Christmas Cheer!

Antu: I want to make a card for Santa!

Ashu: Yay! come on, lets do it. Do you want me to write the letter for you?

Antu: Ok. You write. "Dear Santa, Give me a nice gift. Love, Antu".

Ashu: What? That's so rude! At least say "please"!

Antu: I don't want to say please.

Ashu: Then Santa wont give you a gift.

Antu: Ok. Then write "Please give me a nice gift"!

Ashu: *rolls eyes* What about "I hope you give me a nice gift?"

Antu: Ok.

Ashu: And "I hope you like our cookies!"

Antu: Ok.

Ashu: And "I hope you have a nice trip back to north pole."

Antu: Ok.

Ashu: Dont say OK for everything! It is YOUR card!

Antu: I just want to color and put some stickers. Give me the card!

(A few minutes later)

Ashu: Amma! Is it OK if I write "Thank you for the gifts" in my letter even though Santa has nt given the gifts yet?

Me: You can write whatever you want, Ashu! Santa will be happy to see your letter.

Ashu: But Amma, Santa is not even real!

Me: Then why are you writing a letter?

Ashu: Because you are keeping on saying that Santa is going to give the gifts and not you. And I don't know whom to thank!!

Me: !!!

Ashu: Also Amma, I wrote "I hope you like our cookies" to Santa so you or Appa better eat the cookies before Antu gets up in the morning, OK?

This is what one will get when one has a non believer and a believer in the family - a confused kid! Ho! Ho! Ho! Happy Holidays! :)

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!