Gopala Gopala...

Antu and her Perippa FaceTiming.

Antu - Did u see the chicks? 🐤
Perippa - Cakes aa?🍰
Not cake! Chick! 🐣
Check aa?🤑
NO! CHICKS!!!🐥
What?🤔

Me - *singing* kozhi kunja thedi vandha gopala? 🎶
Perippa - Oh!! Chicks aa?? 🐤🐣🐥
Antu - 😡

Antu's class is raising chicks. The eggs hatched last week. Highlight of her life!

End of Klasse. 6 & Klasse. 2 & a Move.

Another school year gone, just like that. Ashu finishes her primary schooling this year and joins the secondary school from August. The kids are separated into different streams after grade 6 in Swiss and she worked really hard and maintained decent grades to get into the more academic oriented stream. So proud of her. The swiss school system is fantastic for the students but then quite a shock to my system!

Antu danced and jumped and skipped through Grade 2 and is super sad that the year has come to an end. She scored the most points in reading in her class and is most proud! She had two teachers this year and both teachers told me in different occasions that they wish there were more Antus in their class. So Im most proud too!

And we are moving! After 10 1/2 years in good old Zurich, we are moving to Basel end of this month. When our USA move did nt happen 3 years back and Hd took up a new job in Basel, we thought we ll manage living in Zurich and he can commute to Basel everyday. The 100 Kms drive took a little more than an hour and he thought he can do it. But it has been tough and stressful for him and the whole family. So finally, we decided to move. Looking forward to new beginnings! And life in Swiss has come a full circle now that we are going to Basel where Ashu was born and where my blogging began! :)

Summer Vacation & another School Year.

Four glorious weeks were spent in sunny california and this trip coming after two years was a lot different. Girls are older, sis and bil have moved to a bigger house, parents were also there and it was nothing but fun. As always, we had a big jingbang group of 18 people flying from different parts of the US for an Alaska Cruise for 7 nights. Hd flew directly from Zurich to Anchorage, Alaska (where the cruise began) and flew back from Vancouver, Canada (where the cruise ended) If California was fun, this was mega fun! Kids had a blast. They did nt want to jump ship at any of the ports and wished the cruise was longer when it ended. Except for the trip in a Sea Plane, God knows why I chose to get in knowing my motion sickness, I had a fabulous time! The whale watching tour was the best part of the cruise for me. We saw a pod of humpback whales bubble netting and a humongous one breaching twice and it will be etched in my memory forever! Bil took a fantastic photo so I can see it in my old age to remind myself! Theres something to be said about animals in the wild! Sigh. I could spend the rest of my life whale watching, I tell you! Even the sight of a tiny bit of tail fin or the blow hole sent me into a frenzy and screaming "Whale Whale" on top of my lungs. Which will invariably matched by a even louder "Vetri Vel" from my annoying sister and an "Arogara" from the hubby! Idiots!

The other three weeks went in shopping, eating, more shopping and more eating. Kids were totally heartbroken to leave the two sets of doting people and came back on the plane with grumpy faces as if Im taking them as prisoners! Anyway, while still trying to beat jet lag for the past 3 days, kids began school today and Ashu is in 6th Grade, the oldest class in the school campus much to my shock! When and how did that happen? Antu moved to 2nd and suddenly I felt that she has grown up too much while she was standing next to the fresh off the boat first graders this morning! :( Another year of madness begins. And in this circus, I fell like I am the prisoner!

Bye Bye, Kiga. 2 & Klasse. 4

Antu says bye bye to Kindergarten finally and will get to First Grade at the grand old age of seven. She has attended play groups and pre schools and kindergarten for the past 5 years that it feels like forever! Not that I did nt enjoy it. She has been so sad to leave KG and her fantastic teacher that I would gladly make her repeat another year in KG just to hold onto this stage of her life. She had a sleepover in KG last night and I walked her to school at 7 pm with a sleeping bag and a pillow with a lump in my throat. She has had the most exciting two years in KG and not for one day did she ever say that she does nt want to go to school. Even on weekends, she used to whine that she's missing school! She has a huge group of friends in the neighborhood and had a great birthday party at home last month. She is super excited to walk to school with Ashu from August and it is giving me sleepless nights that she has to leave 25 minutes earlier than she does now. *gulp*

Ashu completes 4th grade today and I am having a panic attack and had tears in my eyes when she walked off to school this morning.  She has truly enjoyed this year even though she did sulk a bit in the mornings. She had a super duper birthday party with school friends at a water park. The last few months, lots of the incoming phone calls are for Ashu and she's always planning something with her friends. The big milestone was when she went to a movie with just her friends and one of the moms dropped and picked them up. She felt so grown up! One of her friends comes home every morning and walks with her to school. The whole class is going to Lucerne today to celebrate the last day of school and she will be back late evening. And just like that, another school year has gone by.

4.Klasse and Kindergarten 2.

Five weeks of sleeping late and waking up late took its toll this morning as the entire household was in a frenzy! Antu who was so excited about going back to school got up at 4 am and then at 5 am and then at 6 am to ask if it was morning yet. And around 6.30 she was seen giving finishing touches to the cat she was supposed to color and bring to school! And at 7.30, we had to shake her and wake her up! She wanted to be the first to go to school since she wanted to choose the peg she wanted. (The one with the parrot picture in it) And we made it! Yay! Little joys of life!

Ashu was very independent and organized as usual and walked on her own to school and did nt want us to walk with her. Her new teacher has made a good impression on her and the teachers daughter is also in the same class, so there were funny stories to share. (The teacher said that we have to get a signature from our parents and the teacher in the homework, Amma! L needs only one signature, ha ha!) 

I spent the whole day trying to organize the after school activities! Antu is doing tennis other than ballet and swimming. (And she wanted to go to a painting class because her BFF is going but I said no way much to her disappointment!) And I cancelled Ashus swimming and soon I ll cancel Chess too after this term. So she will go for her violin and tennis as usual. She was also selected for an orchestra and I was very keen that she goes but that day did nt suit us so she had to let go of that too. Its all good because todays the first day and its 8.30 pm and she's still doing her home work! A fictional story half page or more is the requirement. So of course she will sit and write a 2 page fantasy story that Rama Narayanan would have been proud to direct! 

But seriously, fourth grade? I as well retire now!

Bye Bye, Third Grade & KG 1.

What a school year this has been! Every year, I tell myself that time flies and things work out and I should nt worry too much. But I worry! Will the girls be happy in school? Will they make friends? Will the teacher be nice? Will my German ever improve? And most importantly, will there be English speaking moms I can befriend?  :) But as always, things worked out. 

Antu had a fantastic year and made loads of friends and loves her teacher. She will be in KG 2 from August with the same teacher and friends, so she's looking forward to it and to boss around the new KG 1 kids! :) She invited 8 girls from her class for her birthday party this year and more than all the planning I had to do for the party, I was stressed about understanding Swiss German!! (which is different from the High German!) The kids start with High German only from Grade 1 and speak only in Swiss German in KG. My German failed me when faced with little girls fighting over a red balloon, I tell you!! 

Ashu had a much better year than last year. Made more friends, was happier and her German is so much better too! She did not even want a birthday party last year but had school friends over and had a bollywood themed party this time. :) She had lots more home work, projects and reports this year and she managed to do everything without any major help from us except a big project at the end of the year for which parents were supposed to help out. It was a lot of work for all of us and she did a great job and I am so proud of her! Their class had a sleepover in the school on Tuesday and they had loads of fun and said bye to their teacher of three years! 

And yes, I managed to find a group of English speaking moms! :) Have a great summer, everyone! 

3.Klasse & Kindergarten.

Ashu and Antu began their yet another first day today in third grade and Kindergarten 1 respectively. I could hear the butterflies fluttering in Ashu's stomach! She wrote an email to her friend yesterday which said "My school starts tomorrow and I wish I can stay home a little while longer!" My poor litte darling! Antu, of course, has been dying to go to KG with her BFF and thats the only thing she kept talking about this whole year. The day was here today at last and Hd and I walked her to her class, stayed for a while and said bye to her and came back home. She seemed thrilled to be there!

In the afternoon, Ashu walked to the KG and met me there at noon and we picked Antu and got home by 12.05! Ashu has agreed to this pick up duty from next week which means I dont have to step out, yay! Of course, Antu is all "I can go on my own" already! Sigh! Why do they have to grow up so fast?

Schulsilvester.

When I got an email last week about Schulsilvester from Ashus teacher, I did the same thing I have been doing the last 5 months. Which is to translate the document from German to English! Needless to say, Google Translate has become my best friend these days! What I found out was very confusing. Sentences like "making as much noise as possible", "5 am and not earlier to school", ... make absolutely no sense at all when one is living in the Swiss! Panicking I called another mom to find out what this was all about and what do you know! Since today is the last day of school before the holidays, the children celebrate by walking to school from 5 am onwards making as much noise as possible with musical instruments like bells, horns, whistles,etc... Even banging pots and pans. And the older kids explode fire crackers too! Supposedly to drive out the old year! I never thought that I would use noise and the Swiss in the same sentence especially in the wee hours of the day! And since we have never spent the December holidays in Zurich in the last four years, we never even knew the existence of it. 

Ashu was quite thrilled about the whole thing and started rummaging her room to find something which would make the most annoying and loud noise! And at exactly 5 am today, we were woken up by loud bangs and for a moment I wondered if I was in India for Diwali! We managed to go back to sleep and I got up at 6.15 am and rudely woke up Ashu and armed with a wooden rattle, we walked down to meet Ashus friend and her mom. We were the only ones walking our children though! It was crazy to see all the children walking on their own in the pitch dark making loud noises with metal lids! According to tradition, people give nuts and sweets to the passing children, it seems. But from the look of it, I think the entire neighborhood left their homes for an early vacation! Who wants to begin their holidays getting up at 5 am to loud noises anyway!! Except us suckers, I mean! As I write, Ashu must be enjoying the party at school and eating breakfast and will be back home by 9 am! I wish I went back to sleep!

ps.
May be I should make some Venn Pongal prasadam since its Margazhi month after all and make some punyam out of it! ;) Im sure the person who is snoring right now would really like that!

Antu starts Preschool again!

Antu started her new pre school and today was her first day without me. She missed the cut off by 2 months for Kindergarten this year so she has to go to pre school again. Now that we know we will be going the local school route for her too, we have changed her preschool to a bilingual one. Last week was induction and she went for a couple of hours each day but I stayed with her too. Today madam got ready and I left her in her class and could nt even stay for a few minutes because I had to go for my physiotherapy session. I just waved a good bye and left. When I went to pick her up at 1 pm (From next week, she ll be there full day until 4.30 pm, 3 days a week) she was happily getting paper and color pens from the shelves and refused to come home with me. I stayed with her for 5 minutes until she finished her coloring and brought her home. The preschool group head said she was absolutely fine and even ate good lunch which was... wait for it... salad, country potatoes, green beans, bread, cheese! Of course I refuse to believe it until I see video evidence! And when I asked Antu if she likes the school, she said, "That girl E said she is my friend. And there are real bunnies in the school, Amma and they really LOVE me!" Of course its all about "me" when it comes to my little diva. Such an attention seeker, I tell you! 

And that reminds me we went to the rope park again yesterday after a long time and now that Antu is four, she can do the kids beginner course there. So we got her the harness, helmet, etc.. and it was hilarious to see her literally shaking like a leaf while walking the course! She stopped at one point and absolutely refused to walk and there were 10 kids behind her waiting for her to move! And we had to call for help and the lady working there had to climb up and rescue her! Talk about being a drama queen! If she does nt get attention, she ll demand it I guess! Of course she said she wanted to go again and got stuck again! Uff! I had thought that Ashu would be a scaredy cat and Antu would be more of a dare devil but its the other way round. As yet.  

2. Klasse

Ashu started 2nd Grade today. On any day, I would be crying and getting senti over it. But this is a big change in so many levels.  We switched her from the international school (IS) she has been going to for the past 4 1/2 years to the local school (LS). Even though IS was a 15 km/20 minutes drive and now LS is a mere 250 metres/5 mins walk from home, the huge change which was giving me sleepless nights (just a figure of speech. I slept like a log!) was the language. From a complete English environment with a bit of German lessons twice a week, she would be going to a completely German school. And last month when we went to meet the class teacher, he had a translator present for our benefit!! With self doubt every step of the way, I was worried Ashu will catch on to it. But bless her little soul, she was quite brave about the whole change. Today I walked her to school with the intent of going upto her class and have a few words with her teacher but when we went there was not one parent in sight! (All kids are supposed to walk to school on their own!) What a sharp contrast to the IS where truck loads of parents can be found outside school at any given time of the day! A little girl from Ashus class figured out shes the new girl and asked me if she can take her inside and Ashu was ok too. So I just left her there and walked back home. *sob sob* 

And you know what? Shes going to come home for lunch at noon! Thats what all the kids do. Or go to the Hort where they can have supervised lunch bought from the cafeteria. They cant take packed lunch. And she has a one hour and 50 mins lunch break! Have you fainted yet? If not, another bit of a shocker. She has only 3 full days in a week. Wednesday is a half day for everyone anyway. And her class is off on Friday afternoons too. So she will be home at 11.50! There goes my full day plans! I left the house at 11.45 today to pick up Ashu for lunch and she met me half way! She came running and hugged me and had a huge grin on her face! Phew. And then she dropped a bomb that broke my heart to million little pieces! She said, "Dont come to school anymore, Amma. I can walk on my own!"

The Last Day of Many Things.

This week has been an emotional roller coaster ride for me. Farewells and goodbyes are tough for me and when I have to do that for myself and my two girls, its so overwhelming! Today was Ashu's last day in First grade. Even on a good day that would bring tears to my eyes and now that she is not going to return to the same school, it makes it a million times worse! It was Antu's class performance yesterday in her school and she got a trophy and a certificate for finishing pre school and since shes not going to return to this school as well, it made me an emotional wreck! I cried all the way home today after dropping Ashu. Antu was also unusually quiet in the car! Wonder why we realize how much we love something only when we let it go! 

Antus German playgroup will go on for a few more weeks but for Ashu, its going to be a looooong holiday of NINE weeks! I dont know what I was thinking when I decided to stay put here for the holidays! This is going to be our first summer here not counting 2008 when Antu was born. (I did nt even see any sunlight that summer since I was stuck at home!)  Wish me luck!

Will leave you guys with a little anecdote. I finished vacuuming the house and asked Ashu to put the vacuum away. Next thing you know, I hear Antu crying! When asked why, she says, "I wanted to pull your plug Amma! But Ashu pulled your plug instead!" Sigh! My future looks so bright!

The Earrings, the Witch and the Pumpkin.

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?

Kindergarten Girl Graduates.

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!

Another one flies the coop.

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.

Little Miss. Smarty-Pants.

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!

Kindergarten Girl.

It was Ashu's first day of Kindergarten yesterday and it was all so overwhelming. For me, that is! When we went for the orientation the day before, Ashu refused to stay in the class and started crying when we left her and went to attend the orientation. And I was surprised at her behaviour. I mean she has just began her 4th year in this school and she's crying? But then, its a new campus. Big school. New teachers. So settled her down calmly and ran away. When we went back after an hour, madam was happily playing with her best friend. Phew. This campus is not that near to our place which means we have to leave the house at 8 am. So yesterday, we managed to get up early and pack snack, lunch for her, eat breakfast and leave on time. Ashu got down and skipped to her classroom with the help of a teacher. I parked the car and walked to her class to leave the rain boots, jackets, indoor shoes, etc... I said bye to her and she waved and went inside. She had loads of things to tell in the afternoon when I went to pick her up. Today I did the run with Antu since Hd is out of town. And in spite of an emergency diaper change situation for Antu in the car and a bit of traffic due to road work, we were able to reach school on time and I dropped her off at the entrance and drove off. Sigh! My little girl is growing up. So am I. (I got up at 6.00 am two days in a row, alright?)

Antu is missing her Akka terribly. Yesterday when I came back home after dropping Ashu, she stood at the door and asked in a horrified tone, "Akka enga?" (Wheres Akka?) After two months of being inseparable, she does nt know what to do now. But that was only yesterday. Today madam has realized that she can play with all the stuff thats forbidden to her when Ashu is around! I told Hd about my sister and me when we were young. How this one year my sis used to leave for her school before me and come back after me. So I used to raid her cupboard and take her pens, pencils, rulers, erasers,... take them to school and then come back and put them where there were. (sorry, sis!) After all those years, Im still putting back things. Only now I work for someone else!

Heres to all the kids who are starting their first day of school or going back to school. Loads of love, learning and laughter. And good luck to the younger one raiding their cupboards! :)