TinyNLittle

Art of saying NO

2012-01-12T08:39:00.003+05:30

Speaking for myself here, I tend to agree upon things sometimes and really end up with having no bandwidth to do the task. It may be a favour or may be something that you own and have to end up giving it to the other. Be it at work or home or social circle it just takes a NO sometimes that can be your savior. But when it comes to the Gen X or Gen Y, i.e our kids generation, I mostly see that the kids say NO when they have to. They are sharing only to a certain extent. They are so choosy about what they want to do at a very young age. They know who can give you what at what times and how to achieve it. But I was proven wrong when it came to Tiny. She does all the above at home and does make her brother Little dance to her tunes. When it comes to her friends, I swear the scene changes totally.

Example 1:
In our apartment complex, she has tons of friends who actually come home take her new cycle to go cycling. Sometimes they are in the learning phase, but they still use her cycle. Not only that I see Tiny riding some of their old bikes. I ask her why and she says, "Amma but she is my friend...". So.... Why can't you say no?? or just give it for a few minutes and take it back. But that never happens.

Example 2:
She gets a new pair of slippers. A friend of hers has an exact similar pair like hers but may be a little used. The friend of hers comes with an idea of exchanging slippers and they do that. Few days later she needs a new pair again because it looks old and all worn out.

Now my thought is that parents(of the said kids) in the complex all seem to be affordable and easily buy bikes and slippers or things like that. It is not that they cannot. But what upsets me is why my girl has to be so submissive with her friends and do whatever necessary to please them. In general i am trying to teach her in a way i can coax her and also not make her feel bad about anything she has done. I also do not want her to stop sharing and behave like a closed wardrobe. Just that she should learn the art of saying No when she is supposed to.

What do you do when......

2011-12-19T10:52:00.004+05:30

All parents and mostly moms wish to spend more time with their kiddos. Sometimes it might be just talking and whiling away time or sometimes it may be playing an indoor or outdoor game. Basically to reach an end to anything there ought to be a quarrel between the siblings. It was one such time. I had to ask Tiny to watch POGO. I lead Little to the bedroom since it was time for his afternoon fiesta. I was trying to shift the topic and telling him about where I had gone that morning leaving them (Tiny and Little) at home with my parents. So this was how it went:

Me: Little I met this friend X (Tiny's friend) at the Godh Bharai [baby shower function]. She was asking for you and Tiny.
Little: After a ten second pause... Amma, Does she like me???
A little perplexed look later She kissed me the other day amma.

A dumb struck mom does not know how to react...

That same evening:

Tiny: Amma, you know B (a boy) wrote a love letter to R (girl) (both are her classmates)
Me: Haan
Tiny : Repeating herself
Me: What is a love letter??? Tiny do you know??
Tiny: You know he had actually written "I love you" after taring a sheet from the English copy book.

I just had to go around looking for a rope...

And No we hardly watch any movies or things of that sort along with the kids.

Learning Cycle Saga

2011-12-07T14:00:00.004+05:30

I learnt cycling only when i was in 8th grade. The cycle i learnt from was my cousin's (boy's) cycle all the more. Fell in the ditch and what not and finally got to cycling. Parents bought me a new cycle started to go to school in the same. 3-4 years down the line, i was promoted to a luna then scooty. I then took the car driving classes but never made an effort driving it. I was comfortable driving the car in the US till we were there. We moved back and i was shit scared to get back to driving a 2 or a 4 wheeler. What with no traffic rules followed and the amount of public conveyances that are available, there was no motivation to get behind the wheels. Now let me not disgress too much, but that was my story. Till date i have not started riding any.

But like any mom, I want the kids to be bold and all that. I started them on cycles and Tiny being herself got rid of the side wheels on her cycle at the age of 6. She was all set. Little all of 4.5 now did not want to ride the cycle without side wheels. He stopped taking the cycle out once the side wheels were removed from his. And then on the screaming, the scolding did not help much. He was scared all the more. I thought to myself that may be he needs more time. There is no point in yelling at a 4+ year old when his mom cannot have the guts to drive the car. So all i did was to settle down and talk to friends in the evening during play time and give up teaching him to drive cycles without side wheels. And there he goes, my friend pointed out "Look there he is driving so well and using the brake too when needed. " I was just too happy not knowing what to say.

However i deeply thought how cool that he could drive on his own and why on earth was i behind him nagging him so much. I had this convo with my little boy:

Me: Little, that was good, you made me proud.
Little : Amma you happy now???
Me: Yes Kanna (baby in tamil)
Little: So will you buy me a new cycle??
Me: Already?? May be you should learn well on this and then get a new cycle.
Little: But Tiny got a new one so i need one too. [Tiny got a new cycle for her birthday in November]
Me: Rolls eyes and my friends that was the motivation behind Little learning the cycle.

Convo between Tiny & Little

2011-11-03T09:10:00.005+05:30

I am with the kids who talk more and study less. Especially getting their homework done is a big deal, forget studies, that happens only once in a blue moon.
Tiny is going to be 7 and Little is 4.5 years.

Little: O is for Oxygen, he meant to say Ostrich
Tiny: You mad, O is for Olympiad
Me: Tiny, How can he understand what olympiad is? You should point to an object and tell him starting with O.
Tiny: But amma, how does he know oxygen when he does not even see it.
Me: (Does she know where oxygen is? so checking)So where is oxygen Tiny??
Tiny: In the air...

Me: wondering where she gathered this chemistry from ;))

Edited to Add:

Many of my pregnant friends that Little has noticed with a bulging tummy. He asked me a couple of times and understood that when babies are made in mommy's stomach it bulges out. So this morning giving him a bath, he stood protruding his tummy out (kind of convex shaped) to which i asked him:

Me: Do you have a baby in? Why are you standing like that??
Him: No Baby. Only Tiny will have a baby..... before i could digest that he says after she grows big.

Passport to a healthy Pregnancy

2011-10-21T14:42:00.007+05:30

This is my first entry in the WW contest. I so love the topic. Thanks WW for giving me a chance. Here is my entry.

It was 3+ years that we were married and working and things were going ok. Hubby wanted to make a surprise trip to India to meet his parents. Little did he know that there was a surprise waiting on him. A week after he left to India, when my monthly cycle did not show up, I took a quick trip to the gynae. The gynae who was around 50's was a jovial and light hearted doc and had tonnes of desi patients coming to him. I was briefed about him by my desi friends. A day later the blood test results were out and Yes I was pregnant. All overjoyed, called the hubby who in turn promised to tell both sets of parents.
A week or two later, the gynae calls up to say that the detailed blood analysis reports are out. I would need to visit him urgently. After a little questioning from my side, he said that my thyroid levels have been low and i need to be on medication immediately, else i might miscarry. The moment i heard the dreaded word miscarry, i just told my team lead and left work. Doc had already ordered for the medication at the nearest walgreens pharmacy. He explained to me the consequences and i went to the pharmacy to pick up. There has never been a day that i forgot to take this medication during pregnancy along with the pre natal vitamins.
For one i noticed, the doc would give you all his time in the world for any questions on every check up. Curiousity sometimes drives one up the wall. I would google up to find answers and try and confirm with the doc on the next checkup. He realised this and the next checkup asked me "So what does the internet have to say?" I was taken aback but he was joking. He said never confuse yourself reading too much and never be ignorant either.
My first one was a small baby a 5+ pounder and when he got the baby out during delivery, he said "She is a peanut can i put her back in again??" Maan that was painful but he almost kept the whole process lively and going. The one thing i noticed was he was always available for me and mentioned to have trust in myself and the doc and everything would be fine. Again post delivery (1st and 2nd babies), I was low on breast milk and had to supplement it with formula. I wondered, why it is always me and i know my friends who had babies at the same time were able to fully nourish their kids without any formula and for almost close to a year. This is when i felt guilt struck and asked the doc. All he said, just respect your body for all it did and please do not blame yourself for it. Each body can process things differently so accept it.

Going back in time, i loved the whole process of pregnancy, delivery and postpartum. Delivery though was normal was pretty painful both the times just that one was long and the other was short but pain is pain and does not make a difference.So for me what worked out was finding the right gynae and trusting him/her and respecting one's body.

School Season starts and the drama unfolds

2011-10-12T13:45:00.005+05:30

So it was a short 15 day vacation for the kids. We did the most of it or atleast I think. We went on 4 day trips to Coorg and Pondicherry. Did a lot of sight seeing and looking around. Stayed in resorts, had fun swimming, playing at the beach, visited a wildlife sanctuary, birthplace of river Kaveri etc. Today kids are back at school. Yesterday night I had to cut their nails, one thing is that the schools follow strict discipline in this aspect and second is that the nails were real shabby what with all the painting and coloring done in the holidays. There is a lot of resistance to this activity, so much that, I just have to hold each one tight and cut the nails. Seriously a big effort. I somehow got Tiny's nails cut. Now it was the turn of the little guy. After lot of fuss we got the finger nails cut. He was not in for the toes. Here goes the conversation between myself and him:
Me: Mam will check your nails tomorrow and if you do not cut it, she might check you out of the class.
Little: That is why I have cut my finger nails no..
Me: How about toe nails????
Little: To check my toe nails she will have to remove my shoes/socks and tie it back as well. So she will not do that.
This boy all of 4.5 has grown so arrogant, I run short of where to start.

I confess i am guilty

2011-09-16T13:58:00.003+05:30

MNIAmma tagged me to write about my guilt trips. Sure it comes as a part of mommydom.

According to the tag, I have to

1.Write about 2 instances where you have put yourself before your child/ children… been a wee bit selfish.
2.How did you feel? Did you feel a pang of guilt or were you comfortable?
3.Tag 2 more moms

1)Work is one thing that takes most of my day.I have 1.5 hour commute each way and by the time i reach home they are off from school and all that. When i work from home or have taken a day off, I try and get the kids from the bus stop and we have stories to tell each other. We eat something and freshen up and we go down to play in the complex most evenings. While we moms chit chat, kids are playing around. Some days I take her to attend classes if she has any for the day like swimming/drawing and then come back home.Otherwise we go skating or cycling round the complex.I walk with her. She just loves that and tells me to quit my job and be there for her all the time. Do i need to say more? The mom in me is never convinced but i try to convince the little sweetheart somehow. Though i love being home for the kids, I always run blank when they are off to school. Always a dilemma between SAHM or working mom.

2)I am a real monster with the kids at times. Blame it on temper, stress (work related or otherwise), commute and so on. There are times when the kids end up fighting and you are on a work related call and the husband has not yet returned from work. I loose cool and yell like mad. Later on when they are fast asleep, tears well up and i tell myself that they are my world and why did i have to do this. Seriously need some meditation or yoga tips to cool my mind off. I just hope that the kids never inherit my temper.

Now my turn to tag the other moms to write about their guilt trips:
I tag Aparna
and Swati
Not sure if you guys have already done this.

Six Year old says

2011-08-25T15:39:00.003+05:30

These days there has been a lot of times that I gasp at what the kids say. I ask myself how they understand or learnt this or what made them tell this to me.

It was one of the monthly test times. We were revising a Hindi lesson bulbul ke bachhe (nightingale's kids). It is about how 2 kids who see a nest in their backyard one day with four eggs in it. A few days later they hatch, then learn to hop and fall down. Mother bird feeds them long worms that she gets in her beak and then they grow and one day fly away. We are doing the Questions and Answers from this lesson...

This was our convo:
Me: Why did the kids feel bad at the end?(in hindi)
Actual answer is: Kids saw an empty nest and felt really bad that the little birds had learnt to fly and flew away.
Tiny: Amma, the kids loved the birds so much that they wanted to get married to them.

Another Situation

Myself and kids visit my parents place during the weekend. Most of the times hubby drops us down near the gate and leaves either he has something pending to be done or he is on a call or something unintentional came up.

Little: Amma, Why does Appa not come to Paati's (grandmom's) house?
Myself: He has some work baby, so he will come later.
Still not convinced..
Little: Does he not like thatha paati (grand dad and grand mom)?
LOL, why do they arrive at such conclusions???

Fancy Dress Competition and Little Tiny Bits

2011-08-03T10:19:00.005+05:30

I only have a little of unclear image of how i had taken part in a fancy dress competition wearing mom's saree tied in a typical south indian style (guess they call it madisar). This was way long long back may be in my kindergarten years. But forward it to now, Little has a fancy dress competition at school and he is so so excited about it. The school says that we are not supposed to rent any costumes and no dialogues would be allowed. Here goes our conversation:
Me: Little what would you like to be?
Little: I will be Mickey Mouse.
Me: Ok
Little: (an hour later)I will be Laxman. (showing off his bow and arrow the plastic kinds)
Me: Ok
Another hour later
Little: Amma Can i be Chota Bheem?
Me: Ok
Tiny tells him that he acts like a monkey and so he has to be Hanuman and not anything else.
Little: Amma, I want to be Hanuman,I like to have a tail behind.
Me: Tell me one thing Little that you would like to be,so I can get prepared to dress you up.

I had a release at work and thus was coming home late for a week or so. Grandparents are home to take care of them.But grandparents love watching the soaps on TV and evenings are their time to relax in front of the TV.
Tiny: Amma, you have also become like Appa. You come late evryday
Me: Had work to complete and if i do not get it done, my manager like your mam will take me to task.
Little: But you should come home early.
Me: Ok. But you could have gone down and played with your friends from 5-7pm right??
Little: This thatha (grand father) does not take me down at all. He always watches TV. He has got specs (meaning spectacles) that is why.
Me: Shocked, can you say like this to your grandparents??
Tiny: So when are you leaving your job? You always tell but never do..
Mother in me runs to the kids and the career woman in me is thrown out of myself.

Convo between me and Little
Little loves his friend let us call him L. He sits next to him on the bus and L gets him a chocolate when he gets an extra. Not sure what all this sharing is about, but they have become good friends.
Little boards the bus, i bid him bye and move to my bus stop. Everyday is the same and the third day he asks me:
Little: Amma, you should say by to L as well today. Why don't you say Bye to him??
Me: Sure Why not? Who else are your friends?
Little:(names another friend) A
Me: Ok so do you have any girl friends (becos he named only boys)
Little: Yes, Her name is Shurpanaka...She scares us all and I box her sometimes.

Not believing that anyone would have a name like this, I figured out, she must be an Ayamma who might have mentioned her name as Shurpanaka. Just to scare the kids when they do mischief.

Little and the Black Stars

2011-07-13T09:36:00.004+05:30

Little has been getting a couple of red stars everyday or alternate days from the time school started. I asked him what that meant. He mentioned that because he was a good boy at school, he got them. Then a few days he let me know that everybody in the class got them. For past few days i kept seeing black stars on his hand, so much that it takes a lot of scrubbing to get that off. I was told by him that was given by mam as well.
Even before me inquiring the mam, the bus driver told me that Little is very naughty at school and talks a lot in the class and that is why he got a black star. I told him a couple of times to behave well at school and not get black stars anymore. Then the very next day, he had 2 black stars. I warned him and told him that i would come and speak to his mam. He says: "Amma, why do you only see black stars and not red stars. I have 2 red and 2 black. Two for being good and two for being bad."

Edited To Add:
A couple of years back when Little went to Playhome, he cried everyday asking me to accompany in his van to school. Forward to an year, he was fine going on his own, but sent flying kisses my way till the bus was a mile away from the pickup point. Forward it to now, he being a kindergartener, looks around before giving any flying kisses and asks me to leave the stop. Is this his way of telling me, I am not a baby anymore....? I am glad he enjoys it and pray the same continues..

Tiny Little Chats

2011-07-11T11:22:00.005+05:30

Little loves robots and anything around it. His ears is all open for robot and transformers. He sees a robot statue built in Japan in the newspaper today (courtesy his dad pointed it out to him).

Takes the newpaper sheet and runs to Tiny...
Little: Tiny, Shall we go to Japan. See there is a robot there.
Tiny: Japan !!! no...
Little : Why?
Tiny : Why becos there earthquakes happen..

Another Day
Tiny not feeling too good and lying down.
I : Tiny, you are not feeling well? Why do you look tired???
Little: (Thud comes the reply) Amma may be Tiny has got Viral fever.
I: We should go to the Doc, I cannot see you lying like this.
Tiny: No Amma, I will be ok. I don't like going to the doc.
Little: Go ya nothing will happen. Don't be scared ok...

Another Day after School, Little comes home
Little : Go out and locks the room door.
Keeps saying go out to everyone.
I: Something is really wrong. Did mam tell you to go out of the class?
Little: No amma.. (in a kind of shy, scared look negating what he is thinking..)
I: let me know what happened, it is ok to go out once in a while ..
Little: (After lot of apprehension says)I hit someone and mam told me to go out.
Next Day, I called up the teacher to find out the real story..Mam said that he was talking in the class and that was why she told him that and literally did not send him out.

Man Proposes God Disposes

2011-03-11T12:06:00.007+05:30

This proverb is so significant that i have seen it happening time and again in my life. Not that I am unhappy for what happened. I do believe in what happens is for good. There must be a reason when god bestows anything on us. Happy or Sad i accept it. But this time was a different experience and thus wanted to record this event before i forget it.

Tiny goes to a school C close by home. Little goes to a school P also close by.It so got decided at the start of the current academic year that school P is moving far far away from where we stay. The other complaint with School P was too many holidays. So we decided that we might have to move Little to another school. Why on earth do we have to send him that far and when he is just in kindergarten, was a question the rest of the family also had. I had the opinion that he should go to school C. That way the holidays and PTM (Parents Teacher Meeting) and everything works out. It so happens that for a PTM one of us go to school P and the other to school C.
I went ahead and got the application form at school C for Little in November when all schools start the admission process. We were asked to meet the principal and then paid the admission fees since we were so sure of things. We were happy to get a sibling discount as well. Now starts the fun...

A very good school J close by home started issuing applications and for all reasons it is a tough deal to get into this school. I wanted to see how Little can fair in an interview all by himself and also what he might have learnt in the school P. I applied for this school and was so sure he will NOT be able to get it here. No, No i have total confidence in my son. But we knew there are around 700 applicants for just 150 seats and this school uses strictly no influence or money. They are also strict about their class strength of 35 each. 2 weeks from then was the announcement of seats. We were not bothered to check it out. I had to work that saturday and thus asked the hubby to go check the list. Since he was so sure on me that whatever happens we are going to stick with school C, he went to the school after a cool afternoon siesta. He then calls me and says, guess what Little has made it. I told him to check for the application number, father's name and he says it is all the same. I was thrilled and then the opinions from friends and a couple of relatives made us change our mind and admit him to school J. I just hope and pray the journey of changing schools ends here for Tiny and Little. Hopefully they settle down well in their respective schools and we don't go school hunting now and then.

Little's version of Hot cross Buns

2011-01-07T12:12:00.003+05:30

Hot cross buns, hot cross buns
One a penny, Two a penny
Hot cross buns
If you have a daughter, give them to your sons (INSTEAD of If you have no daughters, give them to your sons)
One a penny, Two a penny
Hot cross buns

Hubby took Little to the barber shop last sunday. Little overheard our convo and realised that he had a school interview the next saturday and since week days are busy, he was driven to the barber shop on sunday.
He comes home with a short cut. Grand parents are totally surprised and ask him why he had to get the hair cut so short. Now Little is a big Amir khan fan, anything for Amir khan.. The grandparents guessed the answer would be "Amir cut his hair short and so did I". Little has grown up so much that he replied "I have an otterview next week and so i cut my hair." Not sure what he understands by interview and how a hair cut is related to it, but it was fun to hear him say that..

Little's conversations

2010-11-26T16:56:00.003+05:30

Conversations between me and Little:
One Day
I: Good baby your lunch box is empty today. (after being back from school)
Little: (Proudly walks over to the kitchen and says) ayamma (helper on the bus and classroom) ate it today. You always tell me to share things and i did sharing sharing.

Another Day
Tiny does not allow her brother Little, to climb over the bunk bed and get on to the topmost platform. They have a big fight when that happens. So when Tiny's friends visit her, Little climbs to the top and sees the world from there. He knows that Tiny will not raise her voice in front of her friends.

Another Day
I was reading a newspaper when the kids were having fun playing with my hair.
Tiny: Amma you have one white hair here.
I: I am also getting old baby, so there can be many more popup.
Little: So what happens when you get old?
Tiny: You will get to meet ambachi (tamil baby version for god)[not sure how she got this one]
Little: Amma, you are going to ambachi??
I: yes if ambachi calls, I have to go
Little: Makes a cranky face, amma please do not go....
Tiny: If you go who will make me read??

Today
Little went to school with all his armour. His armour is Bow and arrow, not the sharp kinds but like the first one that is shown here. Inspite of telling him not to take it, he was very stubborn and finally i gave up. He put that in his school bag and took it. A part of it was popping out of the bag and he was happy showing that to his friends in the school bus. So i thought he might not open it up or even share with anybody for that matter. Who am i kidding??When I went to pick him back from the bus, the ayamma requested us not to send the bow and arrow. The reason being that all the kids stood in line to try his bow and arrow with Little teaching them how to use his armour. The teacher gasped as to what was happening in the class. I am sure she would have cursed me 101 times. But then it was not his fault, i had read a part of ramayana to him the previous day and told him how the gurukul system works. He has tried the same at school.

This was a few weeks back, when i saw Little's lunch box return back home as is. Even after all the reprimanding and stuff, things were the same. I talked to the teacher about the issue. The next day a note came back in the diary saying that he takes interests in other's lunch box and not his own. We used to do things like that in our school days and no doubt this was fun.But in the process we shared our stuff too. Little seems to be doing it one way. I was dumbstruck.
So I tried asking him what he would like to take the next day and keep something that interests him. Things still did not change. He fell sick and i thought it worthy to mention this to the paed (He is actually a jolly good doctor and the kids love him for the candies). The paed gave me a thorough 'Are you crazy' stare and said "Why do you think he should not do that? What is wrong?". He was like as long as he eats, it is ok. I just had to shut my mouth after that, which i did. Finally the paed gave him a fistful of candies while leaving and told Little not to return back. The paed patted Little as if he was appreciating him for his work.I thanked the doc and finally was exiting by when Little had eaten atleast 2-3 candies and I had to stop him. So I adviced Little to keep atleast a couple for his sister. The paed overheard our conversation and said:"Do you think a guy who likes to taste others lunch box and not share his would keep some of his own candies for his sis."

LOL i really was made fun off in the whole session and the little guy laughs out loud looking at me. I am just wondering how this guy will grow up to be like...God help him.

Little Bits

2010-01-27T14:10:00.004+05:30

We have a neighbour whose grand kid goes to a boarding school. He was Little's good friend and used to be called Anna (meaning brother). The guys played cricket with all sorts of things. Little loved playing anna's video games, all he would look for is pressing the keys and see something happen.
Anna disappeared one day to a boarding school and Little had a lot of questions. We told him what a boarding school meant and how the parents were not always allowed there and kids did things independently.
Now Tiny uses this to scare the little fellow when he tries to snatch things from her. The conversation goes like this:
Tiny: If you do like this, amma will send you to boarding school
Little: Quiet for sometime.
Tiny: There will be no appa, no amma and myself. You have to be alone there.
Little: No problem, Anna stays there.
Tiny:(comes running)Amma he wants to go to a boarding school. Why don't you take him there?

Rat Race and some rants

2009-10-14T22:57:00.007+05:30

What with the swine flu and a teacher succumbing to it, in Tiny's school, the school was closed for couple of weeks. The exams postponed after the Dussehra holidays. All in all the kids had a gala time, with a month off, rainy dull days and with TV channels like POGO and Cartoon Network. But then days like this are way too less. I let them enjoy the times and did not demand too much of study time from Tiny.

For the exam she was supposed to write 5 colors and we had revised spellings for red, blue, green, black and white the previous night. Surprises galore, she comes back writing her own set yellow, blue,orange, pink, brown. No, I am not upset as long as she gets her spellings right. The singular, plural, opposites, addition, subtraction.. I was just hoping for the exam week to end soon. It did and both were relieved to see each other smiling.

Then comes the next nightmare, the new school admissions. This time of the year starts the application process and screening. I am told that the nursery admission for Little would be based on observation tests and for Tiny would be a test on Math and English skills. To top it all, parents are supposed to be interviewed with questions like:
1) We prefer stay at home moms, how could you as a working mom spend time coaching the kid?
Am i ready ...? Not yet.

The sarcasm does not end here, every school application requires you to fill in the position and salary of both the father and mother.
On another note, I was the one who was pushy in sending the Little to a montessori so that he gets sometime away from home say for 3 hours at the least. I have seen many parents who do not really want to send the kids under 3 to a play school either due to financial shortcomings or because they do have a full time family support and do not see the need. But the application forms for the above said schools need to know which montessori the kid goes to, not only that the contact nos of the same. I heard that they call back and do a check and if they get a good feedback, they do not interview the kid. I just gasped at the fact that may be we are preparing the kids for a job interview right from age 2-3 what with all reference checks.

And some of these schools are so net savvy that they SMS the parents after the school bus reaches the previous stop and also accept applications/assignments online.
There is more to RAT RACE and we just keep running...

To the Himalayas and Back

2009-06-22T10:31:00.016+05:30

A much awaited and needed vacation that was to the Himalayas. This trip was unique on its own. This was the first time the kids stayed away from us for a week and vice versa. They were with my parents and did well for the most part. Secondly, I will be wrong in saying a trip to the Himalayas, because what we visited was only a very minute fraction of the gigantic mountain range, so serene and composed. I fall short of words to describe the same. I had been there in my teens and knew what to expect. For the most part, things have changed. I would say people have been more adventurous and explorative, and we could see a lot of rafting, camping, trekking, diving places all thru our way up the mountains. Here are the few snaps from the trip.

Ganga at Rishikesh

Enroute Badrinath

Badrinath Shrine

Confluence of Alaknanda (from Badrinath) and Mandakini (from Kedarnath) at Rudraprayag

Confluence of Ganga (from Gangotri) and Alaknanda at DevPrayag

Ganga ji ki aarthi at Haridwar

We ventured into our very first white water rafting experiment. It was fun and we fared well compared to our skiing trials where we came down with soar and painful body and promised ourselves never to venture again.

Celebrating Mother's day for life

2009-05-08T10:53:00.006+05:30

This Sunday being Mother's day and it has been technically my 5th year being a mom. Thanks to Tiny and Little for making it a joyous journey. Before Tiny came into the picture, i was a person who would evade the thought of having kids after being into 3 years of marriage. Don't ask me why. I still have not found an answer myself and consider my self silly for thinking so. Merits go to the parents & inlaws ofcourse. No going back from here and i really enjoy it.

1)Questions Questions and more: When the dad comes late from work he is hugged. When the mom is late all the why, when, where, how comes in and the kids are no less then the mother of mine. I love those and the chides/warning that i get back to hear in the same way they get to hear from the mom.

2)The never ending Story time: Dad is off too sleep even before he starts the story but the poor mom cannot escape. She needs to tell the story and put all the animals to sleep before her little ones snore. I love it when they wait for me to come and hit the bed and gently caress them with kisses, hugs and stories.

3)Pranks: I was never like this though!! i think when the little fella takes a slipper from the shoecase and throws it below from the grills and it falls directly down on the neighbour's car. It starts to beep and the neighbour upstair is heard screaming. Neighbour downstair thanks her luck that it did not end up on her head while the no nonsense guy shuts the door and runs inside. That gives the mom a chance to go apologise to her neighbours and also get a few minutes to gossip and not to mention keep the doors always locked not for the robbers but for pranksters.

4)Hello: Tiny always loves to speak on the phone and it does not make a difference if it is an official call. She has to say hello to the group. I have to recognise her contribution on this one, since she makes the late night calls get over in a jiffy. Ahh the sweet little voice.

5)Caffine control: On a normal day, it is supposed to be atleast 3 glasses of tea for the mommy. Kids cannot go deprived of it. Don't you think? I make a glass of tea after i reach home in the evening. All i have to do is carefully hold the glass for them. Each of them dip their cookies and the mommy gets only one last sip with a piece of cookie and she better be satisfied with it.

Happy Mother's day to all the moms. We are for sure on the fun bus. For tagging the others, i am not sure who would have not done this yet, so i leave it up to the mommy/daddy readers out there to pick up.

Rules:
Just write a post of your own (5 things that you love about being a mom/dad) and find someone to link to and tag - someone from your own country, if you like, but definitely someone from another country (Google is a good resource if you don't know any; google any country name and 'mom/dad' in their blog search function) (be sure to let them know that you've tagged them!) - and link back here and HBM and leave a comment.

And not to forget THANKS Suma for tagging me. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

One Year Later

2009-03-31T15:54:00.002+05:30

It has been a year already that we returned back to Bangalore. It just feels like a few days back. As i close my eyes, i can just visualise and place myself in the apartment we lived a year back, in the usual neighbourhood areas we normally spent time at, grocery stores, temple, work, car and the good old friends. Just a thunderstorm of memories seem to clog the brain and take me to wonderland. To add to it, our little girl keeps talking about how the snowman lost his cap in the windy city, how she used to get some fun stuff to eat on her way back home from the school everyday, last but not the least, she would like to call the Disney characters from Florida (she visited last year) to celebrate her 5th birthday.
Memories are all we really own. by Elias Lieberman

Picky Tiny

2008-12-16T16:05:00.003+05:30

Tiny seems to be a real picky girl be it clothes, food. I have been observing this from when she was eighteen months, she would pick what she would like to wear like her pants and shirt with utmost care and she was good at it. Even today it seems tough to get her to wear something from outside her pile. Certain frocks which she thinks she should not wear. So i would have to keep coaxing her that she should wear them otherwise they will fall short and i would have to give it away. This morning, she saw me open the other wardrobe which normally stores a few wedding sarees and such. She comes up to tell me in an angry tone: Amma, if you do not wear the brown saree, it will fall short. I was about to chortle and there she says with her forefinger pointing, I am serious....

Intuitions

2008-11-03T11:10:00.007+05:30

I am not the person who does the back office kind of work. That might leave you wondering as to what i am hinting. I meant that i never ever get to stuff like transferring the digital pics and uploading the same or compiling the camcorder video to mpeg and burn it on to a DVD or VCD.All that was DH's work and he loves doing/re-doing it. I did not bother doing this anytime in the span of six years that we owned a digital cam.

A week and a half back, one night when the kids were off to sleep, I had to attend a meeting from 10 pm which i knew would never end up before 12 midnight. So I connected the camera and transferred the snaps to the laptop while i was attending the meeting. The transfer kept me up half an hour more after the meeting.

A week later, I was planning to go on a short vacation to Mysore to meet my cousins. The previous night i charged the battery and kept the camera along with the other stuff that needed to be taken. All i remember is just that. I lost the camera not to find it anywhere in the bag nor the suitcase. I did not even board a crowded bus or anything of that sort. It remains a mystery as to how i lost the camera. I am only glad and happy that i moved all the pictures to the laptop before loosing it.

DH was at Sydney on an official trip and wanted to know if we needed anything from there. Quickly sent him an email, where the last line quoted the missing camera mystery.I was expecting a fiery reply. He says we are good competitors no doubt. The reason was DH lost a video ipod couple of months back in a crowded bus.

All that is left is a camcorder which is on house arrest for right now.

A Perfect Day

2008-10-29T11:23:00.002+05:30

A tag by Suma to describe my kind of day. Now this makes a lot of sense to me. Having always stayed in Karnataka, where the weather is never extreme but always kind enough to soothe the soul, it was never a concern or a restriction to do anything. I did travel quite a bit through North and south of India during childhood and school days but that would be again when the weather in the visiting place is favourable. Thus had never experienced extremities and probably weather god was mighty pleased ;). It was only after i landed in the USA and all the more in Chicago (called the windy city) during the onstart of serious winter what with 14 inches of snow around, reality dawned on me. The first few days to work, i would always curse the hubby as to why would any sane person land here to fight this kind of face biting cold at -31 degree Fahrenheit, walk to the train station as there was no parking for the car .But then i was convinced and filled with hope that summers are going to be bright and dry and started looking forward to it. But after being back here, i feel the weather here is ultimate with only a slight temperature increase, blame it all on the global warming.

I would always love a working day filled with bright sunshine and not so that makes one perspire. I am so not used to carrying the handkerchief girl. I feel the brightness of the sun keeps one up and going thru the day. I like the late night rains which cools down the weather, so that all you need for a good night sleep is a comforter with windows open and the curtains partially on with a small bedlight on. Rains accompanied with light thunder and lightning is welcome, so that i can coupe up all the dark forest stories with little bear who gets lost only to find Barney later - which can just put the kids off to sleep.

Anybody who like to describe their favourite times and weathers please take it on.

Mystery, Humor, Mischief, truth and much more

2008-09-24T15:13:00.005+05:30

It has been long that i really held a book in my hand especially a novel from the past four years. Different genres of books amaze the soul. Couple of weeks back, a visit to the library to get some panchatantra tales for Tiny, tempted me to pick up the book Indian -Insight into Self management by O.P.Sharma. One friday night i sat to read that and the kids were still playing. Tiny gets a book "David and Goliath" and sits next to me with the comforter pulled on her leg and trying to imitate. Little comes down sees the two of us and runs to get a magazine from nowhere, holds it upside down and fights for the same comforter which his sister does not want to share with him. And that is the end of reading these days.
Suma had tagged me a long long while ago. Bear with me Suma, as the target of this month was to complete this tag before any other post. The gist of the tag is a mention of top ten literary characters. So here it goes:

1.Swami and Friends by R.K.Narayan :- Swami a small town boy who is known to play mischief with all humour.
2.Yajnaseni by Pratibha Roy :- Character of Draupadi bought out by the author and how she voices her opinions.
3.Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens :- Oliver with his trembling hands in great fear asks for more reveals his boldness to speak up for himself.
4.Fifty Famous people by James Baldwin:-All the fifty short stories had some interesting personalities.
5.Ulysses Cyclops by James Joyce:-Ulysses who is the hero with a magical power in him, fights against all odds
6.The Little Mermaid by Hans Anderson :- Little mermaid saves the prince's life from the storm and never waits for him to thank her back though she was in love with the prince. Attitude of doing things with a sense of duty and not obsession.
7.Avarna by Byrappa:- Kannada novel which means act of hiding the truth. The character of Lakshmi who is the daughter of a landlord is very well visualized.
8.Blow your House Down by Pat Barker :- Jean who takes intelligently takes revenge of the serial killer.
9.Five on a Treasure Island from the Famous Five by Enid Blyton
10.That Long Silence by Shashi Deshpande:- A dutiful wife questioning her own identity.

I would like to pass it on to Adorable Pancreas, IHM, Mnamma and Monika. Never mind if you guys have already completed the tag.

Edited to Add:

All blogs i read and follow daily like a ritual and get hooked onto are really brilliant. Each of them inspire and add a way of thinking to my uni directional mind. Saying that this gets tough as to whose way i should be sending this award. Most of them would have received it already. I would like to send it across to

Kowsalya, Twisted DNA, Usha

All of THREE going to be FOUR

2008-09-12T10:54:00.002+05:30

There are a lot of things we teach our kids about mannerisms, academics, food and all the rest. Some things are not really taught, but they are just personality i think. I might be wrong, but this one instance made me realise. My parents who stay in the very next suburb are kind of at a walkable distance from my place. My mom was out of town for a week. One of the days dad calls up in the evening when Tiny was doing her homework. Here is the conversation between dad and Tiny
Tiny: Thatha(granddad), where is pati(grandmom), I would like to talk to her.
Dad: She is in Mysore
Tiny: Why are you staying alone, thatha, you come here. (Even before thatha replies) Did you eat your mommu(Food)?
There are certain stuff that I will have to tell her everyday to get it done, but these spontaneous talks surprised me.

a MeMe TaG

2008-06-27T11:54:00.005+05:30

Usha tagged me this time and i did quite enjoy revealing myself. This was pending from sometime, so here it is:

I am: a challenged mother of 2 little kiddos.
I think: parents mean a whole world to me.
I know:life is short and should be making the best use of time.
I want: a more responsible me
I have: the best i could get
I wish: i could take the kids out to some fun place every weekend
I hate: having to argue, shout or bargain
I miss: the huge parking lots in the US
I fear: bad addictions
I feel: sad seeing little kids suffering from fatal diseases
I hear: "Come come" which my 1.2 year old son repeats as he wakes up in the early morning and drags his bedspread out of the room.
I smell: burnt or slightly spoilt food from far far away.
I crave: juices, milkshakes anytime during the year.
I search: for all gossipy stuff in magazines and newspapers.
I wonder: how to control the tongue's mind as it goes in the proverb "Tongue has a mind of its own"
I regret: not knowing all the options to be choosing from.
I love: walking, exercising
I ache: when I get stressed
I care: for my friends
I am not: extravagant
I believe: in the almighty power
I dance: when i have the right company
I sing: for and with the kids.
I cry : when i am hurt badly
I don’t always : do what i think.
I fight : with none other then DH as we both do not have siblings.
I write: less blogs but read more of my fellow bloggers. Lazy Me.
I win: when i am not pressurised.
I lose: many a times but do not take it seriously
I never: keep a routine, every day is different
I always: make it a point to calm down and take a deep breath
I confuse: myself with assumptions
I listen: to all types of music except rock
I can usually be found: surfing channels on the TV
I am scared: of heights
I need: to aim before i hit the target
I am happy about: what life has offered me this far.

Anyone who wishes to please pick this tag and leave a comment, so i get to read yours.

Suggestions are not welcome

2008-05-21T11:43:00.004+05:30

We are in the age of ATM, Easy Cash, what not..I always hoped and expected that it would always be that easy to get cash when you want it.
A visit to the beauty parlor to get pedicure and manicure done relaxed all the nerves and their endings. I then realised, i need to get train reservations done for my parents as they were to travel by a night train the following week. I hit the ATM to remove some cash. I could have used the debit card and get charged a little more extra per ticket, but then i chose to go to the ATM to draw some money. No Not prudency but a little more walk and exercise to the body. I normally bank with Bank A and there was not one ATM of the same nearby. So decided to go to Bank B. This was supposed to be a new bank and in a very crowded hangout area of the city. The banker from Bank A told me that i can withdraw from Bank B and will be charged a little extra but will be refunded after forty five days. Oh not a problem. I went to insert the card inside, the card was not recognised. I then requested the security guy to find what the issue was. There was a long line at the ATM and so i thought, i should do it quick. The security fellow then asked the next person in line to give his debit card. I was surprised. Using the other person's debit card he tried to push my card in the ATM so much that the card would not pop out. The Teller machine then says that "Card will be retained by the machine and transaction will not be completed". To my shock and surprise, i did not react. Perhaps the relaxing procedures at the beauty parlor did their job. I then called up Bank A to block my card. The security told me that the card will not be given back at all. I said fine keep it. ATM becomes an Automatic Eater Machine. Very next day, i tried calling the Bank B where i lost my card to an ATM and told them about the same.

Bank B: Madam I have never seen such incidents and nobody has reported of the same.
Me: Will i be able to get my card back?
Bank B: No Madam. We cannot give it back since when this happens with our customers who use their debit cards in other banks, they do not return the cards back to us. So why should we return your card?? So We destroy the card ourselves.
Me: (What an explanation, so that is proved that this happens atleast)Well Sir, i think the ATM needs to be maintained well or you should change that old machine who is eating the cards away. Since it was at 7pm in the evening and incase a person is in need of cash at the moment, when all the banks are closed, what should he be doing?
Bank B:No Madam Our ATM works just fine and we have never had complaints. If you want i can give you a helpdesk number.

Spreading the chain of love

2008-05-09T22:12:00.003+05:30

This time a tag from Suma to extend affection and love to all the wonderful people in blogdom. All you blogger friends, who make every day interesting with new ideas, thoughts, emotions, experiences, stories, poems and what not, I extend this chain of love only to spread more and more.

Once tagged, you have to copy paste the link in this post, add your name and make them grow!

BennyLiew,RamblingMoo,Mum & Kids in Wonderland, JudeLittle, Our mini blogsphere, Rooms in my heart, http://janiceng.blogspot.com,ChinNee, Jo-N, Lady Java's Lounge, Strange but True,Mariuca's Perfume Gallery, Meet Uncle J-Uncle J,Farah, aNgRiAniWoRLd, How's Life bout, The Three Heroes, Ceedy, Veena, Suma, Sumana

I now tag Akshatha, Chitra, Kowsalya, Noon, Poppin,

Talk about myself, here it is

2008-04-29T13:17:00.004+05:30

It was long break that i had after the move across continents. But i did make all efforts to read others blogs in the meanwhile before updating mine. Well i call myself only partially addicted to blogdom. No i do like to write, but a little lazy there. My dear friend J, tags me now and this i cannot escape.

Last Movie You Saw In A Theater:
Casino Royale and was worth it

What Book Are You Reading:
Yet to start reading The Outsourced Indian

Favorite Board Game:
Ludo, Chinese checkers, Carrom and Monopoly

Favorite Magazine:
Women's era, stardust, cineblitz anything gossipy

Favorite Smells:
Smell of mint, fennel leaves

Favorite Sound:
sound of flowing water

Worst Feeling In The World:
When there are no alternatives

What Is The First Thing You Think Of When You Wake? :
Kids sleep for a little more

Favorite Fast Food Place:
Cool Joint

Future Child's Name:
I already have 2 driving all the nuts out. Good lord!!!

Finish This Statement. "If I Had A Lot Of Money I'd...”:
Do something off the routine everyday and ofcourse be of help to mankind in all forms.

Do You Drive Fast? :
Perhaps just once, got pulled over by a cop before leaving the US and ended up with a warning.

Do You Sleep With A Stuffed Animal?:
No

Storms-Cool Or Scary? :
Inbetween cool and scary

What Was Your First Car?:
Honda civic

Favourite drink:
Mango/ chiku shake

Finish This Statement, "If I Had The Time I Would .....” :
die of boredom

Do You Eat The Stems On Broccoli?:
I might depends on the taste

If You Could Dye Your Hair Any Color, What Would Be Your Choice? :
Leave it natural

Name All The Different Cities/Towns You Have Lived In
Dandeli,Raichur,Shimoga,Belgaum,Mysore,Bangalore, Chicago

Favorite Sports To Watch:
Basketball, ping pong, lawn tennis, Relay

One Nice Thing About The Person Who Sent This To You:
A multi talented person who talks less of herself and more of others

What's Under Your Bed?:
Toys that my daughter hides from her little brother

Would You Like To Be Born As Yourself Again?
No major cribs

Morning Person Or Night Owl?:
Morning person anytime

Over Easy Or Sunny Side Up?:
Over easy

Favorite Place To Relax:
timeout with friends, movies

Favorite Pie:
Don't like any

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor:
Vanilla

Of All The People You Tagged This To, Who's Most Likely To Respond First?
Oh no I do not tag any, since by then almost everyone i know in blogdom might have completed the tag. Anyone interested might pick it up.

Object of my Affection

2008-02-26T02:58:00.012+05:30

Thanks Joy for tagging me this time. This is one such tag, which gets a lot of ideas to the silly mind. Though it was all composed long before, it just took this long to come out.
The object of my affection is our car. She was hubby's first and was taken care off like a princess. I took my driving lessons with her. She accompanied me to interviews when i was jobless. She took me to work and back home. Be it the rainy, windy, snowy chicago she withstood them all. Every doctor visit be it ultrasound or just checkup was with her. She kept telling me all will be well. She took the pride of getting our first baby home. She with utmost happiness gave her princess crown to the little new comer then. She took her to the best of places and gave her the best of times to see the little giggle and smile on her face. She with all smiles brought the second baby home and tried to calm the quarrels. She meant so much more and today when attaching a price tag to her i felt bad. She is priceless and our very first princess. She is changing owners today and i just wish her luck....Here she is with pride

She is just going to be eight years old this september and her achievements are huge.
And now i tag a few more to express their affections and that will be :
Akshatha Kamath,
Poppins mom,
BangaloreMom
and anybody who likes to do one.

Who Me? Yes you !! Could'nt Be

2008-01-31T22:23:00.000+05:30

These were the days when Tiny was a little over a year or so. She used to be watched by her grandparents, paternal and maternal making trips one after the other. She had a great time through out the day but used to wait for us to get back home. One should watch the excitement on her face when she sees either of us coming back from work. The moment i opened the door and entered in, she would drag my laptop bag and take it to the living room making an announcement "Amma vandha" (mom is here). Coming home was a ritual to see her happy smiling face.
Couple of days back, i heard Tiny telling her Appa(dad) not to pretend. I thought she must have just picked it up somewhere and she would hardly know the meaning of it. When we drop or pick Tiny from school, she addresses us as Mommy/daddy in the midst of all her friends. I was a little surprised. Once i just chided her while making her wear her jacket, as to what was the reason behind calling amma at home and mommy in school. She murmurs in my ears "I am just pretending amma". As it is i do not mind to be called amma or mommy by her but was curious to know her reasoning behind it.
So finally who was the pretending queen here, i wondered to myself. I remember playing the game Who me? Yes you ... in our short break/intervals at school, and now am into practically playing this with my daughter....

The reality hits

2008-01-09T23:08:00.000+05:30

This is with regards to archana's blog on Taare Zameen Par. Well she saw the movie and made her point. I have not seen the movie yet and not sure whether i will. You must be wondering why i am saying this. I saw the 2 videos she had posted and it gave me a real hit back. Hostel life must be fun and everything. There will be a few days of missing home and parents and then things go on. Same for the parents, they know they will see their kids again back soon. Yet Still, i felt it might be tough to watch this movie without the eyes getting moist.
Attached to this was an incident a little early in life. This was when my mom in law told me that she used to never go to the hostel not even once in all the 4-5 years to visit her son. I wondered why would a mom not go to meet her son often. Little did i have the guts to ask her. I just left it at there. Now i did get an answer to that question. Well I can say it gets tough for the mother....

A decade to achieve

2007-12-29T10:31:00.000+05:30

Joy has tagged me yet again. And this time it is the plans for the next ten years. The way years keep rolling down one after another, i thought i should pick up this tag fast enough before we reach 2008.
And here it goes:
* I would like to lead life with a balanced and calmer attitude, more focused. That said want to add a few minutes of yoga and meditation to my daily routine.

* As kids grow, i would like to spend more and more quality time with them. Would like to stuff the whole world in their little brains and give them a conquering attitude towards life and its puzzles.

* It has been long that i have gone to theatres to watch movies with friends. Probably i get to do that once in a while to rejuvenate oneself.

* There were times when a whole day of reading in the library would enthral me. I would like to get back to those pleasurable days.

* I am sure no man can achieve perfection, but atleast would like to aim at it.

I would like to tag
Deepthi
CU
HHG
Prats
Usha

Wishing everyone a happy new year 2008...

Why has it to be tough again???

2007-12-22T15:11:00.000+05:30

These days i am with a heavy mind. Not able to sit down and blog. I have become restless. We plan to R2I and one of the biggest hurdles i felt in the process was job search. All over again. I know it is not tough, but at times it is mind boggling. It gives one the same frustration as a ever pending greencard process does.
Memories come back of those days when you are a fresher off the boat from a reputed engg college. Though we had campus recruitment in our college, just computer science and Electronics branches were benefitting from this. So we still had to apply apply and get no reply. Finally we started to go to a few software companies in Bangalore to physically hand out resumes as our seniors thought that was a way out. And it really happened with me, a new company called me for an interview and gave me a job as a fresher to start with. I wish a miracle happens again.
Now the next dilemma. Inside me there are 2 minds. One says any job should be good as long as it keeps me busy through out the day and i get to spend the rest with my kids. The other mind says that no such job exists and in that case it is better to be home. The fear is that all companies mainly work for US clients and most of them have timings of 1pm-10pm. Imagine both mom and dad coming home at 11pm.
Oh wow the fun of life is its uncertainty. Let's see how it gets along. I wish Santa does miracles to the big guys too.. Won't you Santa??
Wish you all a happy Holiday Season and a wonderful 2008...

Tinybits

2007-11-22T21:58:00.000+05:30

We got a snow shower today and Tiny was absolutely happy. She loves to sled. She grabbed the phone from me when i was on a call with my parents.
Tiny: Pati (meaning grandmom), you know it is snowing here
Pati: Wow wonderful..
Tiny: Do you like to see it?
Pati: Yes
Tiny takes the phone near the window
Tiny: See Pati, here it is snowing

Tiny seems to be in the era of look thru phones.

Tagged Am I???

2007-11-15T21:40:00.000+05:30

Joy, with all joy has tagged me. Oops seven oceans is too much to swim J !!! Well i will take this up.

Tag Name :Seven Random and / or Weird Things about Me.

Rules : Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 wonders of my world:

1)Weekends: After coming to the western world, all i like are the weekends most of the time. Get to laze around, watch movies sitting with a comforter and having a cup of masala chai. Talk home and listen to desi radio programs on sundays.

2)I try to clean up my kitchen more then the house. Not sure why, may be because it is not worth hurting your back removing those toys all around, when it comes back out in a jiffy.

3)Sometimes i do exactly opposite of what i say. One example is while i am the navigator and hubby is driving, i show my hand towards the right and say "left left". Thus he gets confused whether to watch for my hand or hear my words. I wonder why??

4)I can get the whole lot of work done in the mornings, cook for 2 kids and pack lunches for us, while i feel so lousy after i come back from work.

5)I badly suck in making desserts like cakes or fruit salads especially anything involving yeast. When i try to experiment on anything like that, hubby comes to the kitchen to supervise at the quantity that might get wasted at the end of the process.

6)I like to give away what i do not need either to the poor or trash it. So that family members know whom to ask when something goes missing.

7)I love to exercise in any form may be dancercise/exercise/aerobics and gym being the last.

Hmm i wait for this moment, it gives me real joy to tag the rest. Please feel free to take it or throw it..;)
Okay here comes the 7 others whom i would like to tag:

Guri
Usha
Aparna
Kaushik
Preethi
Kowsalya
Shilpa

More when i know myself more....

Vocabulary of a 3 year old

2007-11-02T00:38:00.000+05:30

I was trying to have oo-oo conversation with my Little who is 6 months old now. He was responding in his own language. Tiny does not need any help in the restroom these days. Everything starts and ends with MYSELF... "I will do it myself" is all we hear from her. So i left this fiercly independent girl to get done with her usual stuff after she comes back from school. She all of a sudden comes running crying out aloud.

Me: What happened? Why do you have to cry?
She: I have a boo-boo on my lip
Me: Where did you hurt yourself? Comeon Show it to me...
She: Amma, Don't touch It is gross.

Hmm this was one word i don't remember using and am not sure where she learnt from...

OLD is GOLD

2007-10-24T00:58:00.000+05:30

I wonder if i was a little crazy in not accepting this realistic proverb. There were days when i was in my teens and even untill a few years back, i had a great liking for songs of the current era. I still like music from 80's, 90's. But when it goes back to 60's and 70's, no i would not. I remember parents hearing to vivid bharathi on AIR in the noon and evenings to the golden music of their age. Probably i have switched it off many times, rather then give my ear to it.
Lately after a hectic week at work and home, i was driving to work on a friday. I just picked a cassette from the holder in the car while concentrating on the road. This was lying here untouched for eras i guess. It started playing.. Dil Dhoondhtha hain phir wohi .. from Mausam. I just enjoyed the song and the drive thoroughly.

A comic scene

2007-10-13T09:38:00.000+05:30

It was a friday evening and people were rushing towards the station from work. I overheard the conversation between two men who were walking past.

A: Any plans for the weekend?

B: My inlaws are going to come over.

A: Oh, How is it going to be??

B: LOL Well........

Some rough days

2007-10-10T08:33:00.000+05:30

My project was taken over by the downtown office and i had no go but to start commuting to downtown. Hubby as usual goes to downtown. So we decided, one of us drop Tiny to school and catch a later train and the other pick her up in the evening. I
agreed to leave early to work and come back in time to pick her up from school. One of the days, i decided i will work from home taking the job of dropping and picking up Tiny. I dropped her to school and happily waited for her to eat her breakfast.
Ah i thought to myself, for one day there is no need to rush and can spend a little more time with Tiny. Tiny did not want me to leave her back at school. Probably she must have thought i have a day off. I convinced her and finally left.
I come home to find out the internet is not working at home. I rebooted the machine, tried unplugging and re-pluggin the network cord. I keep getting Page not found. It was 8.30 and i realised i am getting late. I ran to the clubhouse to find
out if they had internet connection there and i would not mind working from there. Nope invain.Called up hubby to see if he has any ideas, i could not reach him, it went directly to voicemail. I started to loose my temper, threw the phone, banged
the table. I asked my neighbours and found that internet was down in the whole area. I cursed myself for opting to work from home. Hubby is the one who opts to wfh atleast once a week and i never do it. But when i choose to do it, this is what
happens!!! I missed the last express train. I had not even taken my bath. I decided to finally catch the train which was at 10.20am that was supposed to reach downtown at 11.40am stopping at all possible stations. I had my bath and dressed up and started to walk to the station. I had just walked a quarter of a mile to the station, when a thought occured......My company has another branch in a suburb 40 minutes away from home where i was working earlier. I thought i should drive up there and work from there. It would have hardly made a difference to my manager since she is at denver and the rest of the team in India. Ah No that cannot be done too. Ask me why?? Well that is another story. Hubby had a very small accident with our car that lead to a flat tyre. So it was being taken care off in the garage. He forgot to pick up the car seat. We had been given a rental car but had no insurance coverage on it. If i take the van, hubby will be tied and thus cannot pick up Tiny from school. Ow!! what a confusion. With all this on the mind i walked to the station on the never ending route in the hot sun. Alas i reached and mom calls to tell me that the internet just started working and appa has been browsing the news papers. I knew it was not my day.
I reached work and half the day was gone. I had to compensate for all the hours lost. I called it a day by 7 pm and caught the train back home. Tiny was sneezing and coughing. This is nothing new. Every winter we atleast need 2 bottles of dimetapp.
So this is just the start. Gave her Dimetapp and asked her to practice her alphabets. Tiny who writes from A-P was not willing to write anything. She wants me to paint her nails. I had no patience at all. I might have never used nailpolish till
my 5th grade perhaps and this girl is not even 3 year old. I tried to calm down and painted her nails. She tried to be delicately holding her marker to write A. She was scared of her nailpolish getting wiped in the process. I could not take
it anymore and gave her a thorough wack. She started to cry. Infact it was more screaming then crying just to gather attention from the rest of the people in the house. At the end of the day, my mom who was a silent spectator to all this
looked sad. I knew why she could have been down, parents were about to leave in a week back to bangalore, they were going to miss their grand kids. It was later she told me that all i needed was patience and that i thoroughly lacked the same.

Never Mind

2007-08-21T18:35:00.000+05:30

All these days, we had been telling Tiny that Little is her younger brother and she should not hurt him. We were advising her as to how she should play with him, share her toys etc. The only time when I saw sprouts of J factor in her was when I played or hugged or sang a few rhymes for Little. Tiny did not heed to the advice much, but i saw she was trying to be good little by little. I thought to myself that we as adults show sparks of jealousy in our little day things at times.
I returned from work one day and got to know that Tiny behaved very well the whole day, used her potty, had her food and milk (our toughest goal to achieve for the day),did write her ABCD's and did not hurt her brother. Wow i said Tiny needs a big hug and applause. I gave her one. I played with her not acknowledging the Little guy on his vibrating chair. He watched for a minute or two and then screamed alarmingly. I lifted the little guy and was wondering what made him scream that loud. He was happy and laughed at his mom as he got his job done. Ah, he needed attention....I then told Tiny, Never Mind... as the world stands on Survival of the Fittest from day one.

Tiny's Day Out

2007-08-15T19:35:00.000+05:30

There are somethings which you would want to do and some which you know you are calling for trouble. But you still ought to do them. Same with my Tiny, she never budges. She likes to have fun her way her ishtyle. No matter what you say.
My parents were here with us to help us out with the second arrival. Little, our second one was just three months old. I decided to take my parents to downtown leaving Little & Tiny at daddy's day care. No not at all, Tiny gave a hard time and so had to take her along. She created a big ruckus all through our visit. Yes you got it, she made our trip memorable in a way. Thanks to the grand parents for coaxing her and getting her along, otherwise i was thinking i would leave her at Lake Michigan and return home. I am not a bad mom, but she loves the water......
We saw all that we could with a terrible two and a half year old. By the end of the day, my arms and legs were about to detach, when we boarded the train back home. As the wise say "Were it not for hope the heart would break", i had a little hope that she would sleep on the train. And lo my heart breaks, she does not sleep, but i was sleepy. She does not allow you to do that either. She starts a conversation with a lady behind us in our mother tongue. I knew both did not get each other and thus was a passive listener. The lady behind was eating her chips.
Tiny: You eating chips (in english)
Lady : Ya, Do you want some?
Tiny : No (in mother tongue)
Lady finishes her packet of chips...
Tiny turns to me and tries to yap off something. She turns back to the lady and says
"Wow you ate away all your chips???" (in mother tongue)
Good lord, we have been forcing her all day to eat and she does not react to it.

A proverb I love

2007-08-10T00:20:00.000+05:30

I was in my second grade when i joined this convent. All of a sudden, i landed up in a different city, a new school, new uniform, new faces. Ah, reality struck me, my dad had got transferred to a new place. All were new for quite sometime, but they left permanent marks as memories life long. I enjoyed each little thing and this happened to be our school motto: "God helps those who helps themselves". Little did i understand the inner meaning of this proverb. But now i cherish it...I am ever grateful to God who gave me this wonderful experience in life.

Road To Heaven

2007-08-09T22:37:00.000+05:30

After a slow day at work, i thought i should read the news to keep myself refreshed for the rest of the day and also to find out what is happening in my HOME SWEET HOME. To my surprise, I found an item with the title "Road to Heaven". Opened the page to read it. It talked about the not so good roads in metro city in India. They had pictures of the potholes and the number of accidents that would have taken place at that spot. I thought to myself, if one has complaints about roads like the one that i saw, they should as well come to my place. It is ROAD TO HEAVEN VIA THE HELL.

Naughty Natured like her dad

2007-08-07T18:19:00.000+05:30

My daughter always loves to be out. She accompanies me where ever i go, be it the laundry. I saw a neighbour of mine in the laundry and greeted her. I was loading all the clothes to the washer in one part of the laundry room. My daughter ran to the neighbour and was talking to her. She kept on asking her what's your name etc.Believe me she can get irritating at times. Then my neighbour asked her, her name. She replied Divya, which is her name. I guess the neighbour did not hear her properly and thus said a Haaan. This little girl tells her Olivia. I wonder how she said that. Olivia was a friend of hers in school and she was the only girl Divya talked to at school.

Kids are best imitators

2007-08-07T18:11:00.000+05:30

My daughter is 2 years 9 months almost. She is getting potty trained. I can say she is almost there but there are bad days when she just resists and goes back to her diaper. We try to scold her, coax her and tell her to use the potty. This morning i was changing my son's diaper. She comes to the room and yells at him
"Did I not tell you to use the potty? When will you learn?" I was awed. My son is going to be 4 months in couple of weeks.

Is this Professionalism?

2007-08-04T09:45:00.001+05:30

It was a friday, returned back from work. My old schoolmate and a good friend had left me a voicemail. She sounded down. I quickly gave her a call to find out what was wrong.She was rejoiced when i called back. I guess she was pretty hurt and wanted to vent out her mind. She was saying that assume X and Y are 2 contractors working on the same project for almost a year. X goes on vacation for sometime and returns back to work. Within this span of time, the project shifts hands from one manager to the other. The new manager knows Y from the start and likes Y. X is on vacation and when he comes back has to prove himself to the new manager. X comes back and tries to make the manager feel high through his work. Manager sends X an email thinking he knows best about something. X forwards the email to Y just to make sure he understands right since he was on vacation for sometime and he might miss something. Y does not respond too well. So X instant messages the manager and clears out all the doubts. After making sure X comprises a detailed email response back to the manager. In the meantime, Y has compiled his email but not as detailed as X did. Before sending Y instant messages X asking whether he should email X and manager the reply. X replies that he already replied to the manager and that should be good. Inspite of this Y sends it to the manager and X. Now my friend's question is Should Y have done that? I was confused for a while, but i felt a little sympathy for my friend who was X. I told her this may not be professionalism but definitely cunning behaviour. Sometimes i feel, we do cheap things just to get a little name and fame. But all this does not last long as both were contractors and their project was getting over in a few days. Alas this is all in the game of work, where each person has to prove himself. So i could say both are not wrong, but it hurts a bit.

Tiny's First Few Words

2007-08-03T01:05:00.000+05:30

Tiny is the pet name of my daughter. Why Tiny???? When she was born, she was just too little. I remember the gynecologist telling me:
"She is a little peanut. Can i put her back in??"
I replied :
No Not after all this pain!!!!
She never went through the crawling phase and started to walk and talk early in about 9-10 months.
I feel bad, I had to leave back to work when she was 3 months. Parents and inlaws were here to take care of her for a while. But then there came a day when she had to step out of the house and go to my neighbour who was a baby sitter. They did not speak the same language as us. The below was the translation list which was the interpreter between the two.
BABBA – Want to go out for a walk
UKKONU – Want to sit
ONU – I want it
VAANDA – Don’t want
SHAYA – Put it properly, it’s hurting or irritating
MUM MUM – Food
SHEAL – Cereal
THITHO – Water
APRU – And then
BIKI – Biscuit
CHINNI – Small
KAAI – Carrot/Beans
BATANI – Peas
ABBU – Got hurt/indication of arm’s scratching
AIYOYO – Oh! My goodness
SHIMMIM – Swimming
THATHA, PATI – Grandpa, Grandma
YENGE – Where, for e.g.
Appa yenge – Where is Daddy?
Amma yenge – Where is Mummy?
INGEY – Its here, for e.g.
Q) Doggie (the rocking toy) yenge?
A) She might point out -> Doggie ingey!

When you know nothing

2007-08-03T00:25:00.000+05:30

It was my first few days in chicago. I came to this country in the December colds. Snow Snow everywhere. It had snowed almost 14 inches. The layers below had iced up on the pavements. Most of the roads were clear. Hubby had bought his new car and was a new driver too. With all enthusiasm, we wanted to go around. We were driving, after a short distance i just felt everything around me was turning round. It was the matter of a few seconds. The car stopped and i had a great time. We were traveling thru a less frequented route. I had little idea that the car skid on the icy road and took a 720 degree turn. Hubby was scared. Luckily there was no traffic on either sides and we were exactly at an intersection. Then i realised that when you know nothing, you really don't realise the seriousness of the issue. But the next couple of winters, when I had to drive to work, my imagination haunted me.

Editing One's Nature

2007-08-02T19:48:00.000+05:30

Sometimes i feel i edit myself too often for no fault of mine. I wonder where i went wrong. I keep correcting myself every now and then. Am i always wrong or do i need to express things right???? I sometimes think we should stand up for what we think, but ya then you are called adamant!!! Should you go with the crowd, Oh then you are called Submissive!!! Well the confusion prevails. Well All i could say is Think Right, Stand up for oneself and respect thyself..