A Milestone I dreaded: The F Word.

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

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

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

"Have you heard the word before, Ashu?"

Quite a defensive "No!"

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

"Is it a bad word like Stupid?"

"Its much, much worser that stupid."

"Is it a bad word like sissy?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Little Miss Attitude.

Antu: Amma Chota Bheem is my favorite.

Me: Ok.

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

Me: Great!

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

Me: Ok.

Antu: Whats is your favorite, Amma?

Me: I dont have a favorite.

Antu: What is your favorite?

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

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

Me: Yes. I like Cricket.

Antu: And I like Chota Bheem.

Me: !!!

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

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

At the Breakfast Table - 3.

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

What does a class mom do?

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

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

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

Ok.

(a short pause)

Amma?

Yes.

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

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

At the breakfast table today - 2.

So there I was making tea and singing loudly "Govinda, Govinda Feel The Fire Govinda" while Ashu was drinking her milk.

Ashu - Amma? Did you say feel the fire? But fire is dangerous amma. You said I should nt play with fire!

Me - !!!!

What now? A woman cant sing(in my case yell!) peacefully in her own house?!! The little brat sings about cows jumping over the moon, black birds baked in a pie, boughs breaking and cradles falling without batting an eyelid but has problems with "feel the fire"? Is she kidding me? What kodumai, I say!

ps.
No Appa & Amma. I usually don't go about singing random Kollywood songs first thing in the morning. You both did nt bring me up that way. But today was an exception and its sort of a Saami Paattu anyway, no? :) And dont worry. I ll never ever sing "Kalyanam dhaan kattikittu odi polaamaa" in front of your beloved grand daughters ever. At least not this early in the morning! ;)

You are it!

I did this tag for Ashu when she was 18 months. Am doing the same for Antu too as an update. Shes 19 months old.

3 Things That Scare Me

Nothing.
I said NOTHING.
I live with my mom, ok? Nothing can be more scarier than that.

3 People That Make Me Laugh
Me.
Myself.
Akka.

3 Things I Love
Dora title song.
Dora book.
Dora stuffed toy.

3 Things I Hate

Only 3? Ok I ll try to keep it short.
When I dont get my way while snatching stuff from Akka.
When Amma does nt fall for my fake puppy eyes and yells at me.
When Akka sits on Amma or Appas lap.

3 Things I Don't Understand

Im not as clueless as my akka was when she was my age. Ask me anything and I ll answer. Nothing is beyond my understanding. Although I dont understand why I cant play with the toilet roll and strew the paper all over the bathroom. And why cant I break every crayon Akka has safely kept for the past 5 years? Why cant I tear Akkas favorite paper books which she has nt even creased?

3 Things On My Floor.

The entire contents of the house. About 1008 things.
My mom coz shes always trying to clean up after me.
Akka coz shes worried what I have broken/tore/damaged this time.

3 Things I'm Doing Right Now

Playing Piano with my toes.
Nodding my head, shaking my butt and clapping along for the song "excuse me mr kandasamy"! Wondering what damage I can do next.

3 Things I Can Do

I can sing "W X Y And Z. Now I know my abc, next time wont you z z z" loudly.
I can say "amma look at me" out of the blue and make Amma jump.
I can sing "kaa kaa mai kondaa, kuvvi kuvvi pookondaa, pasoo pasoo paal kudu" thanks to Paati.

3 Ways to Describe My Personality

Rowdy Raakaayee.
Jealous Jalaja.

Appa Gondu.

3 Things I Cant do

muahaha! Theres nothing I cant cant do. I can list 3 things I wont do though, will do?
I wont let Akka be in peace even for a minute.
I wont do anything easily. Its exciting to make everything a battle.
I wont let Amma win over Karma.

3 Things I Think You Should Listen To

My Akka. She says some really silly stuff and makes me laugh.
My fav song of course. Kangal irandaal...
My grandpa, Pema and Pepa on the phone. I love to hear them talk.

3 Things I Think You Should Never Listen To

My mom. Shes evil.
The research that says kids below 2 should nt watch TV. bah!

That the youngest kids are trouble. You ll get lucky only once, capice?

3 Absolute Favorite Foods
Cheese
Flavored Yogurt
Junk

3 Things I'd Like to Learn

How to reach the higher shelves.
How to hoodwink Amma when Im doing something naughty.
How to speed dial Thatha when Im in trouble.

3 Beverages I Drink Regularly
Milk because I have to.
Water because I like the water bottle.
You mean theres something called juice in this world? *glares at amma*

3 Shows I Watched as a Kid

I dont have the attention span to watch dumb shows. So I watch
Dora title song.
Diego title song.
Gilmore girls title song.

Fellow Babies That I am Tagging
Munch

Plane Paapa

Sweetpea

Come on fellas, lets show them what we second borns are made of. Long time no see. Keeping your mommies busy, I hope! :)

Ms. Know It All.

A couple of days back, Ashu in a matter of fact tone told me, "Santa Claus is not real, amma"! I just nodded my head and went my way. The thing is we have never talked about Santa that much in this house. She has seen him on TV, read a few books with him in it. She went to see Sami Claus (Swiss Santa) with her class last week. So that's about it. Since I have never believed that Santa is real when I was a kid, it was nt such a shocker to me. But later thinking about it, I wondered how she knew. So I asked her tonight just before bed. Here goes...

Me - So? Santa is not real, huh?

Ashu - No amma. He is not.

Me - How do you know?

Ashu - I know.

Me - But what about the real Santa who comes through the chimney and gives gifts to kids?

Ashu - Hes not real. Only amma appa give gifts!

Me - huh? *wondering how she knows that. she does nt even get xmas gifts from us!*

Ashu - and also to fly in the sky and give gifts, he needs thousands and thousands of reindeers. but there are only very few reindeers in the forest. so Santa cant fly fast and give gifts without reindeers! *get the logic? less reindeers affecting gift delivery hence no Santa!*

Me - But Santa might know magic right? What if he does magic and sends gifts?

Ashu - No amma. Only people dress up as Santa. Like we saw Bob the Builder in Legoland.

Me - *faking shock* WHAT? bob the builder is not real too?

Ashu - amma! he comes on TV. so its not real. except animals. only animals are real.

Me - Wow! You are very smart, Ashu!

Ashu - No amma. Im super smart!

Me - !!!

Later, I read the book, Grandmother Winter to her before bedtime. In the book, grandmother shakes her feather white quilt and snow falls through the air and everyone prepare themselves for winter. So I asked her,

"how do you think snow falls, Ashu? in this story, grandma shake the quilt. Can you make up a reason like that?

Ashu - hmmm....

Me - You know what I think? Theres a big ice cream truck in the sky. And when the doors of the truck open, all the vanilla ice cream is falling down like snow!

Ashu - (laughs)

Me - So you tell me now.

Ashu - I think that the rain drops are feeling very cold and they become ice and they fall down as snow.

Me - Sigh!

I give up. Theres nothing left to teach.