An air of mischief, laughter filled faces, pure delight at simply being found!!
The two imps hiding under my grandfather's antique study table hoping I wont find them before bedtime!
Autumns here!!
Thursday, March 7, 2013
The little joys
I think this one picture says it all!This is Vaibhav and Shriya in a nutshell.
An air of mischief, laughter filled faces, pure delight at simply being found!!
The two imps hiding under my grandfather's antique study table hoping I wont find them before bedtime!
An air of mischief, laughter filled faces, pure delight at simply being found!!
The two imps hiding under my grandfather's antique study table hoping I wont find them before bedtime!
Winter Woes- Not at all!
There's winter and then there's the Finnish winter!
People who had lived in Finland, people who had visited Finland and people who had never heard of Finland- all warned us about the Finnish winter. Some of them pitied us while others admired us for our courage. We smiled shakily not quite sure of what to expect. The kids imagined living in igloos and innocently checked if they would now have to practice greeting everybody by rubbing noses like the Eskimos!
The Dad and I had experienced winters before but were a wee bit unsettled about the winter (read: horror) stories we had heard. Would we be able to survive it all? How will the kids play outside if it's too cold and dark? Are we making it difficult for all of us?
Winter has come and nearly gone too. And I can now safely say that the Finnish winter is not bad at all. In fact it was an incredible experience that I'm sure we'll cherish forever. The kids have embraced it with open arms and refuse to let go. They are now super ice skaters and thoroughly enjoy their afternoons skating either in Ruohalahti ( opposite the International School) or at Rautatientori ( railway station rink). We've all tried cross country skiing. The kids and the dad were predictably good at it. And the best for the last- sledging! I've had a very fun tropical childhood but after all these years for the first time I wished I could have experienced winter as a child. Ah, the unadulterated thrill of going down a slope on a speeding sled! Well, child or not, we sledged tons while the kids grudgingly let us have our turn.
Snowmen, snowball fights, snow angels, snow cricket- we've done it all. Frozen lakes, walking on the sea, wading through waist deep snow - check. It's now time to enjoy the last bit of the winter with 'LaskiaInen'(end of season) parties. It was just yesterday when we were heading back home after an afternoon of winter fun, friends, hot chocolate and traditional Finnish buns that the kids were mentioning how much they would miss the season. I echo their sentiments and cannot imagine living in a country with a single season ever again!
Disclaimer: According to pulic opinion, winter this year was very mild! And we spent the most dreaded dark month of December in sunny India!
People who had lived in Finland, people who had visited Finland and people who had never heard of Finland- all warned us about the Finnish winter. Some of them pitied us while others admired us for our courage. We smiled shakily not quite sure of what to expect. The kids imagined living in igloos and innocently checked if they would now have to practice greeting everybody by rubbing noses like the Eskimos!
The Dad and I had experienced winters before but were a wee bit unsettled about the winter (read: horror) stories we had heard. Would we be able to survive it all? How will the kids play outside if it's too cold and dark? Are we making it difficult for all of us?
Winter has come and nearly gone too. And I can now safely say that the Finnish winter is not bad at all. In fact it was an incredible experience that I'm sure we'll cherish forever. The kids have embraced it with open arms and refuse to let go. They are now super ice skaters and thoroughly enjoy their afternoons skating either in Ruohalahti ( opposite the International School) or at Rautatientori ( railway station rink). We've all tried cross country skiing. The kids and the dad were predictably good at it. And the best for the last- sledging! I've had a very fun tropical childhood but after all these years for the first time I wished I could have experienced winter as a child. Ah, the unadulterated thrill of going down a slope on a speeding sled! Well, child or not, we sledged tons while the kids grudgingly let us have our turn.
Snowmen, snowball fights, snow angels, snow cricket- we've done it all. Frozen lakes, walking on the sea, wading through waist deep snow - check. It's now time to enjoy the last bit of the winter with 'LaskiaInen'(end of season) parties. It was just yesterday when we were heading back home after an afternoon of winter fun, friends, hot chocolate and traditional Finnish buns that the kids were mentioning how much they would miss the season. I echo their sentiments and cannot imagine living in a country with a single season ever again!
Disclaimer: According to pulic opinion, winter this year was very mild! And we spent the most dreaded dark month of December in sunny India!
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Resurfacing
Its been a while. A long while!
Not sure why but just could not get down to putting it all down here. Thoughts raced ahead and I would be sure to snatch that wee bit of time to post them here.But I guess I was so busy living my life that I had to make peace with the fact that its OK to be an irregular blogger!
The past few months have been fabulous. Trips to Spain, India and Turkey. The International week at school. Skating and sledding and hopefully skiing this weekend. Where do I start?
I guess I will start with my little darlings as usual. Vaibhav turned 8 and Shriya turned 6. Big milestones, I'm told. I don't know about milestones as I'm still in denial. I just can't believe they can grow so quickly. One minute I was playing peekaboo with them and the next second they grow up on me.
Yes, it was lovely having Vaibhav play 'big boy' when their Dad could not travel with us to India. So reassuring to have another set of strong arms pull and drag those heavy suitcases. It was a delight to see a responsible Shriya help me set up the 'golu' this year. Not only did she handle those heirloom dolls with utmost care but also hosted her entire class at home and told them all about this very Indian festival.
And yet, I feel all mopey when I think of the speed at which they are growing up.These days, I often find myself lapsing into baby talk, especially words and phrases that they used as toddlers. I narrate and re-narrate little incidents from their babyhood and grab them when I can to smother them with hugs and kisses.
They just shake their heads and roll their eyes. "Amma, please, I can't breathe" or "Amma, not in front of the girls" warn me when I've crossed the line. Sigh!
But no matter how old they get or how big they act I know they will always be my babies when they look up at me with those innocent eyes and ask if I can cuddle up in their bed for just 5 minutes. I fuss a bit about delaying bed time but usually comply. Little do they know that the cuddle is more precious to me than to them.
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