Boo's Baby Talk!

Ski Break!

2012-02-27T16:09:00.003+01:00

Just when I was thinking I should write a post about how much I am enjoying skiing this year, I went ahead and broke my leg! Never a dull moment in my life, I tell you. Long story short - multiple ligament tear and meniscus tear in my right knee! *bangs head* This happened last Saturday when Ashu and I were skiing at Hoch Ybrig in a glorious weather! Two more families were with us and it was all fun in the morning until I fell down. The damage to the knee was not due to the fall but the way I rotated my knee. Hoped it was a bad sprain and tried to be in denial. But on Sunday morning, I could nt put my leg down.

Sunday - Hospital, X ray, kids at a friends house, dinner sent by the friend. A huge cast. (removable, thankfully) No fracture. Crutches!

Monday - MRI in the evening.

Tuesday - MRI reports. Ligament tear in two places and a meniscus tear. Physiotherapy suggested for now. Friend sends lunch. Cousin (college going girl!) comes home to help.

Wednesday - Hd drops the kids, drops me for physio, picks me up later and then goes to office. Cousin picks up Antu, makes lunch. Hd picks up Ashu and comes home. Cousin leaves after dinner.

Thursday - Hd holds fort. A friend picks up Ashu in the evening and drops her home. Friends visit. No horlicks bottle or mosambis!

Friday - Physiotherapy again. Hd holds fort. Cousin comes in the evening. I get a new Knee brace to wear during the day.

Saturday - Hd takes Ashu to a birthday party. Cousin and he make lunch. A friend sends dinner. Cousin leaves.

Sunday - Hd makes lunch/dinner. Takes Ashu skiing.

Monday - Hd drops the kids, makes lunch, picks up Antu at noon, works from home a bit and now off to pick up Ashu and then directly to the airport to pick up my SISTER!

Oh God! This was one of the toughest weeks in my life. Seeing Hd running around like a headless chicken and not able to help hurt more than my torn knee! God knows what I would have done if he had nt pulled through! And some dear friends and not to mention my little cousin! Sigh! I owe them big! Ashu too. She is an awesome helper. Fetching me stuff a million times and taking care of me. At one point, she hung a bag around my neck and put the phones, remotes, book, ipad, etc... and asked me to carry it everywhere! Guess she got tired picking up the phone! Antu is more keen on stealing my crutch though!

My mom will come as soon as she gets her visa. Sis decided to come and help until mom arrives. Family is a family for a reason, I guess. Me - I am just hoping that physiotherapy works and I would nt need surgery! And why oh why the right knee? Does nt the Universe know that we are screwed if I don't drive?

Out of the mouth of Ashu.

2012-02-16T22:34:00.004+01:00

Ashu: Amma! What are these?

Me: Storage boxes, Ashu.

Ashu: For our room?

Me: Yes. More boxes that you girls can take stuff out of and make the room even more messy! *rolls eyes*

Ashu: You know, Amma? You can just ask me to clean the room and I will. You dont have to say mean things to make me clean. You can be nice.

Me: *runs to update her blog*

****

One Saturday, we went to the nearby Ice Rink so that Ashu can ice skate. It was terribly, terribly cold and I asked Hd to go home with Antu and come back later to pick us up. After an hour and half, Ashu and I decided to walk home instead of troubling the duo. It was a 15 minutes walk and even though it was freezing, (-10* C) we enjoyed the walk home visualizing hot cocoa! Just when I was about to enter our apartment, Hd calls me and asks where I am and if he can come to pick me up. When I told him that Im almost home, he says that he is out shopping and was thinking that he ll pick me up on his way home! I did the only thing that I do well under these circumstances, I hung up! Looking at my face Ashu asked me what was wrong.

Me: Im upset, Ashu.

Ashu: Why? Is it because I kicked that ball of snow? *panics*

Me: No. Im upset at Appa.

Ashu: What did he do?

Me: I asked him to go home. But hes not home.

Ashu: So what, Amma?

Me: Why cant he ever listen to me?

Ashu: May be he thought he is helping us.

Me: What help? We both walked in this freezing cold. I had the good intention of not disturbing him and Antu. Thats why I decided to walk. What was his good intention?

Ashu: Its ok, Amma.

Me: Its not ok. Why cant people follow instructions? Why? It was a simple instruction. Go. Home.

Ashu: You know, Amma? May be people dont want to listen to your instructions all the time. May be sometimes, they want to listen to their own instructions! OK?

Me: *runs to update her blog*

****

Ashu's Entry for Shruti's Artsy-Craftsy Jan 2012.

2012-01-29T18:32:00.008+01:00

Ever since Shruti announced the "Paint your Van Gogh" theme for Artsy-craftsy challenge in her blog, I have been asking (OK, nagging!) Ashu to come up with something. I knew this was something she would enjoy. Ashu was thrilled with the idea of drawing something famous. We have a few books bought in museums which has loads of prints by famous painters and Ashu went through it and selected two.

No 1. was Paul Gauguin's "Still life with three puppies". Picture below.

No 2. was Henri Matisse's "Goldfish".

But the artist was nt very happy with her (copied) works and told me not to take photos of it! (So I took the photos after she left for school!! What? She ll thank me one day!)

And then we totally forgot about them. Until today. I reminded Ashu that tomorrow was the last day for submission and if she wanted to try a new one or can I send the other two to the competition anyway. She thought for a while and said "I like Van Gogh, Amma! I ll try something by him!" The trip to the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam paid off or what?!!! While I was asking if she wanted to draw Sunflowers, she reminded me that theres a Van Gogh print hanging in the kids bedroom wall! The Almond Blossoms! We saw the original in Amsterdam and she selected that particular print in the souvenir shop even though I wanted the Sunflowers. I think the fact that Van Gogh painted it for a baby (his nephew) stayed with her. To cut the long story short, the painting was brought down from the wall and Ashu spent all afternoon trying to recreate it on a paper with a pencil, brown and blue crayons and a pink pen. Ta-da!

Shruti - So heres the final entry and thanks for giving us a lovely afternoon together. Heres to many more Artsy-Craftsies! :)

The One with the New Ipad.

2012-01-28T19:08:00.011+01:00

I am alive! I am alive! Acute bloggers block and a busy,busy January made me neglect this blog for quite a long time. It has not even been three weeks since we came back from the US but feels like a year already. Numerous school events, dinner parties and potlucks and organizing a surprise baby shower made my life super busy. Not to mention the new dining table, coffee table and side board we bought which we had to assemble all by ourselves. The side board is still lying on the floor in various pieces. Wonder when its time will come!

The kids? Oh, they are enjoying the winter. Its snowing outside right now and Antu is doodling in her doodle board while Hd and Ashu have gone skiing. Life is good especially from the indoors! :)

Ipad has made an entry in our lives as well. A very indulgent Bil (and Sis, I should add!) gifted one to our family. I say family but he gave it to Ashu!! Now you know why we visit US very frequently! ;) Anyway, what with Bils Ipad and the new Ipad, both kids were sitting with one ipad each all the time while we were in the US. If not that, there was the TV of course! What it being vacation and all, I tried to let it go. And since I was coming back alone with the girls, (Hd left a few days earlier) I gave in and loaded all kinds of apps in the ipad for the kids to play in the flight. (Because stupid American Airlines does nt even have a TV and its a loooooooong flight!) While going from here, Ashu drew and colored page after page in her drawing book. Antu read her books again and again or heard music. But of course everything changed while coming back because we have the ipad now!! And to top it off, both of them refused to take turns and were fighting for the ipad! Hello? I was bored too! I needed the ipad to play Temple Run as well!! And once when Antu howled and refused to take turns, I completely lost it! Shoved the ipad in my bag and told the girls that they are being total brats and they are grounded forever! The rest of the flight was quite peaceful, I should say. Once we reached home, I sat them down and told them that they are nt getting any screen time the rest of January and they agreed. And from February 1st, we ll go back to our usual routine. Which is 30 mins TV on Wednesdays and one movie on Fridays. Weekends are flexible. They can watch a bit if we are home.(and depending on how crazy they drive me!) And they can choose if they want to play something on the laptop or watch TV. This was how it has been for the past one year.

It was quite a shock to Hd more than the kids when the new rule of total ban was imposed! Especially in this cold weather when we cant even go to the park after school! He was sure I ll become even more badhrakaali than usual and started coming back late from work! But problem came from a new angle. Antu got up the next day after the ban and asked first thing in the morning, "Is today February the first?" "No, Antu. Its 11th January." She came back from school at 11.30 and asked "Is it February the first now?" "No, Antu. There are 20 days more to February." 3 pm - same question. 4 pm - ditto. By 5 pm - I was ready to switch on the TV!!!! But resisted and let Ashu handle the questions! Ashu dragged her to a calendar and showed her that February is long time away and not to make it any longer by asking this question every hour!!! Ashu had technical doubts though. "Does it mean no TV, no ipad, no laptop?" "Can I still check the weather in the itouch like I do everyday?" "What if I need to used the laptop for my homework?" "Can I see photos in the ipad please?". When the answer was NO to every question, she knew I meant business. Once we went to a friends house for dinner, she refused to watch TV there with the other kids saying that its not Feb 1st yet! Antu has no such qualms, of course!

Honestly I thought that the ban would last a week and I would be at wits end by then and give them a talk and lift the ban! But by one week, they did nt even ask for TV or Ipad anymore and started inventing so many cools ways to play that I was so thrilled! They made a TV out of the packing materials of the dining table one day. And once the dining table was assembled, they pretended that the narrow glass top of the table is TV and camped under the table and watched "Tangled"! (Hd tried to over rule the ban right about now!) The long white thermocol piece was painted and used as a road and they played with cars! Books were read by dozens. Shelves were organized and Antu were perpetually dress-upping all the time! Like today, they spent an hour playing "One hundred adventurers". Which is to run around the house with a measuring tape and hunt for things which are exactly 100 cm long!! Innovative or what! It has been so much fun that Im looking for a loop hole to continue the ban all of February! But Hd being the softie he is has told me sternly that I can not do that! All because he forgot about the ban and showed something to Antu on the ipad one day and she came screaming to me saying, "Its not february 1st yet, its not february 1st yet!" What can I do? I cant help being a terror to my kids!

Anyway, I totally get how some people dont have TV in their house. Its so liberating. Even though TV was always rationed in our house, it always bugged me that they watched TV when they could be doing so much fun stuff! Especially with Antu. At least Ashu would always prefer a book or a story or painting over TV. Antu was/is a total addict! She would even sell her parents to watch Dora! But then, the apple does nt fall from the tree. At the ripe old age of 16, I skipped +2 physics tution class because the timing clashed with Doogie Howser MD! One cant fight Karma, thats for sure!

Congrats, Kiran!

2012-01-13T09:54:00.002+01:00

If you have nt heard already, the fantastic blogger and a good friend (ahem!), Kiran Manral is out with her first book, The Reluctant Detective! Im sure whoever reads her blog knew it was coming since she is a wonderful, wonderful writer.

To learn more about the book, visit Kiran's brand new website http://www.thereluctantdetectivebook.blogspot.com/

You can buy the book from Flipkart here.

I love the cover and I cant wait to get my hands on it. Wishing you all things wonderful, Kiran!

Crossposted at http://indianmommies.blogspot.com/2012/01/congrats-kiran.html

Bye bye, 2011.

2011-12-31T08:02:00.008+01:00

Last day of the year already! 2011 was sure in a hurry. We seem to spend December either in India or in the US these last few years and I can get used to this tradition. Much fun is being had here. We came back from Tahoe and whaddayaknow, I enjoyed skiing and even got decently better at it. On the last day, sis, Ashu, Hd, Bil and I skied together and I loved it. Bil and Ashu were zooming past us every time. I can't believe she's the same timid girl I see in Zurich. Thanks to Bil, her confidence really soared.

Got back and soon bils bro, sil and their daughter, S left. Ashu was much saddened. They both had a blast together for 10 days. Made it up for not having the Utbt family here. Though I prepared the girls and told them not to ask for Chula and Meija, I had a lump in my throat when I came here and realized that they are nt going to be here this time. Sigh.

Met blog friend, Reva for the first time yesterday and was blown away. Was telling Hd that he can never ever ask me what use my blog is anymore after that scrumptious meal at her place. She's a master baker and that's an understatement. Lovely house, lovely family, awesome dinner and amazing dessert. Such cute gifts for the girls too. How can some people do it all? Thanks much, Reva. You are a sweet heart.

Non stop shopping and restaurant hopping happening here and at this rate, I'm going to look like a beached whale very soon. Hope 2012 knocks some sense into me. Happy new year, folks. Hope 2012 begins with a bang for everyone!

Location: Lake Tahoe.

2011-12-20T08:19:00.002+01:00

Me: How could you do this to me? To your own little sister, that too! That Ski lesson was the one of the toughest thing I ve ever done!
Sis: How could you do this to me? You left Antu with me!
Me: Ok. We are even!

Yes, folks! Arrived to the US of A last week to spend the Christmas Holidays with Sis and Bil. And where do they take us? To Lake Tahoe for skiing! And Bil's brother's family have joined us too and they live in Colorado! I guess we were all destined to learn skiing in California, of all places! Im writing from a cozy cottage surrounded by mountains with a killer lake view. Its bliss. I only wish I dont have to go to the stupid Ski lesson tomorrow! Especially falling on my back and struggling like a cockroach in the beginner level while Ashu and kids even younger than her are zooming past in the intermediate level! Not fair!

More later, folks! Happy Holidays!

"What makes us so bitter against people who outwit us is that they think themselves cleverer than we are."

2011-12-05T15:12:00.005+01:00

Ashu and her best friend G were asking each other some riddles and playing in the car. After a few rounds of this, G asks Ashu.

G: Im going to ask you a tricky riddle now, Ashu. Are you smart?

Ashu: Yes.

G: Ok. Are you very, very smart?

Ashu: hmm.... not really.

I dont know whether to be happy or sad! But I can say one thing. She is EXACTLY like her dad! These are the kinds of people who will not give us even an ounce of happiness when we win against them in any game/sport/debate/argument! Do you come across these annoying kinds? Theres no satisfaction in beating them in any game. Whats the whole point of playing, I ask? Take me, for example. Sis and I have never EVER finished a game of chess in all our life because every time she even came close to taking my queen, let alone the king, the board with all the pieces will magically fling themselves to the floor! There have been innumerable card games which have ended with me or my mom in tears. My sis or my dad swearing that they will never ever play with us ever again. And none of us are graceful winners either! Its a miracle how we did nt end up killing each other! But Ashu and Hd are the type of paavam characters with whom you dont mind losing. You even let them win sometimes because they are so paavam! Not that they are nt competitive but theres something in their demeanour. So graceful and sportive and I guess one has to be born with it and can never be learnt. I ve perfected the art of faking though. After 33 years and 2 kids, Im in a stage where I dont throw public tantrums! I said public!

Something tells me Antu is all me! And the thought terrifies me! *gulp*

The One in Which Ashu Loses Her First Tooth.

2011-11-27T23:26:00.006+01:00

Just when I started to focus on Antu again, Ashu had to lose her first tooth and steal her thunder! The much awaited milestone arrived finally this weekend! Ashu has been really impatient the last one year seeing all her friends lose their teeth one by one and her's were nt even wobbly. Around 6 months back, she was thrilled to announce that one of her lower front tooth is teeny-weeny wobbly even though I could nt feel a thing. More like wishful thinking, I assumed. A couple of months back, I did see it wobble a bit and we were all eagerly waiting for the big day! Two days back I saw a new tooth sprouting behind the wobbly one and it looked really weird. By this time, the wobbly tooth was hanging by a thread so to speak and I asked Ashu if I can pull it. "No way!, she screamed. She wanted the tooth to fall while in school so that she can go to the nurse and get a cute little box to put it in. I wanted it to fall while shes home because I wanted to witness the grand event, of course! And finally when it did fall, it had to be on a Saturday while she was attending a birthday party and I was nt even there! A friend dropped her home after the party and Ashu was all excited to show something and while I was thinking that it was some cool return gift, it was her tooth! awww... I had to blink back tears. It does hit you, this losing the baby tooth business! sigh!

Before you ask what the tooth fairy gave her, let me answer you. The child does nt believe in fairies. I told her that she ll get a gift only if she believes in them but nothing could shake her resolve.

How do you know, Ashu? They may be real. Try putting the tooth under the pillow and see.

Amma! Its the parents who give the gift. Not the fairy! And I need the tooth. I want to take it to school on Monday.

You believe in Krishna, dont you?

Yes. But he is GOD. Not a fairy! Also I saw a tooth fairy book in the fiction section in the library. It means its not real!

Check and mate.

I found the box with the tooth safely tucked in her school bag. Decided to surprise her and put a CHF 5 coin in it. She found it this morning and came and thanked me. I told her thats an advance amount for all her teeth and she is nt getting any more money. "But Amma! The upper tooth is bigger. You need to give more money for it when it falls down." Holy guacamole! I need to plant a book on money in the fiction section right now!

About time I updated on Antu.

2011-11-23T11:56:00.007+01:00

OK, lets talk about Antu. High time, right?

She is in this utterly-butterly cute stage. Loves life like crazy! Going to school is exciting. Eating breakfast is exciting. Going to the grocery shop to buy milk is exciting. Going to pick her sister up from school is even more exciting! Her enthusiasm is so infectious. Still very much a daddy's girl.

The other day we were going to her German playgroup and she told me that she does nt like her English preschool. She says she does nt like her German one when i drop her at the English one! So I told her,

You can like both, Antu.

No, Amma. I dont like English school.

You don't have to say you dont like that just because you like this, OK? Just you like both Amma and Appa, you can like both.

But I don't like Am....

What?

I like only Appa!

(hurt voice) Why do you like appa so much, Antu?

Because I don't like you!

Sigh!

Its not enough to plunge the knife in my heart, she has to twist it too?

Her preschool had a Halloween party and little Missy chose her own costume by mixing and matching the pink party frock, tiara, etc... So of course I had to take photos and compare and contrast with Ashu's 3 year old photos. Here you go.

I don't know how she does it but exactly at 3 pm everyday she comes to me and says, "Lets go to Akka school and get her, Amma!" All this lurve only when shes out of sight. As soon as she comes home, its adithadi fight for every little thing! And Antu is such a kozhsolli.(tattletale) Akka did this, akka did that, akka said this, akka said that,... uff! Its just too much! I hear Ashu sometimes telling Antu, "You are such a silly goose, Antu! Now go tell this to Amma!" LOL!

At any point of time, you can see Antu surrounded by at least five books. Whenever I call her, the answer will be "Wait amma! I'm reading!" I don't know if shes just copying her sister or shes really interested! Reading means looking at pictures and pretend reading, of course.

She calls Emily Elizabeth from the Clifford book as Amily Alphabet! The other day we were all laughing at it and Ashu asked her very sarcastically, "Do you even know what an alphabet is, Antu?" And she says, "Yes. Letters!" I was shocked. So I asked her "And what are letters?" She gave me a look and said, "ABC, Amma!" and proceeded to sing the whole alphabet song! She can also count up to 100. Recognize all the alphabets. Knows the months, days of the week. Mostly thanks to Ashu who plays teacher, teacher with her and teaches her stuff!

Unlike the 3 year old Ashu, Antu has a rocking social life! I drag her everywhere with me. School meetings, lunch with friends, coffee mornings, school events, Ashu's violin class, dance practice sessions, ... and she loves all of it. She loves "dress-upping" and dancing and I'm looking for some class for her. May be from January.

I think she finally realized that I'm hurt or something as she keeps saying "I love you full-time, Amma!" these days! But never make the mistake of asking her whom she "likes" though! In spite of it, I love you full-time too, Antu. All the time!

All about Ashu.

2011-11-21T23:41:00.008+01:00

Ashu had quite an eventful week with a Violin Recital and an Indian group Dance, both at her school! Remember how last year she danced for O Re Kanchi? It was a mix of "Mukunda, Mukunda" and "Radha kaise na jale" this time with one boy and 8 girls! We had less then a month, we could meet only once or twice a week and add to it, I was the only one choreographing and making the kids dance to my tune since my partner in crime from last year has moved out of Swiss! What an uphill task! It was so difficult to even fix a date when all of us were available. At one point, I just gave up and asked Ashu if she wants to dance alone or with Antu. She refused instantly and proclaimed, "group dance or no dance, Amma!" Sigh! The things we do for our kids! But once we managed to meet, things started working out. We took turns and practiced in each others houses and after a while, I even started to look forward to these things just for the yummy food and chai! I think I behaved more or less like a circus animal trainer! The moms loved me and the kids sort of warmed up to me towards the end. Much like stockholm syndrome, I guess! Everyone was admiring me for my immense patience with the kids and I felt like a fraud! Why is it so easy to be patient with other peoples kids? The d day was last Saturday and the kids did me proud! It was so cute to watch them do the moves and try to be in sync. Though the day before the dance was when Kolaveri went viral and I had an acute case of earworm and was *this* close to actually playing this song instead of Mukunda for the kids to dance. Not that they would have known the difference! ;)

Coming to the Violin recital, it all started a couple of months back. Ashu was stubborn that she wanted to learn the Violin. She kept asking us last year too and we thought she was too young and I did nt have the time or energy to cart her to yet another class! But when I learnt that theres a class she can take once a week in her school during lunch recess, I jumped at the chance. At least, I dont have to drive her around! One fine day, we took her to the store and rented a Violin. Thats where I learnt that there are actually different sizes in violins and one always rents Violins for kids. Ashu was a happy camper. We also bought her the recommended book and a stand. And of course I threatened Ashu with dire consequences if she did nt practice regularly just before we paid the huge amount! One can always dream! The classes started soon and she quite enjoyed them. After a few classes, I had no idea what she was doing so I decided to attend classes whenever I could along with her. So much for less driving around, huh? But that helps both of us. (Poor Antu though who has to sit still for 30 mins!) A month alter, the teacher informed us about the student recital which happens in November every year and asked Ashu to choose a song she wanted to play. She chose A Mozart Melody. (popularly known as Twinkle, Twinkle!) Poor little thing practiced it almost every day for a month! Of course, I had to be a Tiger Mom at times but then who am I kidding? It is who I am! The improvement you see is tremendous though. It amazes me what one can do with practice. (I am there with her in every class but theres no way I can read the notes like Ashu does.) The teacher was also going to make a group of kids play a few songs and Ashu was part of it. There was much excitement on the day of the recital. (last Tuesday) Choosing something formal to wear, shiny black shoes, cameras charged, proud parents in the front row, the works! Ashu played beautifully and the group recital was very cute too. Some of the middle school kids were amazing! Unbelievable talent! Wonder how many hours they practice every day! ;)

There is nothing to look forward to now and Im wondering what to do with all the extra time I seem to have since yesterday! Pay attention to my poor neglected second child, you say?

A Milestone I dreaded: The F Word.

2011-11-13T22:02:00.004+01:00

Loads of friends have told me how their kids said the F word, how shocked they were, how the kids wanted to know the meaning of the word, how they were stumped, etc.. etc... etc... I kind of worried too but Ashu is a kind of kid who instinctively seems to know what will make me happy or upset and she ll avoid asking anything which she thinks will upset me or get her into trouble. Not always, I can assure. But mostly. So I knew I had a long time before I had to face that kind of a situation. But then, one can only dream!

Ashus best friend, G had come home today for lunch and we were all eating at the table. Antu with her "impeccable" table manners had to say "yuck" for God knows what and G immediately gasped, "Oh my God! Antu just said the F word!" I froze. "Its a bad word!", G added! I was speechless. I looked at Ashu who was looking at G curiously! "She said "yuck", G!", I mumbled. "Really? Do you know what the F word is?", she asked. "Forget me. How do YOU know?", I managed to ask. "Oh my sister told me. It is F***! Its a very bad word and we should never say it!". Very clear! "Thats right! Lets not say it then. Why don't we talk about butterflies? Or fairies? or Rainbows?" The girls started giggling and the situation was diffused. Phew.

Was that the end? Of course not. Come bedtime, Ashu asked me the dreaded question. "What is the meaning of the F word, Amma?" Sigh!

"Have you heard the word before, Ashu?"

Quite a defensive "No!"

"Its just a bad word, Ashu. And you will get into a lot of trouble if your teachers hear you say that, ok?"

"Is it a bad word like Stupid?"

"Its much, much worser that stupid."

"Is it a bad word like sissy?"

"What the F***!" (Ok, I did nt say that! But really!)

"Excuse me? Where do you hear words like these? Dont you guys have classes to attend while in school?"

"I heard it in recess, Amma! A called B a sissy because he said he likes pink!"

"Ok, Ashu! Thats another word you cant use, ok? Thats all Im saying!"

"I ll never use it Amma. I just want to know the meaning."

"We ll talk about it when you are a bit older, Ashu! How about two stories today, huh? Once upon a time..."

Im so making Hd handle it when its Antus turn. Which might even be tomorrow for all you know!

Ashu's Bookmark.

2011-11-03T18:52:00.008+01:00

Q: How do you know when your child has graduated to reading chapter books?

A: When she makes something like the below bookmark!

Me: Ashu! You could have just placed a paper inside the page. Or any bookmark!

Ashu: But how will I know which page to continue reading from, Amma?

Keeping a bookmark on the page you finished reading and a note to remind you to go to the next page "without reading"! Im going to copyright it! There are books for Beginning Readers. But bookmarks? Height of Originality or what! Any buyers? :)

ps.

Though she is devouring the Rainbow Magic books these days, this bookmark was specially designed for Roald Dahl's "George's Marvelous Medicine"!

How clean is your house...

2011-11-01T20:46:00.010+01:00

...when you leave in the morning to drop the kids in school? Im so curious to know. No prizes for guessing that my house looks like a pig sty (no exaggeration!) when I leave in the morning. Whoever said that theres a time and place for everything never had to do the school run, I guess! Toys everywhere! The kids room is a mess! The dining table looks like there was an explosion of cereal, bread and milk! There are clothes all over the bed! The kitchen looks as if an elephant had run rampant! (Not that my kitchen is big enough to fit an elephant!) And it drives me crazy! I hate coming back to a messy house but who has time to clean up in the morning when one is racing against the clock? The other day a friend invited me to her place impromptu after dropping the kids in school and I was amazed to see that her house was relatively clean! She does have older kids but still.... it hurt my ego! Theres no way in hell I can invite people just like that to my house. I would die!

Ashu wants to find her library book and a dozen books are in the floor. Antu drops the bowl and theres cereal everywhere. A wet towel here, a dirty jeans there, here a mess, there a mess, everywhere a mess, mess.... ARGH! Old Mc Donald is clearly not happy! Im wondering if some people employ house elves who clean up for them. This one day I had invited a mom and her child for a lunch playdate at my place after picking up Antu and the other child. And suddenly a coffee morning straight after Ashus school drop off came up too! So I had to get up, get the kids ready, make lunch, then take Ashu to school, go to the coffee thing at a friends place, then go to pick up Antu and come home with the other mom and the kid. Thankfully Hd was in town and he said he ll drop Antu and go to office. I begged him to clean up the house and leave it in a decent shape before he left the house. It was like a bomb ticking inside my head until I came home. And the man had kept his word, phew. May be its not a house elf I need after all, huh?! ;)

The Earrings, the Witch and the Pumpkin.

2011-10-31T20:37:00.004+01:00

Diwali came and went. Halloween came and went. It has been non stop partying since last week! Ever since I became the member of PA in Ashus school, life has been so hectic! Hd is wondering why I dont get paid for the amount of work I do and most importantly, will the school pay gas money?! My partner and I organized the Trunk or Treat event for the school last evening and it was a blast! Around 60 cars in the school parking lot, each trunk decorated so spookily and at least 50 more families walked in with kids to trick or treat from car to car! Does nt it sound like fun? The weather was perfect and Ashu was so excited since it was her first time trick or treating! She was dressed as a witch, a costume borrowed from my friends daughter! Yes, Im cheap like that! I did nt dress up but loads of parents did and this one couple looked so cute dressed up as ketchup and mustard bottles and I heard the guy telling someone "my wife left me for a hot dog!" So funny! Though I could have told people I was dressed like a janitor for the amount of cleaning up I was doing there! And regulating traffic and taking umpteen kids to the bathroom because the key was with me! Though I did add a touch of halloween by wearing the below ear rings! My mom bought it for me from the US last year. Is n she cute?

And below is Ashu in her witchy self with her candy loot!

And the jack o lantern Hd carved this year. The man is improving, huh?

Jucker Farm.

2011-10-28T23:04:00.004+02:00

Last Sunday, we took the kids to Jucker Farm. The day was bright and sunny, just the kind of day to go to a pumpkin farm! It was pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere! Pumpkin sculptures, pumpkin houses, lanes lined with pumpkins, the prize winning pumpkins,... Total pumpkin heaven! The farm had rows of apple and cherry trees and in Summer, they have strawberry and raspberry picking too! We took in the sights, went on a horse carriage ride around the farm, picked apples, sat on the hammocks and rocked, sat on the benches with the gorgeous lake view and drank Sussmost,... For lunch, we ate Pumpkin soup, pumpkin bread, raclette with pumpkin and pumpkin brownies!!! Can you beat that?

Here are some photos.

1. Swiss Army Knife.

2. Odd one out?

3. All kinds, shapes and colours!

4. Orange is the colour of the season.

5. Pumpkin seats.

6. Picking flowers.

7. Bliss!

8. The first prize winning pumpkin weighed 701 kilos!!!

9. Pumpkin Art.

10. House made of pumpkins.

Cappadocia & Istanbul, Turkey.

2011-10-22T00:17:00.003+02:00

Turkey was never in my must-visit list while HD has been planning a trip there for the past 4 years. This summer before I returned back from India, he went ahead and booked tickets for us for the October break. Although I love to see new places, I am not a happy traveler. So I kind of resigned to the fact and started researching the place, buying books, booking hotels, etc... But nothing I did made me prepare for the fantastic place that Turkey turned out to be. I fell head over heels with the landscape of Cappadocia, could nt get enough of the crazy city that Istanbul is, did nt want to check out at all from the interesting places we stayed and went crazy shopping! Sometimes its good to be proven wrong. I said sometimes, OK?

Day 1:

Leave Zurich. Land in Istanbul early evening. Run from pillar to post to get an entry visa. (All of us had a valid US visa which entitles us to get an entry visa.) There was a separate counter miles away in a dark corner where visas are issued for Indian passport holders. So if you are going, don't stand in the regular line and the counter accepts only cash in US dollars or Euros. Then we walked to the domestic terminal and caught our flight to Keyseri. A shuttle bus from the hotel met us in the airport and it took an hours drive to reach the town of Goreme where our hotel was! And what a hotel it turned out to be. We knew it was a cave hotel when we booked but who knew it was an actual cave! Since it was close to midnight and it was raining cats & dogs, we just crashed.

Day 2:

The volcanoes which erupted some 10 million years ago have given a unique landscape to Cappadocia. (The land of wild horses.) The whole place looks like its made of sand dunes except that they are rocks. They are called Fairy Chimneys and in ancient days, they were converted into churches and monasteries and a place to store food. They are mostly hotels now! Our room(!) had four levels. Few steps down to a small room with twin beds. A dangerous wooden ladder up to a huge room with low seating around the three walls, musical instruments (drums and ouds) in one wall, loads of small windows and holes with a view to die for, another set of steps to a small sit out with a single bed, guns and swords in one corner and daggers on the wall, then a few steep steps(lined with pots) to the bedroom with a double bed, a corner desk and a bathroom. The sink and the WC was quite jarring in this set up, I must tell you. I was half expecting a hole in the floor!!! The entire decor was so rustic! Plain white curtains on the windows on a rope held up by pegs, a big, torn, metal sieve as lamp shade, rusty daggers and swords on the wall, round port hole like windows here and there on the wall, nooks and shelves carved out of the rock wall, old paintings, broken vases, visible electrical wires from here to there, hand made sheets,... Amazing place! There were no doors except for the main door. The kids were using the place like a jungle gym climbing here and there.

After a hearty breakfast of Turkish pancakes (it was like stuffed naan), we half-heartedly left our cave, rented a beaten down car from the hotel and explored the Goreme open air museum, rode a camel, ate lunch, shopped, drove around the colorful Devrent valley, passed Pasabagi and saw the mushroom shaped fairy chimneys and then came back to the hotel where the cook had prepared a wonderful vegetarian meal for us. The kids were ecstatic to be back in the hotel room and more exploring happened by banging the drums! "This place is better than Disneyland, Amma", exclaimed Ashu. "Much, much cheaper too", I added! :)

Day 3:

We joined a tour (Yama tours, FYI. And yet we lived to tell the tale! :) There were ten of us in total (three young girls from Singapore and three old Turkish ladies) with the driver and a guide. We did the south Cappadocia tour from 9.30 am to 6 pm. They took us to the Derinkuyu Underground City first. It was simply wow! Its the largest excavated underground city in Turkey. Almost 100 feet deep with 11 levels. We went down eight levels and it was like a maze. If the lights went out, that's it! That would be the end ofus! Even with the light, I would nt know how to find the exit without the guide! Most of the places, we had to bend and walk. The kids had no problem though! This was like another game for them! I got claustrophobic in exactly 10 mins and just wanted to get out. But had to bear it for an hour! And can you imagine more than 10,000 people living here between the 5th and 10th century for more than three months during war time? And we only got to see 10% of the city. The mind boggles!

From there, we drove to the Ihlara valley. This was a part I was unsure about since this involves climbing down 360 knee breaking steps, then a 3.5 km walk on a rough terrain alo

ng the river to a restaurant in Bellisirma where lunch has been arranged for us and that's where our bus will meet us. And it was past noon already and we had a little problem called Antu in our hands. But God bless her, she was a total sport and God bless Hd who walked with her the entire time leaving me and Ashu to enjoy the breathtaking views peacefully. Also to be blessed are gummy bears, caramelized almonds, chocolate chip cookies and the good weather! After a nice lunch and trying to understand the old ladies who spoke no English, (they either asked how old Antu was or wanted to buy her from us, I'm not sure! ) we got into the bus and drove to Selime to see a Monastery. Hd took one look at the dangerously, steep climb and wisely decided to sit near the entrance with Antu and the three old ladies. Ashu and I climbed up with the rest. It was like rock climbing! After seeing the narrow paths in the underground city and the steep rock climbing here, I'm thinking that there is no way there were any fat people in the 10th century here! The views were amazing from the top. Then we drove back to Goreme stopping briefly at the Pigeon Valley. Hd bought some pancakes to go and we checked out of the hotel and got a ride back to the airport from where we took a plane to Istanbul. As usual, we checked in our hotel close to midnight.

Day 4:

Back to civilization. This hotel was the opposite to the Goreme one. Spacious, classy, nicely done, a sofa bed for Ashu and a baby cot for Antu, room service, TV(!),... the works! And after the glorious weather in Cappadocia for the past 2 days, it was wet,wet,wet in Istanbul! It rained non stop the entire day. After a long and elaborate breakfast, we reluctantly stepped outside in the rain and were shocked at how cold it was! Even though four different people had asked us to take a taxi from the hotel to the Sultanahmet area, we tried to take the public transport, gave up after half an hour and took a taxi! Istanbul looked like any Indian city. Including the traffic! We walked around Sultanahmet, gasped at the long line in the pouring rain outside the Ayasofya museum and quickly ran inside the Blue Mosque instead. It was closed and entry was nt for another two hours! We walked around the shops and found an Indian restaurant for lunch. Antu went to sleep in a while so we took a taxi back to the hotel.(after bargaining with the driver!) Late evening, we walked around the Beyoglu area where there were shops, shops and more shops. Ate Turkish pizza and sandwiches in a small restaurant. I drank gallons of Ayran (buttermilk) everywhere! Just yum!

Day 5:

Today we decided to actually see something and walked out after breakfast to catch a taxi! And whaddayaknow? It was the Sunday of the Eurasia Marathon in Istanbul (the only marathon in the world which includes two continents!!) and the entire Sultanahmet area and the connecting bridge were out of bounds for cars and trams! So we walked and walked for an hour in the bitter rain there. We never could take the stroller for Antu because we forgot to take the rain cover for it! She walked mostly and Hd and I (OK, mostly HD. Fine, he did all the time!) carried her the rest of the time. We ran to straight to the Ayasofya (the Church turned Mosque turned Museum) and stood in the long line munching hot, steamed corn! The line moved quickly and we were inside in no time! The interior was breathtaking! I could nt get enough of the magnificent dome and the mosaics and went camera crazy! We spent close to 2 hours there and went out for lunch.

It was Destination: Blue Mosque after a full stomach! Long lines here too but it was nt a long wait. Ashu read the Dos and Donts listed there and wore her scarf over her head and kept it like that until we got back to Zurich! Talk about Rules Ramanujam! The interior was breathtaking here too and I sprained my neck soaking in the beauty of the domes! It was prayer time soon enough and we were asked to leave. It was still raining but the trams started running! So we took a tram and then a funicular back to the hotel. We had cracked the public transport system by now! After recharging in the hotel room, we stepped out for dinner. A nice dessert place beckoned and we decided to make a meal out of it! Amongst us, we devoured a crepe with sugar, a crepe with peanut butter(!), waffle pizza (waffle coated with chocolate sauce and topped with strawberries, kiwi, apples & bananas! Sinful!), strawberry frappe and a pancake with vanilla ice cream! I'm not telling who ate what, got it?

Day 6:

Thankfully, it did nt rain this day! For once, I could take photos of the kids in Istanbul without their jacket hoods! We went straight to the Topkapi Palace! This was the highlight of the Istanbul trip for me! The huge palace is mind blowing! In one of the rooms, the entire wall, window panels and the doors of the cupboards are completely inlayed with mother of pearl. In another room, there are floor to ceiling rare blue tiles with little fountains in each window and beautiful stained glass windows. (Its the circumcision room, if you want to know!) The courtyard and the terrace and the pool and the view of the Marmara sea from the top,... I could go on! And the Imperial Treasury! Oh. My. God. Where do I begin? The spoonmaker's Diamond? (86 carats. pearl shaped. surrounded by 49 smaller (yeah right!) diamonds. Fourth largest in the world.) The Topkapi Dagger? (The golden hilt has three large emeralds and a golden watch with an emerald lid!) The golden candleholders? (which were taller than me each weighing 48 kg in GOLD and decorated with 6000 diamonds!) Or the Privy chamber? (which houses the staff Moses used and a clay foot print of the Prophet Mohammed among many other things!!!!) One has to buy a separate ticket for entry to the *ahem* Harem and it was totally worth it! Don't tell my grandma I said this but if one had to be a concubine, one had to have lived in that era! That's all I'm saying! We had a ridiculously expensive lunch in the restaurant inside. But then we were surrounded by history so I'm not complaining!

From here, we walked to the Grand Bazaar, one of the oldest and largest markets in the world! Think Ranganathan Street in Madras and multiply it by hundred! Both my camera battery and Hds phone battery died right about now so good that we were nt tempted to leave the kids hands and take photos instead! I'm sure the Turkey Paatis from Cappadocia would ve put a stall right there with "For Sale" signs on them!! We walked for an hour in circles, bargained for cheap handbags, fainted at the price of the original looking but fake brand items, wowed at the gold jewellery and bought the kids magnets and dolls and costumes. We had just enough money for a cheap dinner by the time we came out! The kids had pasta and we had falafel wrap. And Ayran, of course!

Day 7:

Our last day. We had to leave for the airport at 2.30 pm and the hotel agreed for a late check out. It was nt raining this day either and Hd suggested the Bosphorous cruise (it takes one to both the Asian side and the European side). But we did nt time it properly and decided to let go. I got a super haircut instead so I was a happy camper! (Are you thinking beauty parlor on a vacation? That's Turkey for you! And I went from super expensive Swiss!) We walked around the Eminonu area and had lunch at a place near the hotel and rushed back to pick our stuff and get a taxi to the airport. It was 9.15 pm when we came back home. Ashu immediately made a card which said "Welcome Back" and stuck it on her room door and kept marveling at it!

* Ashu counted 66 cats in the streets of Istanbul.

* The kids did nt fuss at all about food.

* Every day Ashu ate corn flakes with milk, a piece of toast with nutella, a hard boiled egg and a glass of warm milk for breakfast. I don't know this girl!

* Not that they ate everything in the restaurants but they surely did try everything.

* Cappadocia is not at all stroller friendly and I would nt advise parents to take kids below 3.

* The 2 days in Cappadocia, we saw only 2 other tourist kids! Both girls and around the same age as Ashu & Antu.

* Hot air ballooning is very popular in the Cappadocia region. But not suitable for kids under eight.

* Istanbul has lots to offer kids.

* Ashu: "Did you know the Sultan had 300 wives, Appa? But its not allowed now!"

* Things are cheaper outside Grand Bazaar.

* The Turks are the most helpful people.

* The hotel staff bent backwards to help us with anything.

* The sweets! The baklavas were to die for!

* The place you read about before a trip and the place you actually see and then reading about it after you come back! Im amazed how different they are!

* I am so going back!

The Sound of Music.

2011-10-12T09:00:00.000+02:00

Last weekend we decided to show Sis a typical Swiss outdoorsy day out! When a friend suggested we do a child friendly hike, we jumped on the offer. Since we did Elm recently, we knew Antu was ready! This time we went to a place called Alt St.Johann in Toggenburg which is 1 1/2 hours drive from Zurich. We parked the car there and bought our cable car tickets. We took the cable car up to Sellamat. And the Klangweg (Sound Trail) begins here. There are around 23 different musical stations along the way. There are things for the kids to bang, clang, hit... and they get to experience different sounds from stone, wood, bells,etc... The kids looked forward to the next sound station which kept them motivated to walk and the whole experience was fantastic. I loved it. We began the trail thinking that we ll take the cable car half way through but ended up doing the whole (approx. 6.5 km) trail which took us a good six hours including a long lunch break and the various photo sessions.

It helped that most of the trail was down hill. The views were breathtaking and it was a warm and bright day to boot. A pleasant surprise for October! Ashu had company with the friends little girl, so she was set. It was so cute to watch them walk hand in hand. Antu was a good sport walking the first half and sleeping in her stroller in the second half. The trail for the most part was stroller friendly which was a relief. We had lunch in a restaurant at Iltios which had a huge outdoor play area with trampolines, swings and slides and also had more music stations where the kids banged and clanged some more!

From Iltios, we walked and walked to get to Oberdorf from where we took the cable car down to Wildhaus. We were lucky to have reached the place before they closed! We would have been totally stranded if we had nt taken that last cable car! From Wildhaus, we had to take a bus back to Alp St.Johann. The bus ride was around 15 minutes. Quite an exhausting but a fulfilling day! The temperature dipped down to single digit after that lovely weekend so it was a perfect way to end what seemed like an extended summer this year! Ski slopes! Here we come! Rather, here we bring Ashu! :)

Little Miss Responsible.

2011-10-10T22:54:00.003+02:00

First grade is serious business and Ashu gets home work these days. She gets it every other week and it seems like a family project! I ll never understand why Im paying good money to school when I have to do all the work! *rolls eyes* Anyway, these "projects" have become the bane of my life now and Ashu and I are at loggerheads every time she brings work home. The first time she had to do a collage and little miss decided she wanted a zillion photos to be printed which I refused. Another time, she had the brilliant idea to list 36 household items and illustrate them all on her own! When I tried to explain to her that it might take hours and she did nt have that much time and to shorten her list, she got very upset and stomped off. I decided not to interfere anymore and mumbled "whatever" and went about my work. This was after dinner, so I got Antu ready for bed, brushed her teeth, read her a book, etc.... All this while, Ashu was cooling off in her room. A few minutes later she came to me as if nothing happened and asked if we can continue the home work. (She needed help with the spellings, thats all!) So we both sat together and worked peacefully for 30 mins. It was past her bed time so I asked her to take a break, brush her teeth and go to bed and that she can continue the rest the next day. She said, "But I ve already brushed my teeth, Amma!" I was surprised! "When?", I asked her. "Remember when I got angry and went away? I actually went and brushed my teeth.", she answered! I wish every tantrum the girls throw are as responsible as this one! Including mine! :)

Akka.

2011-10-09T21:49:00.004+02:00

An important news - my sister is here! Im writing this so late. Shes actually leaving to the US tomorrow. She had work in Germany and of course, she has to land in Zurich and leave form Zurich even if she has work in Timbuktu let alone Europe! She arrived two weeks back, left for Germany the very next day and then came home for the weekend. Left on Monday again and came back mid week! It has been super fun. We managed to squeeze shopping, ladies night out, pizza dinner, potluck lunch, trekking, parks, play areas, school runs and more in the short duration. Ashu, needless to say, is glued to her all the time and was planning to take her to the play park (where my sister fell and fractured her ankle last time) so that she ll fracture her leg again and wont leave to the US tomorrow! And oh! Whats a visit without a surprise! I had nt told Ashu and Antu that she was coming. Ashu was thinking that my cousin S was coming and we baked a carrot cake and wrote "Welcome" on it. When Sis walked in, Ashu saw her, became speechless, ran to her and hugged her tightly and would nt leave her for ten whole minutes! We all could hear her heart beating! Antu was asleep then. Half hour later, she got up, saw my sis and acted as if my sister has always been living with us! Surprises are so beneath her, you see! *rolls eyes*

Violence Against Women Awareness Month.

2011-09-30T22:08:00.000+02:00

Similar to the CSA Awareness Month, October is going to be Violence Against Women Awareness Month.

Heres what the core team has to say about it:

We know the subject is very wide and includes multiple aspects. To ensure that this awareness campaign is

effective, we have limited our scope to the following aspects:

1. Domestic violence – physical violence by husband/partner, other family members etc
2. Violence against girl child – including deprivation
3. Sexual violence – including marital rape, date rape
4. Emotional/psychological abuse
5. Dowry-related violence – including bride burning
6. Female infanticide
7. Acid attacks

We invite you to support and strengthen VAWM Oct 2011 as only you can. You can...

Keep up with our blog.

Write about it and send your blog post links or writeups to vawawareness at gmail dot com

(confidentiality and anonymity respected, as always).

Tweet about it – don't forget to add http://twitter.com/#!/VAWMonth .

Join in the Facebook discussions.

Show your support with the badge.

It's the season that celebrates the power of women. Come join in our Stree Shakti special posts.

The One in Which Ashu Reads to Antu.

2011-09-05T22:48:00.006+02:00

Right from the minute your child starts recognizing alphabets, you are waiting for that awesome moment when your child starts reading books. "Will she be an early reader or late reader? Will she be interested in books at all? How is she doing compared to her peers in India? Will she be like a certain gifted child who goes through books like we go through tissues in this house? Will she retain what she reads?" Dont tell me you never thought along those lines! It cant be just me! And when the said child is nearing 6 and is nt memorizing the Encyclopedia like you wanted her to, you tell yourself, "Well! Whats the big deal! When they are older, they are all going to end up reading and discussing the same teen fiction crap anyway!" What? Thats just me?

Coming to the point, Ashus reading hit an all time high a month back. I think the two month summer vacation did some magic. She was found reading all the time. Begged for "just one more book" before bed time, she not only read the reading book her teacher sent home, she read the note the teacher sent for the parents as well. (And she actually read "read" as "red" when it was used in past tense! I was amazed!) And just when I heaved a sigh of relief and was wondering when to introduce Harry Potter to her, something unexpected happened.

I sent Antu to bed around 7.30 pm today because she had nt napped in the afternoon and was very sleepy. Ashu was sitting next to me on the couch and what else but reading! I heard Antu calling Ashu and told Ashu to go check on her and come back. Then I got busy in the kitchen and around 8 pm, went to check on the kids thinking that Ashu also went to sleep. And what do I see? This.

Antu asked Ashu to read to her, it seems. So she brought the table lamp from the other room, plugged it in their bedroom, kept the lamp on the bed and reading to her quietly! I think the day she starts reading with a flashlight under the blanket is nt far away!

Elm.

2011-08-23T23:36:00.007+02:00

This Sunday, we drove to a place called Elm which is a little over an hours drive from Zurich. I found out that that place has a kids friendly hike and made up my mind to put Antu to walk. It was also mentioned that the trail was stroller friendly so we took ours anyway. We parked at the Gondola (cable car) station and took the Gondola to go up. There was a nice play area up with trampoline, jungle gym, sand pit, swing, slide, a gold digging activity in the sand, etc.... The location was just breathtaking! The huge swing was just at the edge of the cliff and it was amazing to see the kids swing back and forth with a view to kill! One of the mountain peaks has a small hole and twice a year, when the sun sets, the light shines through this hole directly into a church, it seems! The kids had a blast in the play area but it was terribly hot. We had a sphagetti lunch at the restaurant there and started walking towards Tierliweg, the kid friendly trail.

Cows welcomed us and the noise of the cow bells were really deafening! Most of the walk was through the woods so we were nt roasted in the sun. And whenever the trees parted, the views were spectacular! The trail was too rocky to push the stroller with Antu so she was replaced with our backpack on the stroller. I guess they mean that the trail was friendly for mountain-friendly-strollers and not our "sort by price and choose the cheapest" stroller! Little Miss Antu walked the entire 1 1/2 hours without any complaint! The only reason being that there were wooden animal sculptures every 200 metres or so and that kept motivating the kids to keep walking! It was wonderful to see Ashu and Antu spotting the animals first and shouting excitedly, Ashu making me write a list of all the animals (more than 20), guessing what the next animal will be, debating if the animal was a pig or a bear(!), etc... etc... Not to mention the jokes. Like I suddenly screamed, "Look a Gorilla!" and when Ashu excitedly looked, I was pointing at her dad! She was nt thrilled, if you want to know!

I don't know whats with Hd and pushing stuff off the mountain slopes. This one time, he let his sledge go on its own and I had to hike back while he went doubles with Ashu on the second sledge! Another time, the canopy on the stroller slipped and flew down the slopes. This time, he was coming behind us with the stroller and the backpack and suddenly he says "pudi, pudi!" and what do we see? The stroller and the backpack are flying down the slope!! Thankfully, it hit a rock and stopped and he ran to get them! I was thanking the Lord that Antu was not on the stroller and at the same time rolling on the floor laughing thinking what hes going to push the next time! If ever Kamal Hassan remakes Guna, I think HD ll make a good body double for him in the last scene when he jumps off a cliff! I would love to watch that! Now thats a happy ending! Abirami, Abirami! (Sorry cant quote Guna without saying Abirami, Abirami! Can you?)

After a well deserved ice cream, we decided to go down to the car park. And thats when the adventure began. One can either take the Gondola back or rent something called Trottinett which is a Mountain Scooter and go down 5 kms. Me being me, of course I wanted to ride the Trotti while Hd and the kids took the gondola. I was riding like the wind soaking in the amazing views and wondering if I should have brought Ashu with me since the Trotti guy said we can ride with kids when I braked the front wheel instead of back and next second, I hit the gravelly ground hard on my chest. My right elbow and both my palms were totally scraped! Bloody, dusty mess I was! Shirt torn, hand bag torn! I should ve been quite a sight for sore eyes! But I managed to get up and continue the rest of the way in spite of my bloody palms. Hd who was waiting downhill armed with a camera took one look at me and was horrified! Thankfully, everything was just surface wounds and nothing deep and no broken bones. Phew.

Whats life without a little adventure, huh? So what if I could nt hold the tooth brush the next day or that I had an important school meeting to attend the next morning and shaking hands with a few people was just cruel? It was totally worth it! :)

Radha Krishna!

2011-08-21T00:05:00.001+02:00

My mom is a major Krishna Bakthai. This time in India, she gave me all the jewellery she had bought for the kids and asked me to dress them up. Once they were dressed, she took them to everyones house in our street and flaunted them. They came home with arai dozen Marie biscuits! On that note, Happy Krishna Jayanthi/Gokulashtami/Janmashtami everyone!

Another First Day.

2011-08-20T23:02:00.005+02:00

It was Ashu's first day of first grade on Tuesday. All four of her best friends including G are in the same class and seeing the class list, I was more relieved than Ashu! I have a good relationship with those girls' moms and its nice to see that I don't have to make new friends at this age! ;)

Little Miss Attitude.

2011-08-12T22:52:00.004+02:00

Antu: Amma Chota Bheem is my favorite.

Me: Ok.

Antu: The princess and the moon is my favorite in Chota Bheem.

Me: Great!

Antu: Akka's favorite is the super hero one.

Me: Ok.

Antu: Whats is your favorite, Amma?

Me: I dont have a favorite.

Antu: What is your favorite?

Me: I dont have a favorite, Antu because I dont like Chota Bheem. It is the silliest show ever and I regret the day I bought the DVDs.

Antu: You only like Cricket, Amma? (She still remembers the IPL days, I guess!)

Me: Yes. I like Cricket.

Antu: And I like Chota Bheem.

Me: !!!

You should have been there to see the look in her face and the attitude and the way she turned her back to me and walked away after saying that! God! I thought only Ashu will leave me speechless with her profound questions and answers!

So we are back safe and sound back in Zurich. Came 10 days back actually but feels like forever! Ashu's school has nt reopened yet so we are enjoying the Swiss Summer which is rain mostly! The flight back was as uneventful as it could be. The kids slept most of the duration, I watched Rio (such a cute movie!) and also slept like a good girl instead of watching five back to back movies like I did the last time. The husband came AN HOUR late to the airport because of some accident in the Autobahn! That was the toughest hour of the trip. I hate it when I cant see a familiar face when I come out of the airport. Ashu who never asked for her dad even once the entire 4 weeks ran like a wind and hugged him and would nt let go when she saw him. Antu who had been asking where Appa is and when we can go to Zurich at least a dozen times everyday saw him, started sucking a finger and looked down! I, of course, ran over his feet with the heavy trolley and walked towards our car!

Notes from a Small Town.

2011-07-22T19:38:00.009+02:00

The one good thing about my parents living in a small town is that Im totally relaxed. I am taking laziness to an all new level. Like in Madras, no mad shopping to do hunting for that perfect short kurta, no restaurant hopping looking for that elusive Schezwan fried rice, no beaches, no visits to the dentist,... Im not even moving my behind to go to any of the temples for which this town is famous for. Only one quick visit was done to Govindapuram the day before the Kumbabhishekam.

I signed up Ashu for a 10 day swimming camp in a hotel pool nearby. Never in a million years would I have thought that my daughter will learn swimming in Kumbakonam of all places!! Unfortunately I took my dad along for the first class and seeing her splutter and pant, he took the coach aside (Im not sure if he bribed him! Hes capable of it!) and told him to teach her swimming with her head above the water! sigh. The even more sad part is that the coach agreed and now after the last lesson, Ashu is swimming exactly like how our Labrador (God bless her soul!) used to when she fell on the Kodaikanal lake!

I hardly come online or talk on the phone. My mom and dad take care of the girls. If Im really tired watching TV or looking at the ceiling (during the power cut), I play judge to the Pallankuzhi match between my 96 year old grandma and 6 year old daughter. My happiness cant be measured when Ashu makes her move after she counts the Sozhis discreetly so that she can pothufy Kaasi or take a muthu. I can proudly say that she has become the member of the Secret Society of Pallankuzhi! Antu is having her own fun upturning the heavy wooden board and scattering the Sozhis everywhere. Some (read Sis!) might say that Antu is following my footsteps but for the record, I did it only when I lost a game, mind it!

If you think at 96, my grandma is the oldest in the family, you are wrong. My grand uncle turned 100 (One Hundred!) recently and he lives with my uncle and aunt next door. Ashu and Antu visited him as usual and he remembered their visit 6 months back and said, "The little one will come to me. Shes not shy like the older one!" Gotta give it to the old man! Sharp as a cookie even though hes very weak physically. The irony is that every time we visit home, my mom or my grandma will insist that we go visit him as soon as possible because "God knows when what will happen? Seekram poi paathutu vandhudu". This has been going on for the past 10 years and its really hilarious that this dialogue is coming from my 96-not-out grandma. Poor thing used to wipe her tears and say, "May be I wont be here the next time you visit. Take care of the kids"! But even she thought enough is enough and during my last trip declared, "May be Im not going anywhere until I see Ashu getting married! So see you next time!" Hope to God I have the same sense of humor when Im old. (Not that old, please God!)

I dont know why but I sense that my parents are very proud that we live in Switzerland and I cant explain why but Im most reluctant to tell near strangers where I live. Ashu being the girl she is hardly ever strikes a conversation with strangers and even if she does, she ll only answer to Yes or No questions. Antu being small, people hardly direct their questions at her and even when she says "I live in Zurich", people assume she said Zoo and give me a weird look! So that only leaves my mother! While on the train, I went to the loo for like 30 seconds and my mom had introduced her grand daughters to half the compartment and maamas and maamis are asking me how I manage in the snow! One gentleman is asking ashu what her name is in German(!) and another lady is asking me if I get Murungaikaai there! Some people dont even know where Swiss is (Adhu enna? Newzealand pakkathula irukko?) and I have to tell them that it is near London! (My apologies to the Swiss!)

I dont know how my parents did it when we were kids but watching TV with Ashu is like Chinese torture. It does nt help that she has nt watched a full length Hindi or Tamil movie. Or a non-kiddy English film for that matter. It feels like a different Ashu is unleashed when I watch a Tamil movie and she catches a few scenes. "Why is that baby crying? Why is the mom leaving the baby and going to fight a war? Why is she crying now? So what if she came to know she is adopted? She has a mom and dad, right? Why does she care about her real mom who left her?" All this for a two minutes scene from Kannathil Muthamittaal. As if this is nt enough, there was a scene where Maddy and Iduppazhagi are hugging and the Akka character stops them. "Why cant they hug? Why is she stopping them? So what if they are nt married? So why dont they get married? Why should they ask the dads permission? Why dont they just get married and surprise him?" This from a girl who still informs me that shes going to the bathroom before she does! God save me! And here we were my sis and I as kids suffering through rape scenes, kissing scenes, hugging scenes, near rape before the hero saves his sister scene, rape after which the girl marries the rapist and lives happily ever after scenes, rape followed by suicide scenes, rape followed by murder scenes, MGR duet songs, Moods advertisement, etc... etc... etc... without batting an eyelid and without a peep! And in those days, parents could nt even change channels like we can today because there was only one channel to watch and most importantly there was no remote. And even if one was lucky to get the Srilankan channel Rupavahini , changing the channel meant that someone has to go to the terrace and change the direction of the TV Antenna to a certain angle and for people below to scream, "Yes, yes. STOP! No, no. Go back! Yes. A bit more. No No. Too much." Im sure its hilarious to hear now but it was one of the most frustrating thing, let me assure you. Coming back to the point, what am I doing wrong?

All good things must come to an end and so did the mango season. Just when I was finishing a whole Rumaani Mango and scraping the seed with my teeth for that last bit of pulp stuck there, my mom announced that that was going to be my last mango for this trip. For a moment, I thought of swallowing that seed whole but the childhood conditioning of how a tree will sprout from my head if I ever swallowed a seed would nt let me do it. Well, theres always the next season I suppose. I can wait.

Let He who has never eaten a road side Pani Puri cast the first stone!

2011-07-12T11:47:00.007+02:00

Yes, we just swat the flies away and continue to eat the very same food the fly was sitting on a second ago. We remove ants from our tea/coffee and drink it. Not only drink, we even relish it! We dont stop and wonder where the fly was sitting two seconds before it was sitting on our bondas or if the ants marched from the bathroom! We do draw a line when it comes to cockroaches and lizards though! (Only because the critters are too big to ignore!) Ok? Alright? Happy? Now dont roll your eyes! Yes, you! You dared to ask me how I could possibly do such awful stuff? I just smiled and nodded and walked away. All the while I wanted to ask you, "I have never seen you or any member of your family take off your shoes before entering your house. Your child crawls in that house. Your older one drops a biscuit on the floor and picks it up and eats it. Have you ever wondered that the very same shoes you are walking around the house with are the same pair you were wearing when you used the public bathroom earlier in the day?" And dont get me started on public swimming pools! Now, shoo! Go away and let me eat my beach side molaga bajji in peace!

Summer Vacation.

2011-07-10T18:33:00.005+02:00

As usual, our India trip is going strong. After a wonderful week in Madras where we went to the beach everyday, the kids, my mom and I Ieft for Bangalore while poor Hd had to go back to Zurich. Antu being the appa gondu is missing him quite a bit! The Bangalore trip was to strictly meet my maternal family and friends and we did just that. We stayed in four different places in five days, met dozens of relatives and friends and spent more time in the car than any house! The girls had a wonderful time everywhere. S who left Zurich in April and had nt even settled in Bangalore fully yet dared to invite us to spend a night in her place and Ashu packed her bag even before I said yes! The girls had a sweet reunion and my heart swelled. Antu too seemed to have missed the little boy. So much so that she did nt bully him at all! As far as I know, that is! :) Thanks, S! Whats life without a blog meet? Lovely Art opened her house yet again for a blog meet and it was nice to put a face to many people! My cousin A with her two kids played host one day and I got so nostalgic thinking about all my summer holidays as a kid spent in Bangalore with A playing Amma-Appa games! Where did time go? My two college going nieces were absolutely adorable and the kids stuck to them. I was so tempted to kidnap one of the girls back to Zurich. Perfect baby sitters! :) They also took me with them to watch Dehi Belly! God! What a movie! I cant remember having laughed so much in a theatre in the recent past! A must-see! That reminds me, Hd and I caught Aaranya Kaandam and it was bloody BRILLIANT! I plan to watch both movies again.

Ashu and Antu met so many of their cousins and other friends kids that they were truly overwhelmed and Ashu was giving me the "What the hell are we doing in Zurich?" look all the time! Sigh! After the hectic trip, took a train back home. My parents place, I mean. Phew. The true vacation begins here with nothing to do all day long! Just what I need to recharge my batteries before I board the flight back to Zurich and get into the routine life! Ashu is busy playing Pallankuzhi with her great grandma, hide and seek with her friends, magic tricks with her grandpa, fighting with her sister, arguing with me, going for swim classes and skipping her Tamil tutions with my mom and playing Uno with her instead! I don't see Antu in one place for more than two minutes unless and until shes sleeping. Me? I am sincerely doing the one thing I came here to do braving the summer. Mangoes, ripe mangoes, red mangoes, sweet mangoes!

27.06.2011

2011-06-27T00:01:00.001+02:00

Dear Antu,
As long as we live outside India, your birthday is always going to be in India or in the US, I guess. Just like your first birthday, we are back in India for your third as well! Are nt you a lucky girl to be celebrating amongst your doting Thathas and Paatis? This year, you were truly looking forward for your birthday and even declared, "Amma! I ll blow the candles and you cut the cake, ok?" I know its all your sister's coaching but it sounded so sweet when you said that. Unlike the previous years, I'm shocked that you are only three! Really? You talk more than your sister and some times you even seem to know more than your father and you act like a thirteen year old me! Deadly combination, I tell you! Tone it down, little girl! I want to live long enough to see your kids giving you grey hair! ;)

We had a family dinner get-together yesterday in Madras and you blew the candles and cut the birthday cake surrounded by your grand parents, grand uncles, grand aunts, uncles, aunts, older and younger cousins and especially your great grand mother. This is the best kind of birthday according to me. I felt so loved with so many of the family present and I hope you realize how lucky you are to have had that special day. Ashu was the perfect hostess, as usual! Thank her when you are old enough to understand how much she does for you. It is frustrating to see you take her for granted and manipulate her to get your way in everything but I know its just a phase (correction: loooooooooooong phase!) and later you will worship her and that she ll mean the world to you. Personal experience speaking, of course! So I guess I have to grin and bear.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Sweetie Pie! Hope you are always surrounded by love like you are today.

Love,
Amma.

ps.
Yes, I owe you half a piece of baby corn fry. I should nt have let the Cascade waiter take your plate away when you had nt finished your baby corn fry. But you need not have kept saying,"He took my baby corn!" with an accusing finger pointing to the waiter every time he crossed our table. Before your next birthday, I ll get you a full plate of baby corn fry and will also let you finish it. Deal?

Kung Fu Panda 2.

2011-06-20T20:07:00.005+02:00

Ashu's KG graduation gift was a movie - Kung Fu Panda 2. I was thrilled to go for a movie with her. Though her first movie was Toy Story 3 last year, she watched it with my Bil. So this was our first time to the big screen together. Naturally, I was making a big deal and she did nt care! The news spread and more moms and kids joined our plan. At the end, we were 4 moms and 9 kids. Hd could nt believe we were leaving him and Antu and going on Father's day but we reminded him that every day is fathers day and we don't believe in all this marketing scam! Mother's day is almost a year away. So he ll forgive and forget, Im hoping! ;)

Armed with 3D glasses and a pick-your-own-sweets bag (madam does nt believe in popcorn, the ultimate movie companion!) she walked to the dark screen and plonked herself in between two of her friends while I stood and glared at her! "Do you want to sit here, Ashu?", I managed to squeak. "No, Amma! I'm going to sit here!", came the prompt reply. hmph! I could have just dropped her at the entrance and gone home, I guess! The ungrateful child! Anyway, we loved the movie. Even though there were nt many laugh-aloud scenes, Ashu seemed to be laughing whenever Po was on screen! The 3D experience also enhanced the movie and the animation was just breathtaking. The colors were just brilliant. I could nt take my eyes off. I wanted to pause each scene and look at every little detail. What an effort! Lord Shen, the peacock was my favorite! ( But he seemed too stiff when he was walking. No offence to the Dreamworks team, but I have never seen a peacock walk without moving his long neck. Thats the classic movement of the peacock, is nt it? May be Lord Shen had a botox or something? ;)

After the movie, Ashu said that she liked this better than Toy Story. (Come on, Pixar! Do something!) I asked her if she understood the story and she said she did. "But I did nt understand one thing, Amma. What is Inner Peace?" Err.... A profound question indeed! But I expect no less from Ashu. "You know how Amma is on a school day morning, Ashu? When you cant find your water bottle and Antu refuses to drink her milk and your dad is on a phone call and I'm making tea and breakfast and lunch and trying to comb your hair all at the same time?" "Yes....", Ashu gulped. "Well. Inner peace is exactly the opposite!", I declared. She, of course, did not get it. But I found inner peace alright, even if it lasted only a minute! :)

Kindergarten Girl Graduates.

2011-06-16T10:06:00.004+02:00

Was nt it just yesterday that I blogged about Ashu's first day of Kindergarten? Time flew and here we are on the last day of KG. Sigh! At least Ashu is all excited that she is going to be in FIRST GRADE from TOMORROW. (according to her!) But I cant seem to let go of my Kindergartner. Well, there is always Antu, I suppose!

Today when we were getting ready and I was wiping tears and packing her lunch, (because I knew it will come back half eaten AGAIN!), Ashu declared "I don't want to go to school, Amma!"

"What? Why? You love school."

"Yes, Amma. But I don't like last days. I want yesterday to be my last day and I dont want to go today."

"I know its tough, Ashu. But you have to go today and say good bye to everyone."

(sighs) "OK."

"And also today is the last day and if you miss today then you can never ever go to Kindergarten ever again in your life even if you wanted to. Think about that."

"No Amma. I can go to Kindergarten again if I become a teacher!"

Well, theres no arguing with a Kindergartner, I guess! I shudder at the thought of a precocious first grader at home!

Big-Ears and a Big Disappointment.

2011-06-14T16:05:00.003+02:00

The very first book Ashu got as a gift at the ripe young age of 5 months was "Noddy's squeaky shoes". (Excluding the tonnes of book my sis got for her, that is!) We would have read it to her at least a million times. And I think her first TV show was "Make way for Noddy" too. At least thats what she liked the most to watch on TV. So much so that my mom got her a huge stuffed Noddy toy for her 1st birthday. She got a Noddy cake too. And when we left for Zurich when she was 20 months old, I bought a couple of Noddy CDs and about a dozen Noddy books. Which she has watched/been read to a couple of more million times. She has poured through each and every picture in each page, well... a million times. Rinse and repeat for Antu too. Now after all that Noddy overdose for SIX long years, Ashu picked up the "A Bike for Big-Ears" today and declared that she can read the whole book all by herself! I was all ears, of course! ;) But she stumbled on the second page. And on a very simple world - "He".

"Big-Ears is a BOY?", she asked with her eyes as wide as saucers! Silly me thought at first that shes asking if he were a man or a boy. So I said No. Then she said, "But it says "He" here. She is a He? He is a She?" Since I had watched Mrs. Doubtfire very recently, I burst out laughing!

"Of course Big-Ears is boy. Hes a man actually! Did you really think he was a woman all this time?"

"Yes, Amma! Look at the long hair!"

"Thats not his hair, Ashu! Thats his beard!"

"Really? Wow!

I could see her whole Noddy world crashing down inside her head. She literally shook her head and continued reading and finished the book. It was a bittersweet feeling for me. One one hand, I was thrilled that she could read on her own. But on the other, it was upsetting that she ll be concentrating on the words more than the pictures. Power of the word, huh?

Schloss Neuschwanstein.

2011-06-10T10:11:00.004+02:00

This year for our anniversary, we were in Fussen, Germany. It happened to be an extra long weekend here last week and in continuing our tradition of being in a different city for each of our anniversaries, we pulled it off successfully for the 11th time. When we went here 8 years back on our first visit to Germany, I was so looking forward to visit the Neuschwanstein Castle. But it was a foggy day and we could nt see a thing. While we did take a tour inside, the picture postcard views were sorely missed and I vowed to go back again just for the views. My dream came true last Saturday. Ashu was thrilled to see a real castle and the weather was just perfect.

We bought a combo ticket for both Neuschwanstein Castle and Hohenschwangau Castle. We booked it online so that we dont have to stand in long lines and also theres a mad rush in Summer. One can see the inside of the castles only with guided tours and chances are that we might not get a time we want if we buy it directly from there. So in spite of the online booking fee, its worth it. (Though kids go free, there was a booking fee for them too. Go figure!) We drove from Zurich to Fussen which is around 3 hours and stayed there overnight. The next morning we drove to Schwangau which is 10 minutes drive and parked near the ticket office. From there, its a 10 to 15 minutes walk to the Hogenschwangau castle. Theres also a horse drawn carriage which takes you to the castle. But we used it for the Neuschwanstein Castle since its a 40 minutes uphill walk and also time was tight between the two castle tours. Its a very good idea to take the stroller for young kids.

Hohenschwangau was King Ludwig's childhood home. He built the Neuschwanstein Castle later but never completed it since he died under mysterious circumstances.(He drowned in the lake at the age of 41 along with his... wait-for-it... psychiatrist!) After the tour of the first castle, we walked back and took a carriage to go to castle no. 2. There was a long line but we did nt have to wait long since there were many carriages. The girls thoroughly enjoyed the royal ride! Neuschwanstein Castle is just breathtakingly beautiful. And what a location! After the tour, we walked to the Marienbrucke (a bridge) which is around 30 minutes walk from the castle for the fantastic view. It was totally worth hiking with the kids. Then we walked back to a restaurant near the castle and had a late lunch. (A platter of asparagus in hollandaise sauce, anyone?) Fussen is also a beautiful town and the town centre with the cobbled roads is very charming with shops and restaurants lining the street. The next day we drove to Forggensee, a beautiful lake, and did a one hour boat cruise. The views were beautiful. A perfect anniversary weekend getaway.

Five lessons that Motherhood has taught me.

2011-05-25T23:29:00.004+02:00

I think I have been tagged after eons. I have to be blamed because I mostly forget to take up tags. Apologies. So let me do Kiran's tag before I forget. Thanks K for shaking me awake from my blogger's block!

So here are the five lessons that Motherhood has taught me.

1. Patience. I never knew I had so much patience in me. And that its never enough. Like today. We came back from school, cleaned up, ate snacks and after packing every sand toy in the house left for the play area downstairs. I asked the girls to use the bathroom before we left and Antu was very sure that she did nt want to go! I even threatened her that I will not bring her back home if she said that she wanted to use the bathroom as soon as we reached the park. And what happened 10 minutes later? Madam says she has to use the bathroom NOW. This has happened before of course. I tell Ashu to play and that I ll go home and come back in 5 minutes. I walk home with Antu. When we cross the water fountain in front of our apartment, Antu says that she wants to play in the water. "Did nt you want to go to the bathroom NOW?", I ask. "No! I want to go to the water!" I give her a dirty look and drag her home. She sits in the bathroom for 10 minutes and declares that she does nt have to go after all! ARGH!

2. Motherhood has also taught me to shut up. When one does nt have a kind word to tell a mother, especially a new mom, then one has to really shut up. Especially things like "I chose not to take epidural" to a mom who is just being wheeled out after a C-Sec or "I nursed my child until so and so years" to a mom who is struggling with breast feeding are a strict no-no. Hold your tongue, woman! Just stick with "the baby looks just like you" and you will be fine!

3. I know all the Disney Princess's names. And I know who Ben10 is and what Bakugans are. I know how Tooth Fairy works. I know how to make a puppy from play-doh and hot to throw kiddie birthday parties. I know how to turn shoe boxes into storage boxes and I also have watched a caterpillar turn into a butterfly. I know all about potty and sleep training and the ups and downs of breast feeding. I learnt to appreciate Children's literature and can recognize Axel Scheffler's illustrations from a mile away! :)

4. Most importantly, it has taught me to walk out of my comfort zone and take risks. While I'm so afraid of deep frying that I don't ever make HD's favorite pooris or my favorite aamai vadai, I have no problem baking cake after cake for my kids even though many a disaster have occurred. Contrary to the popular belief, Im quite shy and suck at making new friends. I take a step if the other person takes a step but I wont initiate it. I'm too afraid that I might be stepping on their toes. But having a very reserved kid means that I'm her mouth piece. Whether its asking for a play date with Ashu's friend or targeting fellow Desi Moms and pouncing on them at the school entrance or volunteering in school or the numerous get-togethers that happen, I owe everything to motherhood. If not for the kids, I would have been very happy in my shell. But being a mother has taught me that the shell can pretty crowded for a family of four. I owe every friend I have right now to my kids. Including my very dear blog pals. :)

5. hmm.... What else? Oh yeah! I ve learnt that I can fake as a supremely patient and super mom when there are people around! When Antu refuses to leave the park and I tell her very nicely, "Lets go sweetie! We ll go home, eat dinner, read a book and go to bed. Come on now!" what I really mean is "kadankaari! Vandhu tholai! veetukku vaa, unakku irukku*!" Or whenever I write in the blog that I ve given up on Ashu's fussy eating habits and dont bother anymore, what I really mean is that meal times battles still exist but I am not going to write about it here anymore! ;)

* Come home, you brat! You will pay for this!

Real Muffins, Fake Cupcakes and Tiramisu.

2011-05-16T09:46:00.007+02:00

Ashu's birthday celebrations seem to be extending for a long time. Since her school was closed for Spring break until the 1st of May, she had a small celebration in her class after the school reopened. The usual "going around the Sun 6 times", showing her baby pictures to her friends and teachers, eating cup cakes, etc... I baked rainbow cup cakes and they came out awesome thanks to the gel food colors Sis sent from the US. When I baked the rainbow cake last year, I did nt have gel food colors and even though the cake looked good, the colors were nt really vibrant. And I was quite apprehensive about making cupcakes because all that effort of mixing colors in four different batches for a simple muffin seemed tedious to me. But it turned out pretty easy actually. I had nt told Ashu that it was going to be rainbow muffins and when she got up in the morning and saw all the muffins, the expression on her face was priceless. Guess us moms are suckers for punishment just for that look on our kids faces! Whether its taking them to Disneyland during Spring break or baking rainbow muffins at midnight which are going to be half eaten and thrown in the trash by most of the kids!

We also had unexpected house guests the next week which Ashu thought was in her honor! We hardly have house guests and the kids were super thrilled. A very dear couple with their 2 daughters were on an Europe tour and stayed with us a night before going to Italy. Even though the friend claimed she was here to do laundry(!), we were excited to see them after ages! Ashu asked me yesterday if we can invite S and S for a playdate this week and I had to explain to her that they are in Italy now and will be going back to India and international play dates are nt the norm. Yet. :) The next day we had a small "cupcake" party at home with 2 girls who missed Ashu's birthday party. (Yes, you can say that again - Im a sucker for punishment!) Sis had sent a fake cupcake decorating kit for Ashu and the three girls went crazy making fake cupcakes while Antu and I were gobbling real banana muffins! Antu made sure to ask me "Is this real? Can I eat this?" though! Atta girl! The fake cream looked so real that whenever I got a bit of my cream in my hands while helping them, my first instinct was to lick it!!! Had to warn the girls a dozen times not to lick although Im sure a bit of it did find its way to their stomach! Well, a little bit of glue does nt harm anyone. Or does it?

The weekend was busy with back to back birthday parties for Ashu. What a busy social life these kids have! (And why does April/May have the most number of birthdays, anyway?!) And we had friends over for dinner on Sunday. And Ashu expected them to stay overnight! I made Tiramisu for the very first time and though it came out yummy, it was too much coffee for my taste especially since I dont drink coffee. Got to dilute the coffee more the next time I make it. Funny that when I was googling for Tiramisu recipe, I had to google "how to make coffee" because I did nt know the how many spoons of coffee powder to add to a cup of water to make the coffee! Yes, Im that girl who does nt even know how to make coffee that the Mothers-In-law love to complain about!! Come to think of it, I dont how to boil an egg either! I mean, I did nt! Have I told you how this one time I tried to boil an egg in a "microwave"?!!! God rest its soul! And I mean the microwave here! ;)

Atzmännig.

2011-05-08T22:45:00.016+02:00

We had a wonderful time in Atzmannig yesterday. When our dear friend S left for India recently, I knew that I was going to miss a travel partner along with a best friend! Usually its S and her husband who pick out a place and we tag long with them! God knows how they do it but they are always finding just the perfect place to go as a family! So when S went to Atzmannig the last weekend she was in Swiss, she made sure to pass on the information to me and almost made me promise that I ll take Ashu there because she knew how much Ashu likes to climb! :)

Along with another family, we drove to Atzmannig yesterday and reached within an hour. The place is located in the most beautiful location ever. There is this leisure park on top of a hill one one side and a Rope Adventure Park on the other. The park's main attraction is a 700 m Toboggan run with 17 turns! Its really cool! Theres also something called a sliding tower with different kinds of slides where Antu had a blast! The kids went crazy on the trampoline, the play area, the coin operated cars, flying chairs, petting goats and donkeys, ...

After a picnic lunch, we went to the Rope Adventure Park which was the main reason we went there. Ashu and the other boy who are under 8 were geared up with the climbing gear, helmets and gloves and were told that they can do the two easy courses how many ever times they want! Hd and the other older kid were given a crash course for 15 minutes before they took the advanced course. Antu was napping in her stroller by then so I left her by a table near the outdoor restaurant and was happily cheering Ashu while Hd was somewhere up on the trees like a cliff hanger! It was such fun to say the least! Ashu went on the two courses again and again a dozen times! The park was closing at 6.00 and at 5.58 she was asking me, "Can I do a quick Route A and come back, Amma?" and hurried up to the tree and clamping herself to the safety rope, disappeared in the woods! Could nt believe this was the same girl who cried when she did it the first time because she was a scared of a slidy thing! It was so nice to see her so dedicated and walking on tight ropes and wobbly bridges and webs and hanging onto ropes. A mother's dream come true, I tell you.
A must-see place for the entire family near Zurich if you live or visit here. The Toboggan ride is from Age 3 onwards and the Rope Park is from Age 4 onwards. But the Leisure park has enough for under 3 too. Perfect place to do picnics and there is a restaurant too. Huge parking lot which is free. Take loads of coins for the rides though. For more information click here.

Ashu's Birthday Party & the Big Surprise.

2011-05-05T14:35:00.008+02:00

Last week was a roller-coaster ride. Just before we left for Disneyland, my sister called up to tell me that my Bil is coming to Zurich on 26th as a birthday surprise for Ashu and asked me to keep it a secret. I, of course, immediately sent her the birthday party shopping list before going "WHAT?" Since no one in our family even goes to the bathroom without surprising someone(!), my antenna went up and I asked sis if actually she was coming! She denied of course and kept on denying the whole week and I believed her only after seeing my Bil in the train station standing alone! (Even then, I thought Sis might ve taken a taxi and gone home! One never knows when it comes to my family!) On Tuesday evening, I took the kids to the station and they thought we were going to pick up their father! When they saw Perippa, Antu royally ignored him and Ashu went absolutely speechless and we could see her heart racing! She just held his hand and stood there for a long time before hugging him. And she let him go only after a whole week when he was leaving for the airport back to the US! Plan 2 was to surprise my parents who had no idea Bil was here. The kids and I were skyping with them when cooly Bil came and sat with us on the sofa and it was incredible to see my parents face. My sis was on the phone with them at the same time and they thought she was here too! hee hee! Plan 3 was executed when Hd came home from office in the evening. Ashu planned it and asked Bil to stand behind the door. Hd entered and seeing me armed with a camera, he gave a look and then turned to see Bil and was shell-shocked! muahahaha! Missions accomplished!

Sis had sent a bunch of decorate your own fabric backpacks, fabric pens, wild animals stickers, goody bags and even paper plates, cups, napkins, etc... along with a dozen gifts for the kids! Hd was asking me why I was nt going crazy shopping for the birthday party earlier and he had his answer when Bil arrived! He scolded sis and me for using Bil like a courier service! hmph! What does he know? I wish Reva sent one of her fabulous cake through him as well! Then I would nt have had to lift a finger for the party! ;) The party was that sunday at the Wildpark nearby. Ashu and I decorated the backpacks and wrote each kids name on it and stuck some of the animal stickers. I packed the bag with a juice bottle, an apple, a chocolate cookie and a map of the park. (Inspired by my friend, S. She stitched the backpacks herself for all the kids when she threw a party at the zoo last year! Im not that creative but I ve a sister and Bil who are very useful! :) Once all the kids(15) arrived, we set out for a walk to see the animals. It was a drop off party but a couple of parents stayed back to help me out. Bil was the official photographer! The kids loved to carry their personalized backpacks and consult their own maps! We took a snack break half way through. Once we came back to the restaurant, we cut the cake and ate lunch. I had taken cake, sandwiches, cut veggies, dips, zucchini bread, chips, etc,,, and ordered pizza and fries from the restaurant. Later the kids went wild in the play area and the carousel. Everyone was satisfied after going on the carousel four times straight!

All in all, a very good birthday party. I baked a chocolate cake and glazed it and bought some sugar animals, flowers and sprinkles and decorated it! The cake was a bit dry and but looked good and thats all that matters! Added a goody bag with stickers and sweets to the backpack when the kids were leaving. All the kids cooperated so well and were in excellent behaviour much to my pleasant surprise! The three hour duration was just perfect. We saw bears, wild cats, wolves, mountain goats and loads of deers. Antu was stuck to my Bil the entire time and I did nt even hear a peep from her. Hd was mad at me for doing "so much" for a 6 year old party and was wondering how much he has to suffer at my hands when the girls are getting married! I wont let you down, dear! All my friends were in awe that Bil came all the way to be here for Ashus party and she was so proud! She had been nagging my sis and Bil to come to her party for the past few months and she was thrilled that her wish was fulfilled. Even though she missed her Perimma, she got over it as soon as she saw the Rapunzel loot that sis had sent for her! And the scooter. Bil came with a huge suitcase full of stuff for us and went back with an empty suitcase! I am so ashamed! What does one send from here? The only thing my sis would ve loved refused to climb into the suitcase!

Bil went back this Tuesday much to Ashus disappointment. She kept telling him to go one day later, poor thing! But she was glad that her school reopened after the spring break on Monday and she could take him to her class and introduce him to her teachers and show him around the class. It was so cute this time to see Ashu with her Perippa. She was so much "in love" with him! One day we went out for a walk and she plucked a flower and started picking the petals one by one chanting, "perippa loves me, perippa loves me not,....!" And she was thrilled that it ended with "perippa loves me!" When Bil asked what if it had nt, she said, "Its just a game, Perippa! I know that you love me!" She was literally glued to him, watched the IPL matches with him, made cards for him, played games with him, wanted him to read her bed time stories,... It was so heart breakingly adorable to see them together. Antu for her part charmed him and was attached to him too but I guess she can recognize "true love" when she sees it so did nt fight for his attention too much. Phew. Thanks V for doing this trip. The girls are so lucky to be loved like this. And yes, yes. I did nt forget you, Sis! You are the greatest Sister ever. Happy? :)

27.04.2011

2011-04-27T00:01:00.001+02:00

Dearest Ashu,

You turn six today! Like your Perimma remarked the other day, you are not a kid anymore. But a young girl! At least that's what the the clothing store is labeling you. You look quite grown up all of a sudden too. You talk like one most definitely. You are so profound at times that I go completely speechless. One day I spilled some milk on the kitchen counter and was cleaning it. You happened to be there and I told you, "See Ashu? It was an accident. I spilled some milk and I'm mopping it. Everyone makes mistakes and its OK!" Because you think you are Miss.Perfect and whenever you make some mistakes, you go out of your way to defend yourself and we both always get into an argument over that! For which you replied, "You have your mistakes, Amma. I have mine" and walked away. Whats the word? Yes, speechless. You are also brutally honest. Like the other day when you asked me to draw a heart for you and I did. When I asked you how the heart looked you said, "Its not perfect. But its better than mine." Sigh.

As always, we traveled a lot this year too and my heart swells with pride to see what a good traveler you are. Whether it was our week long Norway trip where I did nt include anything kid oriented just because it was our anniversary trip or the Yosemite road trip from San Jose or the camping trip or the annual trips to the US and India, the special Kerala trip this year or the local trips within Swiss or the recent Disneyland trip, I cant remember you giving me trouble for anything anywhere. I so wish you teach a thing or two to your sister though! You also spent loads of time with your Grand Parents, Perimma & Perippa and various other relatives and friends and like I repeat every year, don't forget how lucky you are that they are part of your life. Especially your Perippa who came all the way from the US to surprise you on your birthday this year armed with gifts. What a treat!

You became a Kinder Garten Girl this year and to see you so proud of your school, class, teachers and friends is heart achingly beautiful. You think your teachers know everything and even your Super-Mom comes only second to them. It makes me so happy that you are in such a healthy and cheerful environment when you are away from home. G has been with you for the third year in a row and am crossing my fingers for the next. You had a fantastic time skiing this season with your best buddy S. You danced on stage with 5 other little girls. Twice. Though the swimming classes keep getting interrupted, you love water. Another thing you love is climbing. Last year the same time, I never thought that you would do these things. I cant believe that the rather reserved five year old Ashu disappeared although I see her now and then. But that's because you are selective. Which is really brilliant, if you ask me. I wish I were like that. And oh, you eat Broccoli. Willingly.

Although you seem to be a serious girl, you can be downright silly when you want to be. Right to the point of annoying. God knows why you save those phases only for me though! While you talk like a grown up about certain things, I'm glad you have your childish innocence intact too. Like how you wanted the Ben 10 t-shirt and when I gently asked you when you are planning to wear it, you replied, "I will wear to school, Amma! I don't care if people think only boys wear Ben 10 clothes." And when we were reading some happily ever after story, you remarked, "You know, Amma? Even a man and a man can marry. Woman and woman too!" I don't know where that came from but am glad it did. You are still obsessed with being a twin and I'm dreading the day you ll start reading the St.Clare's series because that's when my obsession began. With the O'Sullivan twins. I apologize in advance, OK? It was nt in my hands. Because if I could have had two of you, I most certainly would have.

Antu and you are inseparable these days. It might sound outright silly to you but I drop whatever it is I'm doing and start listening to your conversations on the sly because they are unbearably cute! The way you look out for your sister is amazing. Whether its holding the elevator doors for her or helping her climb a chair or help her dress up, you are there for her 100%. I used to think that my sister was born an older sis. She was so mature and responsible even at a very young age. God knows why I doubted you when I was expecting Antu. You have turned out exactly like that. The other day in the park, you and I were sitting on the steps and eating a snack while Antu and a little older boy were running around in circles. Antu was following him like a puppy and both our gazes were following them. Then the boy turned a corner out of our vision and Antu followed him. Even before I said something or got up, you were up and running behind Antu. It took you only a split second to do that and I was totally amazed. How did you know to do that? Was it instinctive? I have never been more proud of you than that moment. May you and Antu always look out for each other. That's my only prayer. Happy 6th Birthday, Darling!

Love,

Amma.

Disneyland.

2011-04-25T22:57:00.005+02:00

We went to the Disneyland in Paris and came back home yesterday exhausted and bankrupt. What a money pit! The kids of course had fun but the way Antu was enjoying in the hotel lobby and thinking that that was Disneyland, we could have easily fooled Ashu too and could have had a cheaper vacation!!! Hd and I had been to Disneyland some 9 years back and I remember how excited I was and how much I enjoyed the make-believe world! And when we planned to go during the spring break as a birthday gift for Ashu, she was ecstatic. A few of her friends have been there and she had a general idea about the place. For the past one month, we talked about nothing but Disneyland. At last the D day arrived last Wednesday and after a hearty breakfast and a packed lunch, we piled the kids in the car and took off. Eight hours and a million "Are we in Disneyland yet?" later, we arrived at the Dream Castle Hotel. The hotel lobby was like a theme park in itself with loads of coin operated rides and games and Antu screamed "Yay! Disneyland!" and dived head first into the ball pit! Like I said, we should have taken a hint and had our vacation just there!

The next morning all excited we drove off to the theme park. Ashu spotted the castle and was in high spirits. We parked our car in the huge parking lot and walked and walked and walked some more to the entrance only to find the entire world and its uncle standing in line to get in! Spring break and Disneyland! What was I even thinking?! We entered and took the sights in and all excitedly I was showing Ashu everything. Straight to Fantasyland of course and we began our marathon "standing-in-line" with the Snow White and the Seven Dwarves ride. To say that Ashu was terrified would be an understatement! Such a jujube ride but she got so scared because it was dark and when the evil queen turned around, she was a witch! I think its time to toughen up the kid with some real Kollywood masala films! When we went and stood in line for the Peter Pan ride, the entire time we were waiting(which would be 45 minutes!) she kept saying "I dont want to go!" But of course she loved the ride and wanted to go again once we were done! I told her that theres no going AGAIN in Disneyland and that happens only in the hotel lobby! Antu of course was a total daredevil throughout. She wanted to go on the Carousel and even that had a 70 minute waiting time! Promised her that I ll take her on the carousel in the park near our house and ran away! We had some lousy lunch and stood in more lines and went on more rides and just before 4 pm, came back to the Main Street and plonked our behinds in the hard ground so as to save seats to watch the Disney Parade which begins at 5 pm. While the dad and daughter duo walked off to explore more, a sleeping Antu in her stroller and me with a heavy back saved seats for them while inhaling secondhand smoke! (Welcome to France!) I am sure this was Thirupathi Venkatachapalathy's plan of secret revenge on me when I got so annoyed standing in lines for hours in Thirupathi this one time long, long ago and swore I would never go there again! (Sorry Balaji!) Antu woke up in time for the parade and the sheer joy in the kids faces when they saw the parade was almost worth it. I said almost! Then we went on the most awesome ride ever - The Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. That was the only ride we went on again the next day too! After a dinner of fries and hot chocolate(Naanga Vegetarians kettelaa?) we left the place finally at 10 pm after twelve straight hours. We all slept even before our heads hit the bed.

The next day was almost rinse and repeat except that we spent half a day in the nearby Walt Disney Studios which was relatively less crowded and was loads of fun. Hd had also reserved a table for us in one of the restaurants where the Disney characters came to visit. So Ashu was in heaven and armed with an autograph book and a pen, hounded Mickey, Minnie, Woody, Pluto, Goofy, etc... for their signatures. We also met Sully and Buzz and Ashu had this fantastic idea that she can sign all their names by herself, why wait in line! Excellent point, I thought! We bought a fastpass for the Buzz Lightyear ride and went on it again taking turns since Antu was napping. There was a mile long line even to get the fastpass! We also managed to lose Antu for 10 seconds which felt like an eternity and madam was cooly walking off with another family! May be she was trying to tell me something! And the polar opposite Ashu who thought she got lost even though I was watching her and burst into tears! Sigh! What an odd pair of sisters! We "showed" the kids the Disney Store and quickly vamoosed out of it! Pagal kollai! The kids were also good as gold and did nt open their mouths. I did want to buy a costume for Ashu after seeing every other kid walking in a Princess costume or a Peter Pan costume but Ashu was very particular about what she wanted and would nt settle for anything less and lucky for me and unlucky for her, the stores there did nt stock it! Phew. Because if they did, we would have to sell our car to pay for the costume and walk back home!

The third day we drove to the city and showed the popular sights to Ashu from the car. We only stopped near the Eiffel tower to take a few pictures and then proceeded to Saravana Bhavan for lunch. Parking was a nightmare there and the customer service even more nightmarish! Hd literally had to restrain me from punching that sorry excuse of a waiter! At last we left around 5 pm and around 10 pm, decided to break the journey and stayed in a hotel on the highway and came home only the next day. We also experienced a hail storm which came out of nowhere and surprised us. Wonder whats with us and hail storms. Happened once before too. Anyway, we had a good break and the kids had super fun. Parent trap or not, we ll always have Disneyland! :)

Bye- Byes and BFFs.

2011-04-16T22:19:00.007+02:00

S and I came to Zurich pretty much the same time a little more than 4 years back. I would nt say we clicked immediately. Im sure the prim and proper S said Hi to me so as not to be rude! :) Her daughter, another S, and Ashu are of the same age. Their birthdays are a week apart. Our respective husbands were working for the same company then. This was all it needed to become friends in a strange country. Our friendship grew with each meeting and I think it was sealed when I announced I was pregnant with Antu and she said, "me too!" She went on to have a beautiful baby boy 2 months after Antu was born. I was in heaven. We compared notes on breast feeding, sleep training, teething, ... and we were truly together in sickness and health! :)

Its so difficult to develop friendships once ones out of school and college. There seems to be a little formality especially when you see the other person as the husband's colleague's wife. I think I crossed that stage when more than a year back when I was really sick and Hd was traveling and I picked up the phone and the only person I could call was S. I decided she is my BFF whether she likes it or not! Also, shes immensely creative and talented and has magic in her hands. It would be easy to have her as a friend and admire her instead of being distant and jealous! ;)

We went on many trips together as a family and our daughters bonded. Too bad that Antu and Y could nt follow their sisters' footsteps. (Though Antu did bully the boy whenever she got a chance!) Their decision to go back to India happened very suddenly and before I could get over the shock, they were packed and ready to go. Two weeks is too less to reminisce about the four years together. Eight of us ladies went to dinner on Friday to bid adieu to S and we ended up laughing so much that my jaw still hurts. I could nt have cried even if I wanted to. Then we met them again on Sunday for lunch. Ashu wrote and illustrated a book for her BFF instead of an usual card. It was uber sweet.

Bye bye, dear Friend. You will be sorely missed. Like Ashu said, "Its so unfair!" When I told another friend that S was leaving, her immediate reaction was, "Oh God! What are you going to do?" Sigh! What AM I going to do without you, S? :(

CSA – A Father’s perspective.

2011-04-12T18:46:00.005+02:00

(A guest post written by the husband on Child Sexual Abuse Awareness.)

It is not too long back that I realized that Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) is so rampant in our society. I was horrified to hear about stories of young girls being abused by uncles and good friends from the neighbourhood. At first I couldn’t even comprehend the fact that a 4 or 5 year old could be sexually abused! Yes I have been naïve and I am ashamed about my lack of awareness. It is painful to note that CSA is rampant in the current world. A few weeks back there was a news of a mother making pornographic video with her 2 year old. This news really brought tears to my eyes and my heart sank.

I grew up as an only child and was brought up in a bubble by my parents. I have been so lucky that I was not even aware about such a serious abuse being faced by many of my friends during my school days. Ofcourse I was aware of the senseless brushes, vulgar looks of men and how they train their eyes on young school going girls when they travel by public buses. It never used to disturb me then when I was a boy. I just used to think yes these guys are really rogues but nothing beyond. Now I see and understand the long lasting scars that such unpardonable acts leave on people’s lives.

As a father I am starting to feel so paranoid and insecure about the world into which I have got my kids into. Their innocence and the world surrounding them makes me feel so guilty and helpless at times. How am I going to protect my kids as a parent and how to ensure that my child comes and tells me about a bad touch or a bad intentional approach by a friend or stranger? These days even when I meet with my friends in a kid’s birthday party, I get so conscious before I hug or kiss a child for his or her birthday. Even with my own kids, I sometimes get conscious and ask a question if I am really overdoing it when I hug or kiss them. Such thoughts makes me wonder..God what kind of a world I am in and why is my mind starting to think in lines that I never imagined a few years back. And what are we going to do to make this world a better place for our kids.

I think it is important to educate our children from the age of 4 onwards about good touch and bad touch. We need to constantly let our children knowhow it is important to be open to parents when a friend or a family member behaves in a weirdly affectionate way with them. It is very tricky to educate kids about such an issue at such an age. I pains me to realize how we as parents need to sensitize our kids about such evil issues at such a tender age and still how helpless we are in this world as we cannot always be around and watchful with our kids at school and public places, etc., I am not even sure if such education at tender age is going to have the desired impact on our children or it is just going to clutter or complicate a beautiful mind. At the same time I also realize that we have no other option in this world. There is no point in being in denial. We need to reinforce the importance of this matter in our children and hope that they come and tell us at the first instance when they see or face such an act.

The most worrying point is that I am still very doubtful if our kids will be comfortable to come and report such incidents to mom or dad. CSA is a real evil and unpardonable offense that occurs widely across the world. But it has been such a taboo issue that people like me are starting to realize about the wide spread prevalence of this menace only now. I would like to laud the bloggers for their efforts to put up this CSA awareness blog. Its time we spoke about it.

What a Match!

2011-04-02T23:59:00.003+02:00

Boo and kids Venue: P's house.

Who was present? P, me and 3 more moms and kids. (Their respective husbands were all traveling.)

Menu: Dal, paneer, pajma, rice, rotis, puris, tiramisu, cake, muffins, tea,...

HD's Venue: D's house.

Who was present? The host and 3 more families.

Menu: Rice, stew, dal, salad, apple crumble,...

HD's second innings Venue: A pub.

Who was present - A friend and 100 more cricket fans!

Menu: Beer!

This information is so that everyone knows what we were doing and where we were when History was made! Though Im sad that Hd and I were nt together, it was better this way. Why, you ask? Because we both watched Ind Vs Eng in D's house and it was a tie. Hd watched Ind Vs SA there and we lost. Hd was in Amsterdam and I was home for the Ind Vs Aus and we won. Hd was in Geneva and I was home for the crucial Ind Vs Pak match and we won! So of course we had to get separated for the greater good! Im nothing if not logical! ;) So when Tendulkar got out and Hd called and said he was still in D's house, I yelled at him like I ve never yelled before and asked him to hit the pub asap as per our original plan! Im sure the man caught the train before I could change my mind! So now you know why we won! :) Good job, Team India! I am glad we lived to see this day and not carry the picture of Kapil Dev and his 1983 trophy to our graves!

So where were you?

Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Month - April 2011.

2011-03-28T23:38:00.000+02:00

All through April, there is going to be a lot of discussion, posts, expert opinions, helpful information, point to ponder, statistics, dos and donts about Child Sexual Abuse Awareness across many blogs. If its one blog you should nt miss reading, it is this - http://csaawarenessmonth.wordpress.com/

The blogathon begins on April 1st.

Please support the initiative. Here's how.

If you would like to add to the discussion or know somebody else who would, please note that entries are welcome.

a. mailed to csa.awareness.april@gmail.com OR
b. posted as FB notes and linked to Child Sexual Abuse Awareness Month Page OR
c. posted on your own blog with the logo and linked to the main blog OR
d. linked or posted on Twitter tagged twitter.com/CSAAwareness OR
e. sent via some/all of the above methods

If you are wondering what to write about, the list of topics is available here. Or you can choose your own topic related to CSA. Anonymous contributions are accepted and requests for anonymity will of course be honored. Bloggers can publish guest posts too.

Please remember to send in a mail with all necessary links or just your input to csa.awareness.april@gmail.com

Hats off to Kiran and Monika who have been working hard round the clock to put everything together.

Gotta love this girl!

2011-03-24T21:30:00.006+01:00

Ashu: Amma! Come and play a game with me.
Me: Not now, Ashu. Im making dinner.

(2 mins later)

Ashu: Amma come!
Me: Im not done yet. Why dont you play something with Antu? I ll join you when Im done.

(5 mins later)

Ashu: Amma! What game do you want to play?
Me: Anything. You choose.
Ashu: Ok. Come.
Me: ASHU! I ll come when Im done, OK? Dont keep calling me.
Ashu: But Amma...
Me: Shush! I dont want to hear one more word.

(Silence)

(I spot her playing by herself with some sight words flash cards.)

(A good 15 mins later)

Ashu: Amma look at this!

And this is what she had done with the flash cards!

I laughed and joined her for a game. I even let her win! :)

Milestones.

2011-03-15T13:49:00.009+01:00

Another birthday came and went. Ashu made a lovely card for me. She asked me a couple of days earlier, "Are you going to be 25, Amma?" "Oh I wish, Ashu! I wish! But I'm going to be 33", I told her. "But why would you wish to be younger, Amma? I don't want to be younger. I cant wait to be 6. I feel like I'm already six." Ah! To be young and foolish again! Hd took us to a nice restaurant nearby for a Sunday brunch after surprising me with a pineapple cake! Then we dropped the kids at a good friends place and went for a movie. The Adjustment Bureau. Very interesting story but the end was a bit disappointing! Matt Damon and Emily Blunt were really good. One particular hospital scene was really powerful.

On other news, I completely forgot to mark a milestone. Antu is successfully potty trained by day. It has been almost a month now and I cant believe we got to this point. I was most skeptical because she was nt showing any signs. She was going to playschool. She has to spend so much time in the car so I was wondering where to begin and how to manage. I just let her diaper free one Friday and it was a disaster! But Day 2 was slightly better and Day 3, she could tell me that she wanted to use the bathroom and there were no accidents. I still sent her in diaper to the play school that week but kept her diaper free at home. By that weekend, she was 100% consistent. So I sent her to playschool without diapers and told the caregivers to remind her to use the bathroom. And Voila! She did it! All on her own! Add to that, shes also showing signs that shes ready to be night trained because her diapers are always dry! I cant believe Ashu and Antu are such opposites! Even though Ashu was potty trained earlier than Antu, she took forever to be night trained. Anyway, so thats that! Im done with diapers! Forever! End of an era! :) Funny that 2 weeks back, the entire household used to go on red alert as soon as Antu said "SOO-SOO" and run to take her to the bathroom. Then it became, "wait a sec!" and then take her to the bathroom. Soon it was, "So? Go!" and poor thing started to pull the step stool closer, put the potty seat on top of the toilet, climb up, use the bathroom, etc... all on her own! Now she has even stopped telling us! I got up today morning to see her sitting on the pot and coolly reading a bath book!! And yesterday Ashu told her, "Let me use it first. You wait in line!" and she patiently did! How the times have changed!

Ashu has also successfully completed Level 1 of Skiing and is confidently skiing the beginner slopes(Level 2) using the ski lift and all! Best decision ever to put her and S, a friends daughter in a private class and taking them to the slopes every weekend regularly since January. The girls enjoyed each others company, had fun skiing and enjoyed the whole experience. And we feel we had a productive winter too! She has also taken to her brand new Skateboard with a vengeance. It has been sleeping in the cupboard for a year. A gift from my sister for her 5th birthday on her request. Shes growing up too fast for me and talking the talk and walking the walk! "You know what a ramp is Amma? You don't? Its an inclined plane!!", she told me yesterday! *gulp* I know I have always been telling her, "Use your words, Ashu! Use your words!" for everything! But the other day she did and how! Antu kept on kicking her under the table when they were eating dinner. Ashu told her to stop repeatedly but Antu would nt listen. So she says, "Whats the point, Antu? Why are you kicking me? Whats the point?" I swear I choked on my tea!

By the Water Cooler.

2011-03-09T22:52:00.003+01:00

I think Parul times her book release to coincide with my India trip! :) Just like last time, I bought her second book, By the Water Cooler, at the Landmark in Chennai. But this time I could nt find them in the shelves and had to ask the staff and the guy brought me a copy! hmph. How rude! But it was fun searching for "Sharma" in the shelves and telling the guy "Parul NOT Poonam Sharma" and giving him a look as if hes from Mars! Even though I could nt wait to read the book, I could nt begin to read it before I finished the other books in my waiting list thanks to my OCD. Especially since they were by a certain Stieg Larson.

I started reading the book in a nervous state. Will I like the book or wont I? If I dont like it, should I be honest in my blog review? But how can I lie to my BFF[citation needed]? This is the problem reading books written by people you know. (In my case, the grand total is just ONE - Parul.) But I need not have worried. Its a total fun read just like her blog. A very fast moving book and thats saying something in my case. Because if I get stuck in a book, it takes quite a long time for me to continue that book again. Which means I dont read any other book. Which means Im blog hopping like crazy! Phew. You saved me there, P!

I was in awe of Parul through out the book. Almost every line I read made me go, "How did she think of that?"

All the antics by Tanya planning her wedding right in the office were just hilarious. Genius idea, that!

I LOVED Tanya more than Mini. There, I said it!

I liked how Mini never quit. And a little jealous too.

I was picturing Paruls face for Mini, Deepika Padukone(!) for Anuradha Menon, that manager guy in the Rocket Singh movie as Avinash, an ex colleague of mine for Varun, etc... I could nt picture anyone I know as Shipra because I dont know anyone who would fit the name "Lardie" perfectly! Except for one person whose name begins with B, ends with an O and has another O in the middle! *ahem* Anyway, so now you know whom to cast when the book becomes a movie, right Parul? :)

Everyday Math.

2011-03-01T11:03:00.009+01:00

I have been going crazy trying to teach Addition and Subtraction to Ashu. It takes talent to teach a kid something as basic as 2+2 = 4, I tell you. And I sorely lack that talent. She is getting better though after a month of me sitting on her head. Though the ride has not been smooth, it has been quite comical. Like when I ask her whats 15 + 4, she ll do some calculations in her head and answer "11"! And Im like "Dude! how can you add two numbers and then get a lesser number?" But of course she ll give me a blank look like her father does when I explain to him the method of loading the dishwasher. For the 100th time! And then she ll start guessing, "Is it 15 then? Or 17?" And when shes in one of those annoyingly silly moods, "Is the answer fifteen hundred and twenty, Amma? Or a Trillion and one?" Sigh! One day she wrote 9 + 9 = 19. I was nt even sitting with her or anything. She was playing with stencils and using the number stencils, wrote this in a paper. And many other sums. All of them were right except this one. I winced. Told her as gently as possible that she has done a very good job except this one. And thats it! She exploded! "I hate maths, Amma and I hate you! Im never ever doing addition again! 9 plus 9 is 19! You dont know anything!" and stomped off. I gave her the royal ignore. A few minutes later she walks to me and asks gently, "What is 9 + 9, Amma?" Phew. At least she is interested!

A few weeks back she was asking me when her Easter break was and I told her its in April. "Thats a long time away, Amma! Its only February now", she sighed! I told her that its only a month and a half away and that February is a short month with only 28 days instead of 30 and it will fly. "But thats only like 2 days less, Amma! Thats not a lot!", she responded! I was stunned needless to say!

As if all this drama with Ashu is not enough, Antu for her part shocked me the other day. So theres this shop (Migros) which gives out a small toy called "Nano" every time we buy something for 20 francs. Collecting them is the current craze amongst kids here. I dont shop there a lot much to Ashu's disappointment. So she had only two. The girls treasured them like gold and played with them all the time. Then a couple of days back, Antu and I went to Migros to buy groceries and got two more of them. I gave them to Antu and as soon as she saw them she screamed, "Nano!! Ippa namba kitta four irukku!" (Now we have four!) I refused to believe my ears. The girl can count, yes. But adding?! That too instantly! I think its time I ask Antu to teach Maths to her sister!

The Fungle.

2011-02-27T22:23:00.004+01:00

This is a fun website for kids. Ashu and I explored the beta version of The Fungle together a couple of days back and as expected, the kid is hooked. As a beginner reader, Ashu was nt able to read everything on her own and needed my help to navigate in the beginning. Then I left her alone with it and came back 10 minutes later to see her dressing up her avatar, listening to a story and then playing a game! But being the scaredy cat that she is, she asked me to help because she was afraid of the snake that appeared in the game! Its nice that the stories and books are read alongs since she can listen to them. And I like the fact that theres an option of switching off the read along for kids who can read.

And like I wrote to Narayanan, the CEO, the Bee Mail idea is pure genius. Ashu went to bed asking if she got a bee mail! :) We cant wait for the Fungle to go live.

Please check it out if you are interested.

Heres Utbt's review of The Fungle and a short interview with the CEO.

ps.

Cross posted at http://indianmommies.blogspot.com/2011/02/fungle.html

Malaysia Vasudevan, MMKR and my Mom.

2011-02-22T23:20:00.008+01:00

A couple of days back, I was listening to "Vachaalum Vaikaama Ponaalum" song form Michael Madana Kama Rajan (MMKR) in my car and was giggling like crazy thinking about the picturization of this song. Ashu asked why I was laughing and I told her its a funny song and that I will show the song to her later. ( But soon forgot. ) I can never listen to this song without at least a smile in my face. God, what a movie! I cant event think about MMKR without going "bheem boy bheem boy" in my mind! And then yesterday when I learnt that Malaysia Vasudevan has passed away, it brought a lump in my throat. The same person who put a smile in my face every time I listened to his voice is no more. RIP, MV.

Im sure I have a screw loose up there somewhere to mention this song as one of my favorites when people all around me are going "Kodai kaala kaatre" and "Poongaatru thurumbumaa" but let me redeem myself by saying that "Vetti veru vaasam" is my epic favorite too.

This made me wonder what are the other Tamil songs which are really funnily picturized. And the first one which came to my mind was the one from Bale Paandiyaa - "Neeye unakku"! God, MR Radha's body language is hilarious! And the whole suspense of what will Sivaji do when he sees MR Radha is just edge of the seat funny. (on another note - how the hell did Sivaji lip sync with such perfection for this extremely difficult song? The mind boggles!) And the "Jambulingame" song from Kasethaan Kadavuladaa. Thengaai is just too good in this one.

And talking about funny songs, I have to mention that Nithyashree song from Jeans - "Kannodu". I know that its not really hilarious or anything but then you dont know my mom. So my mom. You know how we type "ROTFLOL" for everything these days. But are we actually Rolling On the Floor Laughing Out Loud? Most often, we are nt even smiling while typing it, are we? Lets just say that who ever coined ROTFLOL got the idea after seeing my mom go ROTFLOL for the Kannodu song. In the cinema theatre that too! One second my mom was sitting right next to me and the next, she was on the floor and I thought she had a heart attack or something! It was 1998. Sis was in the USA and my dad had better things to do so it was just my mom and me. And then I heard her laughing with tears in her eyes and everyone was looking and I was so embarrassed. Then she managed to get up and sit in her seat. But she laughed so loudly the entire duration of the song, slapped and pinched my thigh so hard when the skeleton dances at the end that I had tears in my eyes too. From the pain! God, it was all so embarrassing that I pretended I was not with her when the lights came on. I should have known better though. She has a history. All my cousins and uncles and aunts run a mile from my mom whenever any scene from MMKR comes on TV. "Ava pakkathula ukkaandhamo, sethom" (we will die in her hands if we sit near her!) can be heard from various parts of the household and Im not exaggerating here! So imagine watching MMKR the first time with her in the theatre. Sis, Dad and I kept switching seats because our legs were getting sore!! "anga joke varudho illayo, unga amma kai namba kaal kitta varudha varudhaa nnu paakardhuke time sariyaa irundhadhu! padatha yaaru paatha?" - this was my dad after the movie!! (who had the time to see the movie when I had to watch out for your mom?) Play any of the Thiruppu-Kameshwaran scene to my mom if you want proof. But if theres Delhi Ganesh or Thiruttu Paati in that scene too, then watch it with her at your own risk!

I am just like her too but a bit more restrained after seeing family members run from her! I am always the one who laughs the loudest in any group. We watched Quick Gun Murugan last week with some friends and man! It was awesome! What a brilliant spoof! It was so wonderfully funny that I was truly ROTFLOL. But then I watched it sitting on the floor, so it did nt look quite as bad as my mom! :)

ps.

Can someone settle this for me once for all? Who sang the "Nila Kaayudhu" song from Sakalakala Vallavan? SPB or Malaysia? The song is credited to SPB but it totally sounds like Malaysia and I ve been thinking it was indeed him until a few years ago when my sis raised this doubt. It has been nagging me ever since. "Kattavandi" is credited to MV, "nethu raathri amma" is credited to SPB. So why not this song to MV? But if it was indeed SPB why did he sing it so different from his own voice? Discuss.

Breaking the break.

2011-02-15T22:28:00.004+01:00

Things have been crazy in Boodom. The sick fest began in Jan and I just realized the whole family has been falling sick every January like clock work. I think I ll take some flu shots next year. I mention only me here because its the Universal truth that the whole world and its neighbor can get sick but a MOTHER never ever can fall ill! Its a recipe for disaster especially when she has to drop two kids in school! It all started with Ashu burning with fever one sunday and then bunking school the next 4 days. Antu fell sick somewhere around Day 3 and I caught it on Day 5. One day it was Thursday and the next thing I know, it was Monday morning! I have no idea how the three days in between flew by. It was one of the worst days in my life! Even though I was out of fever on Monday, it took me 5 more days to come back to normal. Phew! Just writing about it is giving me the jitters. Thank God for the husband. I would have killed myself otherwise. February has been kind to us so far. Ashu's school is closed for ski break and we are as usual busier then school days. BFF and I are taking our respective girls for ski lessons through the week and we want to be put in a pedestal and given a medal for this brave endeavor but no one is biting. hmph!

I wanted to write so much and every time I had something interesting to share, I wrote down a few words in a notepad so that I can blog them later. Now I have words like "Pacifier, Ashu- big sis, Eraser(!), Memory, Phone call", etc... but for the life of me, I cant remember what I wanted to say! You guys lucked out, I guess! :)

Talking of phone call - why the hell cant I bring myself to say "Im busy right now. Can I call you later?" to anyone? I just cant! Im taking Kid 1 out of the bath with the phone stuck between my ear and shoulder and in excruciating pain but I cant tell the person, "hold on for a minute!" Its not like I dont try. But I just am not able to find the right pause to say that! It always seems like the wrong time to say, "I ll call you later!" This one time, Antu even fell down from the sofa and bumped her head and was howling and I ran to the other room so that whatever the caller was saying did nt get interrupted!!! (yes, yes. Hd took care of her! But the fact remains that I did nt care!) I can NOT multi task while on my phone. My sister even uses her mixer while talking to me. But I sit on the sofa or lie on the bed or walk here and there at the most. I hate using call waiting and while Im on the cordless, I dont pick up the cellphone if it rings! Even if its from God himself!! If its Hd, I pick up and keep on talking on the other phone, so he hangs up very irritated. I swat the kids away like mosquitoes if they come near me while Im on the phone. As if Im living a secret life and if the caller finds out I have kids, he or she will terminate me from the secret mission or something! While in fact the caller most of the time is a fellow mom! I think I will die of stress if I ever work from home and have to take calls! And in the rare cases that I do initiate to end the call, Im apologetic to the point of embarrassment! argh! Im such a doofus! How hard is it going to be to say, "Im potty training Antu. And she just had an accident and sprayed the whole playroom including her toy laptop, piano, guitar, a picture dictionary book and a coloring book which is totally drenched and which I mostly have to throw in the trash and make sure Ashu never ever finds out. And to make matters worse, she thinks she has to clean the mess and is "mopping" the floor with a facial tissue! Can I call you later? Like once shes in college?"

Madras Musings.

2011-01-17T23:04:00.006+01:00

Ashu and I went to the Bombay Jayashree concert at the Krishna Gana Sabha. Fil had front row tickets and was begging us to go. I knew it was a bad idea to go with Antu. So Hd decided to stay home with her. Ashu was thrilled but after 45 minutes, she went to sleep. I had a wonderful time listening to Jayashree. Live. Wow! My first Margazhi Kacheri. Unforgettable experience.

Hd and I managed to watch Kamal Haasan's recent movie "Manmadhan Ambu". Was a pleasant watch but the last 30 minutes were horrible. I was squirming in my seat especially since we had a train to catch in a couple of hours and I was kicking myself that I decided to watch the movie instead of hanging around with my parents and saying teary goodbyes! We also watched Mynaa a couple of days earlier in the same awful theatre and loved it. The songs were wonderful. The performances were flawless. I felt the tragic end was so unnecessary but then it would have been an ordinary movie otherwise, I suppose. "Mynaa, Mynaa" is the current favorite song on non stop loop.

I listened to this particular SPB song many times on FM Radio whenever I was in the car. I had no idea what song it was or which movie it was from. After coming back to Zurich, I was you tubing the songs from Aadukalam and thats when I realized it was the "Ayyayo" song. And what a song! Sigh!

Talking about movies, let me list all the movies I watched on the plane while going and coming back.

Teen Patti (hated the end. Also I had watched 21. So was nt impressed)

Anjaana Anjaani (horrible)

I hate luv stories (was OK)

Udaan (brilliant movie. loved it)

Megamind (absolutely awesome. Must watch)

Thiru thiru thuru thuru (Tamil comedy. Was time pass)

Once upon a time in Mumbai (was good)

Can you believe that I'm now in a stage where I can watch movies on the plane instead of juggling two food trays in one hand while making a kid sleep in my shoulder and at the same time reading a book to another? I never thought I will get here. But I did. Yahooooooo!! Or may be it was because Hd was also flying with us and that there was Dora in the kids channel! Whatever! I am not complaining.

Shopping is such an exhausting experience in Madras. Uff. Especially being the Christmas/New year/Pongal season, there were oceans of people in every shop and theres no way I could take the girls if I wanted any shopping done. We stayed clear of Pondy Bazaar and Panagal Park after this one trip to a Jewellery shop to buy Golusu (silver anklets) for Ashu where Antu tried on a heavy gold necklace and tried to make a run for it!!

And whats with all the anti piracy laws when I see a shop right in the middle of a busy road selling DVDs of every recent movie? I mean he was selling "Tees Maar Khan" and I think it got released like half a day earlier!! I was trying to find some DVDs to teach Tamil alphabets for Ashu and the guy was asking if I wanted "Eesan"! I said no and the guy says "Neenga naalaiku varuveenga, Akka!"* to which I replied, "Naan varradhu irukkattum. neenga iruppeengalaa?"** and he laughs!

*You will come back tomorrow, Madam.

** But will YOU be here?

Hd and I managed to go out for one meal without the kids while in Madras at the new Japanese restaurant called Teppan at the Benjarong. Being vegetarians, we have never tried Japanese food before and if not in Madras then where else? The 9 course meal was just a fantastic experience. The main course was cooked right in front of us and the whole set up has been so thoughtfully designed. Another interesting restaurant we went to is Rasa. I fell in love with the menu when I saw "Thulasi Vadai" and "Nellikkaai Soup!" Yum yum yum yum Delicioso!

It was lovely to meet Itchy and the boys again. I was so jealous seeing Mr.Itchy's paintings on the walls. Immensely talented. The twins and my girls had their proper first playdate and it was a relief when the four of them kept themselves busy leaving Itchy and me to gossip! (I swear we did nt talk about you! ;) We managed to go out for a dinner too along with the whole jing bang family and it was such fun. I think I talked too much though. Did I even let you talk, Itchy?

I'm sure not all women do this. But I have this annoying habit of wearing some old salwar suits I keep in the cupboards in Madras every time I visit. I don't know whats in fashion and whats not and for the past so many years, its the same old faded green salwar kameez and the pale pink churidar kurta I wear, at least for the first few days before I go on a shopping binge. So theres quite a possibility that I might be mistaken for a maid! This one time a shop keeper refused to show me a box of hair clips because they were expensive and out of my range! ("Adhu ellam fifty rupees, madam!") You think I would be hurt? Nah!

You know what hurts me though? The clothing sizes! Whats up with them? I think someone up there seriously hates me. Let me tell you that it takes immense courage to even ask a salesperson to show you XL sized kurtas. And then you go to the trial room and try it and it does nt even fit you! And you are so mad and hate the whole world and come out cursing only to see the salesperson standing outside and asking you, "Shall I pack this, Madam?" Argh! I wish they built trial rooms with emergency exits! If this is nt an emergency...

And this one time I get inside an accessory shop and ask for glass bangles and the guy says "unga size illai, madam!"* I told him, "Kai la dhaanga pottuka poren, neenga kaattunga!"** Bloody hell!

*we don't have them in your size, madam.

** The bangles are for my wrists. So show them!

Madras is growing on me. While I was a staunch Anti-Madras at one point of time, it seems like every Madras trip is making me like the place a wee bit more than the previous time. I told the husband, "I cant wait to hit forty and become a true blue Madras Maami" much to his utter shock!

Long Live Grandpas!

2011-01-16T00:01:00.002+01:00

I read MM's recent post and could nt stop grinning. Grandpas surely rock and its the same in this household where the girls think their Thatha is the best thing that happened to them after gummy bears! The girls don't even acknowledge my existence when Thatha is around. The only lap both of them fight for is their Thatha's. Ashu who is so restrained when it comes to showing her affection screamed a high pitch shriek and ran to my dad when she heard his voice at the door in Madras. She hugged him and held on to him like a lizard on the wall for five whole minutes! He is the one who tells them stories of his trademark "Singaaram Bingaaram". For hours. On the phone! No wonder Ashu says that he loves her Thatha the most in the whole wide world!

I know I'm being a total copycat but Im sure MM wont mind if I post the below photos. I have to because of the striking similarity. I swear they were nt photo shopped! :)

What did Ashu do in India?

2011-01-12T15:52:00.014+01:00

Dont ask what a step ladder is doing in the middle of the living room? My wish is my grandpa's command!

In Mahabalipuram. Can you spot me?

In the crocodile park. I read that the crocodiles can jump. Is there one behind me? Tell me NOW.

I did nt succeed. But I did try climbing!

At the swimming pool in the resort we stayed in Cochin. Any chance to climb, I will!

A titanic moment in the house boat.

Feeding the fish from a wooden bridge in the resort at Kumarakom.

Holding onto my dear life! This was my grandma's idea of fun!

Now this is my idea of heaven!

For once, Im jumping in instead of climbing!

Who said an Oonjal cant be used as a jungle gym?

Climbing up to see what a water tank is!

Sitting on a terrace wall and wondering why theres no "maadi" in Zurich!

ps.

I was going through our India trip photos and was surprised that theres a pattern when it came to Ashu's photos. She truly "monkeyed" around a lot. I swear all the photos were taken in a span of 3 weeks and I had no idea that there was a theme going! ;)

Another one flies the coop.

2011-01-10T22:20:00.001+01:00

Today was Antu's first day at play school. I was in tears in the morning. I felt pathetic for being so upset. God only knows how my mom let us go live in hostels and then let us get married! I dont remember being so upset when Ashu started school because she cried so much and took so much time to settle down that I had no time to think about my feelings. But Antu has been so excited and talking about this school non stop the last one month. "I am going to play school. My friend D is there.", she has repeating this a million times to anyone who would listen. After loads of deliberation, we as usual settled on a English speaking play school because of the comfort factor. And Antu will be starting two days a week to begin with. After dropping Ashu, Hd and I drove with Antu to her new school. We went in and I changed Antus shoes and she walked in. I was talking to the care givers for a few minutes, took a few pics and said bye to Antu. She waved to me and her dad and continued playing in the toy kitchen. I drove home and wondered about the point of my life staring at blank walls! One of the teachers called at 10.15 am to let me know that alls well and Antu is having fun. I cant believe Hd did nt think to hide the kitchen knives today!

So that Antu does nt feel bad, Im doing the same style of update as I did for Ashu.

What was playing in the car?

Antu's favorite "Kangal Irandaal". Hd switched on the music and this song started playing. We reached the school just when the song ended.

What was Antu wearing?

Ashu's old pants and a new full sleeve cream color top her dad bought her from London. Ashu's old sneakers and pink jacket.

What was she most excited about?

That she was going to "school" and that she is going to see D there.

What did she eat?

Milk, toast and quark at home for breakfast.

What was in her snack box?

The school gave her snacks. She said she ate bread and black colour nut!

Where is she schooling? Why this school?

Oooh! My chance to say that she's schooling in Switzerland! :) Its a small and sweet play school which is nearby and recommended by many friends.

How is Antu taking to School?

Like how I take to Jalapeno Poppers! Err.. like duck to water, I meant to say!

The day before first day of school.

It was a Sunday. Antu could nt understand "tomorrow" and insisted she wanted to go to school "now"!

The one thing that was more difficult than picking out the school itself.

Sigh! Dropping Antu and coming back to an empty house.

What I found most disturbing?

I called my mom after coming home and she did nt say "there! there!". Instead lectured me how to use my time when Antu is away! Cruella de Vil would have been more sympathetic, I tell you! hmph! Thankfully, my dad knew exactly how I felt and told me what a big mistake I have made by sending Antu to school. That felt good. :)

I picked up Antu at noon and she happily said bye to everyone, wore her shoes and followed me. This one just exists to break my heart. One tiny piece at a time.

Yathaa Sthaanam.

2011-01-06T21:27:00.002+01:00

Sanskrit for "in its own place". I love the word. It fits us gypsies perfectly.

So much happened the past 4 weeks and I have duly forgotten what I wanted to write in the chaos of the past 2 days trying to settle into our routine. Its tough when the house is like an igloo and the daily chores beckon.

I remember this one incident which happened in Madras and I ll leave you with that. So we were coming back form Mahabalipuram and Hd wanted to get a cup of coffee and we stopped at the Cafe Coffee Day. We waited in the car while he went in. Ashu who is an avid reader these days read the name.

"Coffee coffee day? Thats funny!"

"Read whats written below, Ashu".

"A lot can happen over coffee?"

"Good Job."

"But what does it mean, Amma? What can happen?"

As always I gave my ready response. "You tell me, Ashu. Take a guess."

"Hmmm... The coffee can spill. Or the cup can break."

"ha ha ha"

"Am I right?"

"Absolutely!"

Zurich to Chennai to Kumbakonam to Coimbatore to Kumarakom.

2010-12-19T07:14:00.006+01:00

And we still have two more weeks to go. Wonderful time is being had, needless to say. Though we had no plans for an India trip this December, it so happened that an official trip came up for Hd and we decided to tag along at the last minute. Convinced myself its only Kindergarten and made Ashu skip school from 1st of December. Though she was most reluctant to miss the school xmas party, the winter concert and Sami Claus visit, everything flew out of the window once she landed here and now she says she wants to go to school here and never wants to go back to Zurich! *gulp*

We were off to Kerala with my parents for 5 days. The resort in Kumarakom was wonderful and staying a day and night in the house boat was the highlight of the trip though keeping Antu alive in that most child-unfriendly house boat was another issue! Ashu saw uniform clad kids using the boat to go to school and was super thrilled. We visited the Guruvayoor temple on the last day on our way back to Coimbatore. It was quite an experience too what with standing in line for 2 1/2 hours to see Lord Krishna for 2 seconds! We saw a short Kathakali performance in Cochin and Ashu loved it. She was enthralled by the whole experience.

Good time is being had at porandha veedu right now what with my mother trying to potty train Antu, Ashus friends taking time in spite of half yearly exams to play with her, Hd happily munching on home made murukku and sipping filter coffee while I surf tv channels from 1 to 80 again and again and again not watching one program for more than 5 mins! Hd is not amused when I tell him that I don't want to come back to Zurich ever again either. He can be such a party pooper sometimes. :)

The Girl with the Purple Glasses.

2010-11-30T00:01:00.000+01:00

I dont know if its a milestone or not but the big news is that Ashu is wearing glasses. So a little more than a month ago, I took her to the eye doctor. Somewhere around June, Hd and I felt that her eyes need to be checked. We both are short sighted and thought that the sooner she gets checked the better. She did nt show any signs though. Nothing we noticed, that is. We got an appointment only in October. One part of me was cool about it and another part of course was a little apprehensive. The retinal dilation drops were given three times and the test was in the evening, Ashu was too tired. And it was a horrible experience for me trying to make Ashu cooperate and get it over with rather than come another day and go through the same thing once again. The doctor and the nurse were extremely patient with her. She was tested and the doc confirmed that she needs glasses. I remember I was 12 when I was tested and I was over the moon that I can wear glasses because they were cool. My parents and sister are nt short sighted so I felt really special. Thankfully, kids are still the same and Ashu was thrilled that she can wear glasses. One of her friends from school wears glasses and two more boys we know wear them too. And of course she sees me and her dad with glasses almost all the time. So thankfully she was ok with the idea.

A week later, we were off to this big Optical shop in Bahnhofstrasse. A kind saleslady guided us and Ashu was treated like a princess. She showed us the frames and after trying a dozen of them, Ashu selected a purple one. It looked nice on her, I thought. We ordered the glasses and walked out with a balloon! And a week later, ta-da! Ashus first pair of glasses arrived! I spoke to her class teacher about it and she told me that she will have a talk with the class about it. Ashu skipped to school that day and came back even more happier! Phew. It has been a month now and she wears them regularly. She is very careful with them too. She takes it off carefully and puts it on top of the drawer before falling on the bed face first! Even when she's upset about something! Thats more than what can be said of her mother! It helps that she is like her father in some things, huh? :) Here she is happily drawing with the window glass crayons! Best thing I ever bought, I tell you! Madam was upset that I would nt hang a Happy Birthday banner for her fathers birthday so she took it upon herself to decorate. :) On that note, Happy Birthday Husband Dear!

ps.

I ll be on a short blog break. See you on the other side.

Movie going experience indeed!

2010-11-25T22:01:00.005+01:00

Last Friday, BFF and I decided to go out for a movie. She, very wisely, took the train while I drove from home since the bus connection to my place is nt great after 11 pm. Big mistake. I was near the theatre at 8.00 pm for the 8.30 pm show but absolutely no parking spot. I circled that area a dozen times. No luck. (Im sure my Paati would be saying, "pillayaara pradhakshnam panninaa punyamaavadhu kidaikum. ippadi cinema theatre a suthi irukkiye*?")There were so many cars parked illegally and the nearby indoor parking garage which I had counted as my backup plan (because its uber expensive) was FULL. 700 parking spots and it was full! At 8 pm when none of the shops are open. Only restaurants, bars and cinemas. Guess every one decided to go out on the one day I decide to go watch a movie! And do you think its easy to out for a movie for us poor folks? The same time the previous week the husband and his friend decided to go for the very same movie (The Social Network. I ll come to it eventually.) They decided in the evening and vamoosed within an hour and even found a parking spot 2 mins from the theatre! But us? Me and some other friends talked, talked and talked about going out for a month. One or the other was always busy. Or the kids were sick. Or the baby sitter was nt available. Or the husband was traveling,... yaada yaada yaada. And at last, S and I decided enough is enough and that we both will go whether the other friends could come or not. Once the day was decided, then theres the whole planning for the day, of course. Make dinner, eat dinner, pray all Gods that the husband comes back from office in time to hold the fort, go online and find nearby parking garage from the theatre, say bye to the crying kids who are hanging by your feet,.. Ok the last bit is not true. Ashu actually said bye and slammed the door on me! But you get my point, right?

And after all this, I cant find a parking spot! Grr.... Anyway, parked at another Parkhaus and literally ran from there to the theatre in the freaking cold for 15 mins to reach the theatre in the nick of time! S was waiting for me with our tickets while I walked in panting like a dog. Once inside, more surprise awaited! First row seats!!! oh Goody! Thankfully the two corner seats next to us were free and we moved there and turned our heads in a 75* angle to the right so that we don't have to stretch our neck upwards! But then it was all worth it! What a movie! I loved it. What fantastic dialogues! And the casting was pitch perfect. Did anyone think of Sheldon when watching Zuckerberg on screen? I did. (May be the dialogue delivery?) Though I have watched The Fight Club, Seven, Panic room and liked them all, David Fincher was never in my favorite directors list. I dont know why. But with this movie, hes up there in my list. (slightly below Nolan, mind you!) And I read that Rooney Mara who played Erika, Zuckerberg's ex girl friend, is playing Lisbeth Salander in Fincher's next movie, The Girl With The Dragan Tattoo. I cant W.A.I.T! I read the Stieg Larson books only recently and loved them. Yet to read the third book though. S, the above mentioned friend, pulled a fast one on me by lending me only the first 2 books! Since I tried to beg, borrow or steal "The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest" and did nt succeed, Im going to buy it. Soon.

"Pay them. In the scheme of things, its just a speeding ticket" is so going to be my new motto for 2011. Its one of my favorite lines from the movie. But Hd is a bit wary. He thinks I mean, Pay "for" them, them being shoes, clothes and bags. Cant blame him, can I? ;)

* "You should walk around a temple instead of a theatre". (It sounds better in Tamil what with the rhyming words and all, trust me!)

What is Antu upto?

2010-11-17T21:57:00.004+01:00

Antu is growing up so fast that it hurts me unbearably. I don't know if its with the second borns but with Ashu I was always looking forward to the next stage. May be now that I know whats coming, it pains me whenever Antu reaches a new milestone. Crazy, I know! A month ago, Hd was short listing play schools for Antu and I glared at him. "She so ready, ok?", he said. "But what about me? Im not ready to send her. Ever", I replied. "The thought of sending her to school feels like someone is stabbing at my heart with a knife and then twisting it!", I added. He sighed, shook his head and gave up. Shes almost 2 1/2 now and I know its a good idea to send her from Jan. But it breaks my heart. However weird that might sound, it truly does. Yesterday I took her to a new play school for a tour and she just went in, took her shoes and jacket off and went straight to the play room and started playing. As if she has been coming here every day all her life! She even found a friend. The boy is a friends son and she has seen him a few times before. And an hour later, when I was ready to leave after talking to the caregivers, I had to go and find her and she refused to come! So my brain tells me that shes so ready but my stupid heart is in denial. Hoping 2011 will knock some sense into me!

I was watching TV one day and there was this commercial for some charity. A picture of a starving, sick African baby. All skins and bones and lying on the ground. Looking straight into the camera with painful eyes. Since I had seen this ad many times before, I quickly turned my eyes away from the TV with a bit of a guilt. And I heard Antu say so cheerfully and loudly, "Look Amma. A baby!" And she had such genuine happiness in her face and was thrilled to see a fellow baby on screen. I was captivated by the childish innocence. When do we start losing it?

When we ask the dreaded question, "Whom do you like more? Amma or Appa?", she does nt waste a moment before answering "Appa!" The ungrateful brat! 5 years and counting and Ashu has never ever said anything but "both" to this question. Karma, surely! I remember I used to say "only Appa" when I was a kid. Actually, I think I still do! :)

And another day she brought a drawing to me and said "Lookit amma!" I think she was tired of always seeing her sister bring me drawings to show and get all the compliments. So I oohed and aahed at the drawing and asked her, "Who did this, Antu?" and she immediately answered, "Ashu did it." My poor little kid! Im sure she ll get there one day!

Antu is such a happy child with a smile pasted in her face all the time. She has to reach out and touch babies when she sees them. She has to go sit near kids in parks. She comes to us for random hugs. Shes delighted to see Ashu after school. Its just impossible to be mad at her for more than 2 seconds because she ll totally charm your pants off with the most sweetest "sorry"!

Needless to say, she has her dad neatly wrapped around her little finger. The other day I had a talk with Hd on how hes letting her get away with anything and that he has to be more stern. And his reply, "But she's a baby. She's not even three!" This is the same guy who gave time outs to Ashu when she was 2 years old, mind you!

Talking about time outs, Ashu hates this word even now and takes it as a huge insult if I say the T word. But Antu? Gives herself time out happily and goes and sits in a corner for 2 mins, apologizes, gives me a hug and walks away content as if she has taught me a lesson!! What the hell!

She uses her left hand most of the times and Im eagerly waiting to see if she's going to be left handed. Im a secret admirer of lefties. :)

Antu started eating chocolates very recently and is not a big fan yet. I know things might change rapidly but Im proud nevertheless.

Shes a total party girl. She loves to drop Ashu at school and then pick her up. Loves when Ashu has friends over. Loves when we go to a friends place. Loves to accompany us to the swimming pool for Ashu's class. Can name every one of Ashu's friends and their siblings to boot!

She has a special bond with men. Her dad, her uncle, her grandpa, friends son, a friends husband,... are a "leetle" more special than the boring women in her life!

Both Ashu and Antu have always been good sleepers. They give me grey hairs in the food department but if theres one thing I totally escaped from, its sleep deprivation. And thank God for that. Because to be honest I am quite murderous even after 8 hours of sleep! But while Ashu was always rocked to sleep as a baby or by telling a story after story for an hour in the dark until she went to sleep after she turned two, Antu learnt to sleep on her own ever since she turned 7 months old. She even tosses and turns for an hour sometimes before going to sleep and is quite content just lying on the bed. Just like her mom, I guess! ;) The other day at party in a friends place with house full of adults and kids, Antu was nowhere to be seen. I went to their kids bedroom to see Antu on their bed blissfully asleep hugging a stuffed bear while kids were making a ruckus just outside the room. My heart just swelled. Theres something about sleeping kids, I tell you. Especially when they are out like that in a party leaving you to eat the Kuzhi Paniyarams in peace! :)

What do you do all day long?

2010-11-11T21:05:00.004+01:00

Thankfully I don't get the above question a lot. People are generally wary around me, I guess. But to answer that question, some days are so relaxing. The Sun is shining, the birds are chirping, Antu takes 3 hours naps and Ashu gets picked up by a friend after school and I have a relaxing, long day reading a book or surfing the net or watching TV. Amidst the housework, of course. And then there are other days. Like the day when I had to drop Ashu at 8.30 am, come back home, get myself and Antu ready, leave for the school again at 10 am for the assembly where Ashu and co were dancing, then come back home, get lunch for us both, clean up, then go back to school at 3 pm to pick up Ashu and her friend. Drive to a birthday party with them. Drop the kids off and get some groceries done. Go back and pick them up. Drop the other girl at her place. Come home and its already 7 pm. Get dinner ready, feed the kids, bed time routine, clean the house and then get something to eat for myself. And before I know its almost midnight and I'm still scrubbing the kitchen counter! I realize I ve spent most of the day driving! Its time I get a drivers uniform and call Ashu, "Madam", I guess!

And some other day when Antu has gymboree, Ashu has school, I have a lunch to go to, Hd is traveling, Ashu is bringing her friend to our house after school,... and its crazy fitting everything in one day and dragging Antu everywhere. But yesterday was the pits. Murphy would ve been really proud! So the morning went well. Ashu in school and Antu and I at home. Wednesdays are early finish for Ashu and usually Antu cant nap those days because I have to leave the house just before 2 pm. Even if she's asleep, I pick her up and by the time I get to the car, shes awake. Yesterday was the same. She had a late lunch and was in full form and not a little bit sleepy. Around 2 pm, we go to the school to pick up Ashu and her friend A who was coming home with us. So far so good. Around 3 pm, things start going downhill.

* Ashu is extremely tantrummy. Shes behaving very badly.

* Antu is a like a wrecking ball creating havoc where ever shes going and whatever shes touching.

* Poor A is clueless whats happening in this crazy household.

* I ask Antu to nap. She refuses.

* I ask Ashu to be nice to her friend and play with her. She refuses.

* I get snacks ready for the girls.

* Around 4.30 pm, I lose my patience and take Ashu to a room and yell at her so badly that shes howling.

* Antu meanwhile has made such a mess in one of the rooms that I take her aside and yell at her as well. Now shes howling too.

* Around 5 pm, I say enough is enough and get Ashu ready for the swim class which is at 5.30 pm. Pack up Antu and with A, get into the car. The idea is to drop A and then go the pool since the pool is very near A's house.
* The GPS does nt get started and I'm worried. I go in the general direction of the pool hoping the GPS will come alive in a while and lead us to A's house.

* Meanwhile Antu has fallen asleep! uh ho.

* We are almost near the pool and the GPS is still silent. I park the car on the curb and pray to all Gods. Thankfully, it comes alive. Phew.

*I drop A and rush to the pool. Its already 5.30 pm.

* Park the car, put the sleeping child in my shoulder, carry the bag and run inside with Ashu. 2 sets of stairs and 2 doors later, we are inside the dressing area. Ashu cooperates fully, changes and one more flight of stairs later, we are in the shower area. Ashu again showers by herself and I leave her with the teacher. Usually I hang around by the side while Antu plays in the kiddie pool since the class is only for 30 mins. But today I tell the teacher I ll be back and go back to the dressing rooms. The bench is not too comfy so I sit on the bottom most stair with Antu on my shoulder. Lets say I was only missing a disposable cup in front of me. Would ve made quite a bit of money if I had a cup since everyone who crossed gave a me a pity smile!!

* One of the class moms arrived in a while and said she ll bring Ashu to me after shes done. Long live her!

* I was playing carrot harvest in my phone. Could nt even call Hd since there was no network. and then the phone dies on me!!!! (Good move, Murphy!) And Im thinking to myself, "Ashu better give Michael Phelps a run for his money or else..."

* Ashu finishes her class, takes a shower and comes to me. We go to the dressing room and by this time Antu has opened her eyes but is cranky and crying. By this time, I cant feel my right hand because it has fallen off somewhere! I plonk her on the bench and help Ashu dry her hair and change her. Then I see that theres a door right next to the dressing area which directly goes to the car park. Hallelujah! Don't ve to struggle two flights of stairs. So we go out only to realize that I ve left the entry ticket card in the locker door itself! And these doors cannot be opened from outside. ARGH!

* 2 more flights of stairs again with a crying Antu and a whiny Ashu. I ask the receptionist if she can bring my card but she tells me I ve to go myself and gives me a temp card. At least I found the card. And I go back to give the temp card, thank her and walk out. Its already 6.30 pm and I have a farewell party to go to at 7.00 pm!

* You want me to stop now, don't you? Well I wanted it to stop too. But it did nt. So hear me out.

* As soon as I start the car, I see the tank is almost empty. I panic. Pray to all Gods and somehow reach the gas station near our house. I fill the tank, ask Ashu to wait in the car and that I ll be back in 2 minutes, lock the car and go inside to pay. Ashu can see me through the glass door. So can I. Of course, there have to be 4 people in front of me all buying their entire weeks groceries at a GAS STATION! I keep an eye out at the car and signal to Ashu. Then my turn comes and I pay. I come out to see that the car door is wide open and Ashu standing outside and she's crying! Right by the side of a busy road! I was so shocked that I go speechless for a second. There are a few people staring at the scene. I quickly bundle Ashu inside and ask what the heck does she think shes doing? She could nt see me when I was paying, got worried (because I was out of her sight for TWO SECONDS!), took off her seat belt, climbed to the drivers seat, unlocked the doors, opened the door, climbed outside, did nt know whether to leave Antu and come and get me so she started crying. Because she was scared! I banged my head against the wheel, told her how dangerous her move was which made her cry more, of course. Then hugged her and drove home.

* Hd was home. Murphy took pity on me, I guess. About time, I say! I quickly changed, gave the shorter version of my day to Hd and left the house to attend a school mom's farewell party. It was at a friends place and a dance party at that. "Munni badnaam hui" many times and for the first time in my life, I wished I drank!

So come on all you SAHMs. Tell me the worst day of your mommy life.(Leave a link or write in the comment section.) Parul had the By the Water Cooler contest for the working types. Let us have some fun too. May be I ll consider the working moms stories too if its really, really bad! ;) No prizes vrizes because I'm no celebrity author. But I got two shoulders you can cry on!

Whoever said that "Giving birth is the easiest part of Motherhood", show me your feet please. *does saashtaanga namaskaram*

Deepavali.

2010-11-05T09:03:00.002+01:00

Every year, I get the blues on this day if I am out of India. This year is no exception. I try to make this day as exciting as possible for the kids but if theres no prospect of going out of the house bright and bushy tailed even before the sunrise and burst crackers, whats the point of getting up early and dressing up, pray tell? Nevertheless, I took Ashu and Antu out shopping yesterday and let them choose their new dresses. Ashu loved the experience and felt all grown up. I made Double ka Meetha sweet which Ashu and Antu refused to even try and Diamond biscuits which did nt even live to see daylight because Antu thought that that was dinner! Getting up early has never been a problem in this household. For the kids, I mean. So they got up around 5.30 am and came to our bed. And instead of swatting them away and curling up in my duvet like I always do, I yelled "Happy Deepavali" and got up much to their collective shock! But it was just the beginning. When I heated up some oil and massaged their hair with it, they crinkled their nose because of the strong smell and Antu who on regular days hates water in her hair, glared a "dont you dare at this time of the day!" look at me. Ashu was all whiny too. For a minute, I wondered what the whole point is! Ashu has school. Hd has office. As usual. What am I going to achieve by doing all this? Then I let out a deep sigh and decided I am not letting go of this tradition. Never. Its one of the strongest memories for me and if I close my eyes I can smell the arappu, nallennai and all the smoke form the burst crackers and sparklers. I did what any self respecting mother would do. "Do you guys know you can eat as many sweets as you want today? You can even eat your gummy vites first and then drink your milk, Ashu!" Bribe. Nothing works like bribe. Ashu could nt believe her ears. "Really, Amma? Wow!" And Antu who has never eaten a piece of chocolate until today and thinks that chocolates are "dirty" decided to change her mind and try one. Welcome to the big bad world of chocolates, my dear girl! If not on Deepavali, then when? Bathing, dressing up, etc.. were all done on fast forward with minimum crying by Antu. I decided to make Hd feel special too by making Pongal and Chutney and the man does nt know what hit him! Hes off to drop Ashu in school now. (Did nt I tell nothing works like bribe? ;) Parents, Sis, Bil and a special friend called to wish and now at 9 am, it does feel a little like Deepavali with my damp hair, the fragrance of incense sticks and candles lingering in the air, our new dresses with a touch of kungumam in them and a very tempting dabba of double ka meetha.

Wishing you all a wonderful, wonderful Deepavali!

Well! Well! Well!

2010-11-04T20:05:00.012+01:00

YY has indeed arrived in the blog world.

Check out her recent post for some entertainment. I am so amazed by all the coincidence that Im quite speechless.

Let me try to decipher what happened.

1. YY posts her Golu photo in this post which she wrote last year.

2. SG decides to write a Golu post this yea r and searches for a golu photo in google images.

3. Of the millions of pictures, the one in Page 19 strikes his fancy and he uses it. (Im guessing here!)

So far so good.

4. When the commenters compliment on the Golu, hes quite non committal in the beginning. (Thats the conscience, I guess and one should always, always listen to it!)

5. But when commenter, Anu Bharat praises the Golu, he gracefully accepts the compliments!

Except that they are MY GRANDMOTHER and MOTHERs bommais!! (ok, ok. I got a little carried away too. "Our". Not "My". And now my sister's.)

6. A few days later, he participates in Paruls By the Watercooler contest.

7. A week later, Parul announces the winners and SG is one of the five winners. Parul links his blog.

8. YY reads that post and follows the link to SG's blog. (What are the odds, huh?)

9. And she randomly checks the archives only to see her own Golu photo staring back at her. (Again, what are the odds?)

Im shocked at all these coincidences. A Bay area resident writes about Bay area Navarathri complaining mostly about the food (on how theres no "originality"!) only to copy and use another Bay area residents Navarathri Golu photo (unknowingly, I hope!) and then not clarifying that its neither his picture nor his Golu.

Im so fascinated by this Butterfly Effect that Im neither angry nor upset about this theft. Just intrigued. :)

By the Water Cooler - Parul's second Book.

2010-11-02T14:16:00.003+01:00

A very dear blogpal, Parul is out with her second book, By the Water Cooler. She has a fun contest in her blog. But Im late in announcing the contest so the last date for entries has passed by. But that should nt stop you from going there and reading all the entries. Such fun. I was going to twist the title a little and write my own entry "By the Microwave" and how my boss (Ashu) and a coworker (Hd) harrassed me while my super boss (Antu) watched and did nothing while I was heating milk for them in the microwave but I guess now the world will never know that story! ;)

Good luck, Parul. Wishing you loads of luck. Cant wait to get my hands on your book.

ps.

My review of the first book, Bringing up Vasu, here.

O Re Kaanchi...

2010-10-25T22:57:00.007+02:00

Ashu danced on stage for the first time on Saturday. It was a group dance with 5 other girls. I had never thought that Ashu will ever climb a stage, least of all dance in the near future. Shes extremely self conscious. So when a month back, an Indian school mom suggested a group dance by the kids, I reluctantly signed up Ashus name and was ready to accept Ashus decision if she wanted to quit. On the first day of practice, I wanted to beg her to quit because she was err.... not graceful. (And Im being kind here.) Another mom and I were the choreographers and I was cursing Hd for passing on the two left feet gene to our daughter! (of course, hes to be blamed!) She was also the youngest in the group. Us two moms were exhausted after every practice what with making 6 precocious kids dance to our tunes and not to mention all their younger siblings wandering around and distracting everybody at every turn! But we did it somehow. Ashu slowly progressed from not-dancing to exercising to partial-dancing. Grace is a long time away but Im not complaining. ( Cute little girls in cute little outfits! Whats there to complain about? ) I am so proud that she did nt quit. That she cooperated so nicely during practice. That though she was the youngest, she acted mature. That she remembered all the steps. That she made friends. But most of all, that she had fun and enjoyed herself.

Since the successful performance,the choreographers decided to milk the situation and make the group perform the same dance in two more events next month. As long as its not a dance competition, we have nothing to worry. ;)

Googly.

2010-10-19T22:56:00.003+02:00

Ashu and Antu were sitting on the kitchen counter while I was going about making our evening hot chocolate/milk/tea.

Antu - Amma, where is Appa?

Me: He is in Germany, Antu. Actually hes on a plane now. He ll be home tonight.

Ashu: On a plane? *does a plane sound*

Me: Yes. Hes in Germany and hes flying from there *pointing to Antus nose* and coming to Zurich. *pointing to Ashus nose*

(The girls giggle.)

Ashu - Amma! Is Germany bigger than Switzerland or smaller?

Me - *thinking to myself how geographically inclined my daughter is* Germany is bigger, Ashu.

Ashu - Then why did you point to Ashu's nose as Germany? I am Germany and she's Switzerland.

Me - You are right. My mistake. Im sorry. *rolls eyes*

(pause.)

Ashu - And you know what Amma?

Me - *uh ho* What?

Ashu - You are U.S.A. because you are so beeg!

Me - *sigh*

I should have listened to the warning bells and changed the subject. I never see what's coming.

Locarno.

2010-10-16T21:56:00.010+02:00

Since Ashus school is closed for autumn break, Hd took two days off and we went to Locarno last weekend for four days. The weather was warmer than here though it was a bit cloudy the first 2 days. We were so scared that it will turn like our Como trip since we were going in the same direction. But the next 2 days were fabulous. We stayed in a fully furnished flat. I think its someones holiday home. I fell in love with the place. It was so tastefully decorated. Simple but classy. Futons and single beds in the living room where the kids slept. A beautiful bedroom with a blue theme going. A spacious balcony where we had our breakfast everyday with a fantastic view of the Lake Maggiore. A dream kitchen with everything I needed. TV, Music system, books, tourist info, board games, ... I was blown away by how thoughtfully the place was done. Sigh.

We had a perfect vacation by getting up late, eating breakfast and getting out of the house in time for lunch. Eating yummy food at the Italian joints, sight seeing, idly walking by the lake, window shopping, gobbling gelatos,... and getting back to our place for dinner. Dinner was some ready to eat stuff out of the packets. We went on the mini train ride around the city. It has become a must in every place we go, thanks to Ashu. Another day we took a funicular and went up to Orselina and a cable car from there to Cardada. The views were amazing and the place also had a nice park in the woods. We also drove to Valle(y) Maggia. In the lakeside park in Locarno, there was a trampoline and Ashu jumped with harness and all and also learnt to flip. It was fun to watch her.

On Tuesday morning, we checked out and drove to Valle(y) Verzasca which is a 25 kms drive from Locarno. It was AMAZING. One of the best drives ever. So scenic and so beautiful. I could nt believe that we have been in Swiss for so long and never came here before. We stopped at Lavertazzo, crossed the double arched stone bridge and hiked amidst rocks to go near the river. Its a crystal clear blue river. The photos don't do justice. We could nt get enough of the beauty of the river. We drove on to the end of the valley to a village called Sonogno. A tiny place with stone houses. So picturesque. We had lunch there. Then retraced our route back to Locarno. Stopped on the way to see the Verzasca dam where James Bond did the bungee jumping stunt in Golden Eye. Was scary to even look! Hd wanted to bungee jump but after seeing the 220 metres high dam, he said, "no way!" (paithyam dhaan ingendhu kudhikkum* were his exact words!) LOL! Then we hit the road back home.

One morning, Hd and I woke up to the voices of the kids. They both were sitting in the living room and the conversation we heard went like this.

Ashu: Do you want to kill me, Antu?
Antu - No.
Ashu - Not really kill, ok? Just pretend. And not me. My horse.
Antu - OK.
Ashu - Move something. Do you want to move this?
Antu - No. This one.
Ashu - No Antu. You CANT move my dead bishop. Move something else.
Antu - (silence)
Ashu - (storms in to our bedroom) Amma! Its not fun. This Antu is not listening to me at all. She does nt know how to play chess!
Me - !!!!

ps.
Ashu does nt know how to play chess either. She just uses Antu as a pawn in all her games! ;)

*only a crazy person would jump from here.

Phone Booth.

2010-10-14T14:48:00.003+02:00

(Wife calls the Husband at work around 6 pm.)

Wife: Still in office? What are you doing?

Husband: Its not even 6 yet.

W: So?

H: Did I tell you I will be leaving at 6?

W: Did you tell me you will be leaving later?

H: No.

W: Then whats wrong in me asking?

H: Its only 6. Thats why. *sighs*

W: *yells* Dude! You should be happy that you have someone in your life who loves you, misses you and is waiting for you at home with your kids! So stop this sighing business, ok? You so don't deserve me. Heres a person who actually cares about you and you don't even appreciate...

H: *hurriedly* I am sorry. I am sorry.

W: *smiles* Lets try this one more time. When are you coming home?

H: I will leave in another half an hour.

W: Good. See you then. Bye.

H: Bye.

Im sure he sighed again after he hung up.

Little Miss. Smarty-Pants.

2010-10-05T23:12:00.004+02:00

Ashu strongly believes that one day Antu will catch up with her and they both can be twins and go to the same class, look alike, do the same things, etc... etc... And I totally understand where shes coming from because when I was a kid all I ever wanted to be was a twin. "Twins" was such a magical word. Ashu has a twin in her class this year and its a fascinating experience for her. Even though the other twin is in a different class, they all meet during recess and Ashu is always proudly declaring how she always know the difference but the boys always get confused. (they wear different dresses everyday, duh!)

I burst Ashus bubble and told her that Antu will always be younger than her. They can never be the same age. But she threw a googly at me and asked, "Amma! When I become big and you are dead, can Antu be my baby?" Sigh! I should learn to keep my mouth shut.

The other day she was being very difficult and I yelled at her. She got very upset and marched off to her room. I took some time to cool off too and then went to talk to her. But its like talking to a wall when shes upset. Nothing works. So I tell her, "Listen Ashu. You have a choice. Lets just hug each other, move on and make this day happy. Or you can keep on sulking and make this day sad. What are you going to do?" She looks at me and says, "I don't like both the choices." "OK. So what do you want to do?", I ask her. "I want to play some game with you", she says. Sigh. I wish my demands were so simple too.

Last week, she came home from school and told me, "Today we had to pick a non-fiction book from the library, Amma." And I was all, "What?" So she explains, "Non fiction books are not stories. You learn something. Like about animals or birds or people." Oh, OK. And how do you know if a book is fiction or non fiction, I asked. "I just look at the spine label, Amma, Its marked!" But of course!

Ashu also educated me on what is symmetry. "If we slice our body in two halves from top to bottom, everything on the right matches the left, Amma. So we are symmetrical" and also folded a paper in two halves, opened, sprayed some paint, closed and opened. and showed me the symmetry on both the sides. "Even this baby is symmetrical, Amma. Look at her eyebrows", she said pointing at Antu. Poor Antu. Reduced to a lab experiment by her older sis!

Today we had the parents teachers meeting at school and as always I was tearing up hearing the teachers sing her praises.( For the money we pay, they better! ) Ashus class has this class stuffed toy which is given to one child each day to take home and then write a report on what the child did with the toy at home. Its fun. The kids think that they get it only if they are very well behaved in class and make good choices. Ashu got it the first time in the third week of school and patiently waited until then. She asked me once when she will get it and I told her that she has to make good choices. And she replied, "But I always make good choices, Amma!" Since its coming from Ashu and not Antu, I believed it too!! And today her teacher told me, "If I could, I will send her home with that toy everyday. Shes such a good kid!" Now what more does a mom need, you tell me!

First Day First Show.

2010-09-30T23:15:00.004+02:00

Let the records show that today while Ashu was really unwell and running a high temperature and taking a long nap in the evening, the father of the said sick girl sneaked out of the house to watch the first day first show of Enthiran and hes not even a Rajini fanboy!

You thought I would let this one go, Hd? *insert evil laughter* My sis and I have never ever let my dad forget the fact that he was watching a cricket match in a different city while our mom was in labor. This is Ashus trump card. Use it well, my dear.

ps.

Hd's records might show that we tossed a coin to decide who goes and who stays but lets focus on whats important, shall we? I was home. He was NOT. ;)

At the Breakfast Table - 3.

2010-09-21T14:18:00.004+02:00

Hey Ashu! How would you like it if I become your class mom this year?

What does a class mom do?

You remember last year when A's mom was the class mom? She came with you on trips, came and helped out whenever the teacher asked? That way.

Oh cool! You can be a class mom! Yay!

But Im just thinking about it, Ashu. I don't know if I will be able to do it with Antu. So lets see. I just wanted to ask you if its ok with you.

Ok.

(a short pause)

Amma?

Yes.

You be a class mom if you WANT to. I don't NEED you to be a class mom, ok? Only if you WANT to.

Needless to say, I had fainted at this point and Hd had to come and sprinkle water in my face to wake me up. Need and Want, indeed! I don't think I knew the difference until I got married and WANTED a red volkswagen beetle very badly and Hd lectured me about wants and needs! :)

Chalk & Cheese.

2010-08-31T22:11:00.007+02:00

Ro's recent post reminded me of this incident which happened a couple of weeks back. I was organizing the kids toys and while doing so, I found the Dora puzzle box which has been in storage for the past 18 months. I remembered that it was Ashus favorite puzzle to do when she was 2+ and decided that now is a good time as any to introduce the same to Antu. *you can call me an idiot right about now* Ashu was thrilled to see the box after ages and opened the box to see the seven different puzzles neatly arranged in different ziploc bags. Immediately, she started working on the puzzle while the resident 2 year old was happy playing with the box and excitedly talking to the picture of Dora and Boots on the box. In no time, Ashu finished all the puzzles all on her own and neatly arranged them on the floor. Like this. (She even spun a story with the finished pictures.)

Soon afterwards, the dad and daughter duo decided to go watch the Zurich Street Parade and marched off. Ashu asked me to guard the puzzles and not to clean them up since she wanted to make up more stories once she came back. I foolishly agreed and asked her to move them under the TV stand so that they are safe from "predators"! An hour later, Im busy making dinner in the kitchen while Antu is playing as usual in the hall. Or so I thought. I switch off the stove and come out to see THIS.

My heart stopped for a second. So now I got to pick 200+ puzzle pieces from the floor, sort it out, bag them and pack them off? And hope Ashu does nt remember? (yeah right!) Or do I actually sit and do the puzzles as fast as I could before Ashu comes home? (yeah right!) While I was clicking pictures, yelling at Antu and contemplating what to do, in walk in Ashu and her father. Oh ho! Ashu was mighty upset at the mess but the poor thing consoled herself quickly. And to Antus credit, she apologized to her sis even without me prompting her. (She would do anything to get out of a situation) And much to my relief, Hd offered to clean up. And thats what I call a happy ending. For me, that is. ;)

ps.

oh! Forgot the whole point of the post - Good luck, Ro! :D

Five years.

2010-08-30T00:01:00.001+02:00

Who would have thought? I love you my dear blog. Happy Birthday!

That reminds me, when Ashu was a baby all I wanted to know was how will Ashu look like when she is 5. How will her voice be? What will her interests be? Who will her friends be? It was such a giddy feeling. Sigh! Good times. All I want to know now is when will the girls go to sleep! Ha ha ha! (Just kidding, Dad!)

Did I tell you Ashu is riding her bicycle without the training wheels? The big milestone happened last Sunday when Hd removed the training wheels and took Ashu down to teach her to ride. I gave him all sort of gyaan and told him that it will be great if Ashu can learn to ride by end of this year. Ha! 15 minutes later, he calls me and asks me to look out of the balcony. And whaddayaknow? Ashu is riding the bike on her own! This man does nt have to sweat for anything in his life, I tell you! Anyway, yay! I was so proud at the moment. Lets just say that I could totally relate to how Neil Armstrong's parents would have felt when he landed on the moon. (Or at the photo studio if thats what you believe! ;)

Super School.

2010-08-25T22:00:00.001+02:00

In spite of all the reservations I have about Ashu's school, I like it because Ashu loves to go to school. But with the email the school sent today to everyone about the drop off and pick up guidelines, Im in love too.

Please remain in the car when you pick up your children as this makes the traffic flow function smoothly. Teachers on duty are happy to assist your child. If the school traffic line is full please immediately use the other line. If you have a sleeping child in the back and need to return to the main line when you reach the top of the road, the parking attendant will help to guide you back into that traffic line. Thank you for helping us out.

In my opinion, anyone who is thoughtful enough to think about my younger kid who is mostly sleeping while I go to pick up the older one should be the best in what they do. So what if Ashu will never know her ABCs? I don't have to park the car a mile away and walk with a sleeping child and that is what matters! :)