu based on audience suggestions?

We bought three tickets, anyway. And, of course, our daughter turned out to be the youngest in the audience. The single hardest thing for us is we couldn't check the subject of the show beforehand. We had to wait for whatever crazy ideas that came up on the spot. A fantastical reverie of what-ifs and why-nots. It was our first view of such unique off-the-cuff show; nothing was the same as the previous show. What did we get in the end? A story of rewriting Shakespeare's works, Romeo and Juliet, space station, superpower of ultra-sensitive toes, radioactive kitten, and many many funny ideas.

Incredibly crazy and magical, yes. My daughter loves it a lot. Unbelievable.