Little minds at work

V- Amma, does Kali know English?
I- Why? Maybe she does
V- I have a question to ask about her that she might not like and I don’t want her to know that I’m saying something she might not like!!

V- My teacher asked us all to pray for something that she’s lost
I- So, what is this thing that she’s lost?
V- We asked her that and she said that it was a private and personal thing
I- Oh ok, so then just pray for her and hope that she finds it
V- But amma, I think that maybe she’s lost her underwear because that’s only private and personal. I don’t know why the whole class has to pray that she finds her underwear!!

S- Dada, don’t feel bad that I love amma, more, ok?
Dad- And why do you love her more?
S- Come on Dada, she's the one who laid us, not you!

Shriya asked me a question and I was not very sure about how to answer (it was one of those complicated thingies).
I- I'm not sure, will check and get back to you
S- Its ok ma, just google it and we'll then know for sure
I- Excuse me, and how does google know everything?
V- Hey ma, computers know everything!!

Such a blessed birthday!

Shuffling, scurrying, giggling, conspiring. I could hear it all but was strictly forbidden to look. I heard the ping of the oven and the gentle thud of the refrigerator. And then after assembling everybody (my husband and housekeeper) they led me to the table with my eyes shut.

And there was the most beautiful sight I’d ever seen. A grilled cheese sandwich topped with gummy bears, decorated with  candles. Vaibhav explained- “It only looks like a sandwich, ma, but its actually a cake’! Shriya sweetly offered - “If it's difficult to blow out all the candles and eat all the gummy bears, I can help with some?”

I could feel a sting in my eyes and a grin in my heart. What a wonderfully, thoughtful thing to do! And what impressed me was how amicably they worked together without  bickering or fighting. I blew one candle, popped in a gummy bear and cut into the crispy toasted bread and oozing cheese. What a clever idea, to combine my cake with a good breakfast, I exclaimed. I should have stopped there. But then I added that as I didn’t have a sweet tooth, I did not favour cakes that were not made out of toasted bread. This was perfect!!

Uh-oh!

In front of me was my husband with a scrumptious looking black forest cake, candles and all!!:-)

Dreaming...Twirling!

Shriya has finally started ballet lessons. She has been waiting, pleading to start classes. It was I who delayed things. As a bharatnatyam dancer myself, I knew the right age to start Indian classical was around 7-8. But ballet apparently can be started around 4. Much to her delight, I finally relented and let her start lessons.

So, every Thursday, she dons her tutu and ballet shoes and dances all the way to class.  Its cute…oh so cute! And deep inside I attributed all this interest in ballet simply to the chiffony tutu. I assumed she felt like a princess ballerina (after her favourite tv character, Angelina Ballerina) and did not want to break that pretty little bubble. But the other day, the instructor told me that Shriya is extremely determined and being the youngest in her class,  tries doubly hard.

I can see that Shriya is genuinely keen to learn and her seriousness touches me. Twirl on, little one!

Summer's here!!!

3 ponytails and counting!

Oversized Googgles on Undersized Googlies

Coca Juice (as they call it!)

One cool Spidey Baby

Our Beijing Break

We just got back from Beijing! I can now safely say that we had a whale of a time! I was not too sure about this trip right from the word GO. Would the kids be keen on a serious sightseeing trip? Are they old enough to understand it all? Will Shriya be ok with the local food? Will we all be ok with exactly 10 words and 2 sentences in Mandarin?

We were more than fine and manage we did quite well. The kids were on a high, right from the minute we got to the airport. Separate seats, the entertainment systems, the movies, the kid’s meal..everything was regarded with super excitement. I felt a tad guilty for taking them on Tiger Airways a little too many times to India so much so  they had forgotten what it was like to travel Singapore Airlines!

Beijing is a HUGE city and I had no clue about the amount of walking we’d have to do. The Forbidden City and Summer Palace, however gloriously beautiful are also painfully strenuous! Not a whimper or whine... …atleast not from the kids. They covered it all except that they never walked once. They ran and skipped, hopped  and imagined they were trains and dinosaurs!I tried their way but realized that walking at a steady pace was safer at my age!

I must say that our trip was made extra special because of the Beijingers. So much warmth and love, they were completely charmed with V&S. And of course my little ones played to the gallery! They sang the Mandarin rhymes they knew and happily posed for photo after photo with strangers. They were hugged and kissed and petted! And to my glee they were even given discounts at the markets, that I used very well to my advantage :-)

A wonderful trip in all! But when I look at the photographs and think back, it's not the Great Wall or the Tianamen that bring back memories. It's that afternoon at a little pizza joint where the kids laughed through mouthfuls of stringy cheese watching their father enact something. It’s the hour long steaming bath that they took together while blowing soap bubbles in the hotel bathtub. It’s the bumpy ride that we all took on a trishaw to nowhere. It’s the smiles and giggles, cuddles and kisses, questions and observations that make me smile and bask in the aftermath of a lovely vacation.

Veggies Vs Birthdays

Me: Finish up those vegetable on the side, please
Shriya: :-( ( Grumpy face)
Me: But if you don't eat your vegetables, how will you grow?
Shriya:  Vegetables don't help me grow, birthdays help me grow!
Me: What?
Shriya: Amma, just because I eat more vegetables, am I going to be five sooner than October? No, right? So I actually grow older and become 5 only in October and not because of some vegetable that I eat today.

Shriya has an answer and most times a more logical one than mine for every question!A friend who was at the table cheered Shriya for her 'thought provoking' statement and added to that said, he was quitting on his veggies!Grrrrrrrr

Siiigh, if only I said eat and they ate!!

Emergency Drill

I heard a loud sound and then a bang. Rushed from my room to the kids' room. Everything seemed ok except that there were lots of lego bits near Shriya. I was reminded very clearly that the brother had purposely thrown lego bits near but not on Shriya. Aaaaaaalright! Nothing new happening here. Vaibhav, like most older brothers I know, gets a kick out of annoying, bothering and teasing his little sister.

I just looked at him. No words. Everything had been said several times before. He looked at me gauging my mood ( I presume). I waited wondering if he was going to deny it all, claim that it was an accident or simply say a sorry. But Vaibhav, after some very quick thinking and a solemn face, came up with "Amma, I didn't mean to hurt her or anything. I threw it only on the side and do you know why?? Imagine there is a bomb blast or an earthquake happening very suddenly. Shriya would not even know what to do. I was just giving her some practice and that's why I threw the lego to make the noise like a bomb to just see how Shriya would react. And you know what? She doesn't run fast enough"!


Wow, Vaibhav...not bad at all! I was trying very hard to hide a smile till I heard a menacing "Amma....are you just going to smile and not say anything?? Give him a blackmark, cut a treat, do something. Ammaaaaaaa"!!