Another school year, done and dusted!

So its that part of the year again. Last day of school. That melancholic feeling I get every year wishing time to stop still. Last year this time, I was second guessing our decision to switch Ashu to the local school and was worrying so much. Now a year has just flown by and Ashu has adjusted to the new system remarkably well. In the Swiss schools, the children have the same teacher for three years. So her current teacher will continue in third grade too and Im glad. She has gone on school trips, participated in shows and musicals, made friends,... She has made good progress in speaking German and tells me school gossip too! :)

Antu finally says good bye to pre schools and play groups and gets into Kindergarten this year. Since shes June born, she missed the cut off last year and she has been waiting to go to KG. The KG building is just next to our apartment and we can see the building from our window. Most of the kids from her playgroup are going to KG and her best friend and her are with the same teacher. So its going to be a fun year, I hope. She understands Swiss German quite well and the only one in the family to do so! I confess I secretly video tape when she brings friends home and talks to them in Swiss German!

Taking their pictures this morning was fun! When I asked Ashu to smile and pose, she grudgingly did and when I was clicking the third photo, she rolled her eyes and said, "You realize Im getting late for my school, Amma?" and scootered away before I could answer. Antu, on the other hand, has all the time in the world for photos. She strikes pose after pose, asks me to show the photos and asks if she has blinked(?), then poses again, then "one silly face photo Amma, please" and left for school only after approving the photos! Chalk and cheese!

27.06.2013

Dear Antu,

You are five today and I am in denial. Well, whats new? Its always tough for me around your birthday. How can the baby of the family get older? But of course, you spend year after year looking forward to your birthdays. You planned your party long back. That you wanted in your playgroup with your favorite teacher organizing it and your dear grand parents present. So we had the party last week since your grand parents were leaving before your birthday. And you had another party the week before with just us family since your Perimma and Perippa were here. And then you are taking cupcakes to your class today. Not to mention the truck loads of gifts you have been getting. Nothing makes you happy in this world like opening a present! :)

You have been enjoying ballet and swimming this year. Your musical sense and the way you move when you hear a song and the way you are constantly humming songs has become legendary in the family. My mom calls you mini-me since you are a reduction xerox of me in many, many things. I am both proud and scared at the same time! You have many, many friends and if you can have your way, you will never ever come home straight after school. I shudder at the thought of you walking to school and back on your own from August. A kindergartener, sigh! Your best friend R and you are together in the same class in KG too and I cant wait to see you both holding hands and walking to school!

You have just about began reading and writing and very excited about it. You love your playgroup which you go to two days a week and hate your preschool which you go the other three days. You are totally daddys pet and always locking horns with me. Your sister and you fight for everything these days and I dont know what to do to make you guys be nice to each other. When you are nice to her, she ignores you and when shes nice to you, you provoke her. Im the one who is losing hair over it though. When I yell at you or give you a time out, Ashu is the first person you go to to get a hug. And shes the one you go for help when you know you are in trouble with me. Your Tamil has improved leaps and bounds since your grand parents were here for 2 months. The way you switch languages depending on whom you are talking to is to be seen to be believed!

You are a total rebel and do everything I ask you not to. The other day I warned you to go brush your teeth before I count five. You were just standing staring at me. So I asked "Well, what are you waiting for?" And you said, "So start counting!" The gall! Ashu could never ever get away even with half the things that you seem to be getting away with. However hard I try to be fair, its a losing battle. Its a perk for second borns, I guess and Im not complaining! :) If I ever raise my voice at you, you proclaim that Im not your friend anymore and stomp off! Of course two minutes later, you are giving me a hug and telling me that you love me a trillion! I love you a trillion too, baby! Heres to many more birthday parties and presents to you, my little Diva! Hope all your dreams come true!  Happy Birthday!

Love,

அம்மா.

Ashu's First School Trip.

Hd and I got married one fine day in June and about 2 weeks later, he joined work. It was around 8 am and he was getting into his car and I was standing near the gate waving goodbye and felt this huge lump in my throat! Tears were about to roll down my cheeks and I did nt want him to see them so I just smiled and went inside. But he knew. We never talked about it later and even to this day, almost 13 years later, its hard for me to see him leave even if hes just going to get the mail! But of course the feeling is nt as intense as it was the first time he left and I even forgot how intense it could be and how hollow it makes you fell. Until yesterday. 

Ashu left on a school trip. Her stupid school trip! (Thats what I ve been calling it for the past one month, much to her annoyance!) I was all fine until the weekend. Then I started worrying! How will she manage! What would she do! What would I do! We bought her a new suitcase, a new sleeping bag, packed her stuff, gave her a million instructions, quizzed her on trivial things and when the day and time arrived, my dad, Hd and I walked her to school. She saw her best friend and stuck to her. The friends mom and I looked at each other and could nt say much because both of us had worry written all over our faces! The girls climbed into the bus, sat next to each other and buckled their seat belts. For a minute, I thought of grabbing her and running away! Hd was keeping an eye on me because he was sure I would do something utterly crazy! My dad kept on asking Ashu "Are you sure you want to go?" and Ashu was rolling her eyes at him! I took a photo and waved and blew her a kiss and the bus went on its way! This was Monday morning 9.40 am! I will see and hear from her next on Friday 2.30 pm! Needless to say, Im a nervous wreck! I cant even remember a day I did nt talk to Ashu in the last 8 years and now I cant hear her voice for over 3 1/2 days! I dont know what shes doing, what shes eating, what shes wearing,...! Sigh!

The house is eerily silent in spite of 4 adults and Antu! And the lump in my throat and the butterflies in my stomach are refusing to leave! Sorry Hd, the first time you left is a walk in the park compared to this one. But Im glad you are suffering along with me because I cant do this alone!

I know there would be many, many more trips and good byes but I dont think I ll ever forget this day. I dont want to.

27.04.2013

Dear Ashu,

Today I feel like I am writing to a young girl and I should watch what I write. To be honest, I never wrote any of your earlier birthday letters thinking that you would read them one day. It was just something I was feeling and wanted to put them in writing so that I can revisit them whenever I want. So far I have never showed you any of them and may be this year, I would! Not that theres any escaping from you since you would go to any lengths to read! That would be the word of the year - reading! You read every waking moment. You get cranky when we theres a delay to our library trips. You start rereading the books if a new book is not in sight. Although I am so happy and proud of you, sometimes I just want to grab the book and fling it away so that I can see your full face, see you smile, see your eyes and talk to you! Do you realize how frustrating it if for a mom to let go of her baby to a strange new world and not feel included? A series of 50 Boxcar children books? Seriously? How can I ever catch up with you?

School. Where do I even begin? We threw you in the deep end by switching schools and the way we you have progressed in German is amazing! Though I still have my doubts and sometimes I wonder why I rocked the boat, you have never ever made me feel guilty even though I know you miss your friends. You skip to school happily everyday, come home for lunch and then run again. You bring friends home even though I can talk to them only with the help of Google Translate!! Your teachers are very impressed with your progress in German and think of you as a Math Whiz! The only thing your teacher wants from you is to participate in class discussions more and to talk loudly! I did nt know whether to laugh or cry when he said that! I should record you at home one day and show him! Why do you reserve that loud voice of yours only for your family? Why should we suffer alone? So please do the needful.

Friends are coming and going and your circle is ever growing! I dont know why and you refused to give me a reason but you said you did nt want a birthday party this year. And when I kept nagging you, you said, "I dont know why you are forcing me, Amma"! So I gave up. Since the 8 girls from your dance group are quite thick and you girls performed thrice this year and are always doing something together, I suggested I take you all our for a movie as a treat and you suggested that that can be your birthday party. So "The Croods", it was and you girls had a blast! No cake, no balloons, no fancy snacks,...  But your face glowed when you opened the gifts! I dont know what to make of these mixed signals! Stop being me and tell me what you want!

I think this is the first time in your life that you did nt go to India for an entire year! Your entire seventh year outside India! Wow! But of course it meant that your grand parents, uncle and aunt visited us here and we spent a lot of time with them. You love house guests and hate it when they leave. Your only complaint is why we cant move to San Jose and live there with Perimma and Perippa! Or better, why cant you live with them?! Wish I had an answer for that. Well, there is. But then like Hanuman, I have to tear apart my chest and show you that there would be an Ashu shaped hole in my heart. My parents are here as I write this and I'm so thrilled that you will spend your birthday with our grand parents, but it also breaks my heart to see you a teeny weeny bit distant with them than before. Of course, your sister fills that void and sticks to them like glue but nevertheless its tough to realize that you are growing up and that its the age!

You are a very thoughtful girl, Ashu. And I wish you never ever let go of that quality. Whether its something I ask you to do or you think of yourself to do, you always do that little extra special which makes me feel so special. It can be a birthday card you are making for your sisters friend or for your own mother, you put your heart into it. Like the other day, there were some kids home for dinner and I asked you to set the table. And you kept the water glasses on the left except for one place and when I asked you to correct it, you said that thats for Antu since shes left handed! I was humbled by your answer. Hope you never stop amazing me, my little girl! Happy 8th birthday dear and its super special since we are in Venice celebrating your birthday on a Gondola! Happy Memories!

Love,

அம்மா.

Spring is in the air!

I dont know if its because we did nt go to India or the US during the December holidays (like we usually end up doing!) but this winter has been tooooooo long! Hours and hours of skiing, ice skating, driving, drinking gallons of tea, pot luck lunches and dinner parties,.... How can anyone bear all these after a point? Not to mention the heavy jackets and boots one has to wear even to step outside for a minute! And for a Hausfrau like me who has to step out a dozen times a day, its highly frustrating! In and out between freezing cold and warmth makes you have crazy thoughts! Like buying a one way ticket to Hawaii just for yourself!! (Sigh!) 

And right in the middle of February, there is this 2 weeks Ski break! Ashu went for a ski camp the first week and read like a million books, the next week. (The latter deserves a separate post!) The camp was quite intense and poor thing did nt complain. One hour by by bus, 2 hours of skiing, lunch break, another 2 hours of skiing and then back in the bus for an hour! She did this Monday to Friday! Not to mention wearing the ski boots all day long, lunging the skis, helmet, etc... I know I would have quit sometime in the middle of the first day!! (Right after the lunch break! ;) And she was also in a ice skating class every Saturday and there was a final performance last weekend which was beautiful! Antu of course does nt embrace winter like Ashu does since shes more like me! Ice skating class - "NO!" Skiing - "ok! But I will cry the entire time! And you have to carry my skis and hold my hands while I walk with the skis and be handy with a tissue to wipe my runny nose and tears"! End of story! Somewhere a four year old Ashu is judging me!!

Anyway, for the first time in four months the weather seemed warm yesterday and I could nt believe my eyes! Is it really warm or am I hallucinating? Are they really kids I see playing outside? The pond melted and the ducks are out? Is it really the sound of the stream flowing? Are the birds chirping? Oh my God! I cant explain it in words! I could actually HEAR the change in the season! Thats when it hit me! That its the silence which is really unbearable about winter! As if Mother Nature is mad at you and decides not to talk to you for a few months! Ashu and Antu went to the shed where the cycles were hibernating and brought them out! I stood in the balcony and waved at them! Of course, nothing lasts forever and the weather forecast says its going go below zero next week but Spring is almost here and with the little preview we got this week, I cant wait!

Reason No. 3331 why sisters are the best thing in the whole wide world.

In spite of being in India attending THE family wedding and being in the midst of all, she calls you during the wedding reception so that you can hear TM Krishna singing "Jayathi jayathi bharatha matha" knowing how much it means to you! Sigh! 

Thanks, Sis! You are the best! 

ps.

"Jayathi Jayathi" was followed by "Sri Valli Devasenapathe" and "Aananda natam aaduvaar". I hung up in the middle of "Himagiri thanaye..." because I got all teary eyed! Best international call ever made in my life though! :)

Bunking School - Check.

Antu bunked school today. Fake coughed and said she has a very bad cold. Which is partly true. And since the preschool she goes to takes the kids walk in the woods on Fridays, I thought its a good idea for her not to be outdoors for a long time and said ok. Which was a huge surprise for her! But her master stroke was early in the morning when she wished me "happy birthday" and gave me a card she has scribbled on! And its not even my birthday! "But your birthday is in March and today is March, Amma!", was her answer! So I guess she laid the foundation early and decided to milk the situation later! Successfully, I must add! I must be prepared on Monday.

ps.

Yet another attempt to bring the blog back alive. I dont know the reason for this lack of interest. May be the kids are getting older? May be I am getting older? I hope its the former! :)

2013 began with a bang!

I cant believe I have nt written anything since the new year began! And its not like there was nt anything to tell. I could have written about my Sis and Bil visiting us during the christmas break (no it was nt a surprise this time! :), about the ski trip to Klosters which was out of the world, about the Spa trip we all went to which was even more awesome and when the good times ended with a bang when my dear husband fell down while skiing and tore a ligament or two in his right knee, ... I kid you not! Not a boring moment in my life, I tell you! Now Hd is reliving exactly what I went through last year! And its not fun! :( 

Antu's first ever Ski lessons began this year and as expected, she hates them! :)

Ashu had a blast in Klosters and declared that Klosters is the best place to ski in the whole wide world! (The pro skier in our family, my Bil agreed too that it was one of his best skiing experience!)

Hope the new year is treating you all better. This beginning of the year with a bang reminds me of someone. He used to work for my father a long time back and truly believed in the daily prediction on the daily sheet calendar based on one's birth star. If it was printed "selavu" (spending) for his star, he would immediately buy tea for all his colleagues hoping that thats the only spending he has to do and nothing big comes along later in that day! Cant fault the logic, can we? :) If it was supposed to be kashtam (tough) for us this year, I hope we have seen the worst and things start looking up from now!

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!

All about our US Trip, School dance, Snow and a Spa Weekend!

When I said there is loads to tell in my previous post, I was nt kidding. 

Oct 5th to Oct 19th - The girls and I were in the US! It was a sudden trip and if you know me well, yes it was a surprise for my sister! I did tell BIL because for one his parents were visiting them and it was only proper to ask him and two, I wanted to make sure they are in town when we landed! Of course my sister had to work from home that day and when BIL walked into the house and we trailed behind him, Sis did nt know what hit her but managed to ask "So your husband finally threw you out?" Yes my dear friends, thats my sister for you! We had a fantastic time just chilling and preparing for Navarathri and Golu and the girls had a ball! My parents had no clue I was going to the US either so as usual Phase 2 of the surprise was done in Skype when they were talking with my sister and casually me and the kids walked in! I live for moments like these, I tell you! :)

Once we were back, I got busy preparing Ashu and seven other girls for the Indian group dance which we do every year for the school fest. Even though we are not part of the old school anymore, the socializing has nt stopped! It was quite tough this year to coordinate and meet and practice but somehow, we pulled it off! The performance was last Saturday and the girls did a great job! They danced to "Des Rangeela". Antu refused to be part of the dance though! Even though she is in ballet class this year and loves dancing, she was nt ready for stage yet! :)

And then it snowed an entire weekend in October! Need I say more?

Add to it, the umpteen coffees and lunches and Diwali dinners, it was crazy two months out here! But the best was when two friends and I went for a spa weekend! Ah, bliss! God knows why we dont do this often but I think I ve added five years to my life just by sitting in the jacuzzi and talking non stop with gal pals. We started talking as soon as we got into the car on Saturday morning, talked the entire way, lunch, spa, room, tea, dinner, room (until 3 am), then spa again the next morning, massages, lunch and the entire drive back! Long live BFFs!

Sleepless over Sleepovers.

I am alive! Last Saturday was such a big milestone for me that I decided to end my long hiatus and blog about it. Though Ashu has been asking for sleepovers with friends for a long time now, I did nothing to encourage the thought. One of my friends daughter (who is also Ashus friend) has come and stayed the night with us a couple of times but thats that. We have never sent Ashu to anyones house. And then last week Ashus BFF G's mom asked me if I can send Ashu to their house for a sleepover. Since Ashu has changed schools this year and is not with G anymore, I have been feeling very guilty to have separated them and I guess in a weak moment, I said yes. Ashu was over the moon, of course! So on the big day, she packed a bag with her pajamas and tooth brush and skipped and hopped and went to their house in their car. Around 8.30 pm when I called, G's mom told me that they are nowhere near sleeping and watching a movie! When I asked to talk to Ashu, she spoke to me as if I have interrupted something important! Even though I was nt worried, I could nt sleep until 3 am that night! It was really strange not to have Ashu in the house. The next day Gs mom took the girls directly to a birthday party and when I saw Ashu, it was 2 pm! Hugged her tight and asked about her big day but only got monosyllable answers! When we came home and she saw the poster I had put on our door, (Welcome back! We missed you!) her face broke into a huge grin and she hugged me and said "I missed you too, Amma! So when can I go for my next sleepover?" Sigh!

ps.

Loads of stuff to tell but absolutely no interest in putting the pen to paper means only one thing - this blog is dying a slow death. I apologize to all the people who are still interested in this blog and came by to check now and then and tried to wake me up. I am here now but dont know for how long! :)

Ashu does it again. And again!

The other day, our conversation turned to the subject of adoption and I was telling Ashu how I had always wanted to adopt a baby but it never happened. And she had many questions about babies without a parent and asked how it happens and why it happens, etc...I explained it to Ashu and was asking Ashu if she wished she had a brother and Antu quickly replied, "I dont want a brother. I want a sister." "A little sister?", I asked her. Yes, she replied! :) "May be I should adopt a baby girl now. What do you think, Ashu?"

No Amma. I dont think you should.

But why?

I dont think its a good idea.

Why not? I just told you how some children need a home! Dont you think those kids deserve a loving family too?

Adoption is great, Amma. Its a good thing to do. But I dont think YOU should do it!

EXCUSE ME? Why would you say that?

You are already stressed with just the two of us, Amma. And you are so strict with us. I dont want you to be strict with an adopted baby!

I dont remember what I replied to her or if I replied at all! My heart sure broke a little though.

The Hills are Alive.

Last week was a long weekend here and we decided on Friday and drove to Salzburg on Saturday. A friends family joined us for the first two days. Salzburg is beautiful! We have been to Vienna before but Salzburg is so different and so charming! We reached late afternoon and walked around the old town visiting the cathedrals. The salzburg cathedral is very impressive and it has the bronze font where Mozart was baptized, which I made Ashu touch! (thottu kumbtufy if you want to know! :) Then we bought tickets and went to visit the Hohensalzburg castle. Its on top of a hill and reminded me of Rock fort in Trichy! Wherever you go, it is there! The castle tour is quite interesting! The interior was grand and the view was amazing. 

The next day we took the Sound of Music Tour. I loved it! The Panaroma Tours pick you up right from your hotel and take you to Mirabell gardens and from there, the bus tour begins. Our guide, Naomi was fantastic! She played all the songs from the movie during the tour and most of us sang along! Ashu was quite shocked seeing her mother croon "I am sixteen..." with such intensity! There were lots of interesting information about the movie, actors, locations, etc... The first stop was at Leopoldskron Palace where the children went boating on the lake and fell down. Second stop was at Hellbrunn palace where one of the songs was shot and it also has the gazebo where "I am sixteen" was filmed! The third  stop is at Mondsee where Maria and the Captain got married. It was a beautiful place where we tried the customary Apfelstrudel! Yum! Then the tour takes you back to Mirabell gardens and we walked around on our own trying to sing Do Re Mi at the exact locations it was filmed! The tour made me all nostalgic and I was making evil eyes at Hd because this is a tour I should have totally gone with my sis and cousin A instead of the clueless husband and two kids! The tour took me back 20 or so years when the three of us paused the tape recorder after every word so as to memorize the sound of music songs and rewriting "You are sixteen" and singing it together with A for Sis's birthday! Good old days!

Our friends drove back to Zurich after the tour. We visited the Mozart museums and did a short river cruise and a pizza dinner before getting back to our hotel. The next day we drove to Berchtesgaden (in Germany) to visit the salt mine. All of us had to wear overalls and go on a train deep into the tunnels and it was quite scary! The tour was very interesting though. We had lunch at the restaurant outside the salt mine and drove to Obersalzburg to visit the Kehlsteinhaus. (Eagles Nest) Its a chalet built on top of a mountain peak and was given as a gift for Hitler's 50th birthday! The location of the chalet and the views from there should be seen to be believed! The chalet is a restaurant now. One has to park in Oberslazburg and take a bus to reach the restaurant. And climb a bit from there to go to the top. Spectacular! It was 4 pm by now and we drove back to Zurich. I drove the last 300 kms crossing Germany, Austria and entering Swiss. Delightful!

Salzburg was full of mozart and music! There were people playing violin at every street corner. Ashu told me that she wished she brought her violin! I wish too! The money collected could have at least paid for her museum ticket! :)

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.  

Just Married, Please Excuse by Yashodhara Lal.

The very talented and funny Yashodhara Lal whose blog I have been following for a long time is out with her first book as well. I think I have to dedicate a whole book shelf for bloggers turned writers and label it "Books written by people I know!" ("I think I know" does nt sound so good!) Congrats Y and wishing you all things wonderful!

Y has a contest going on too. Details below.

If you're one of those people who know that married life can have its hilarious moments, please pay attention to this one:

It's really very, very simple - 

1. You write a post on your blog, describing an incident aboutsomething funny that has happened to you as a part of married life, preferably when you were 'Just Married'. (By 31st August 2012)

2. HarperCollins and I select the 20 best entries and they will be sent copies of my book; and 10 Delhi-based bloggers get to join me and VK Karthika, (Chief Editor of HarperCollins and all round super-cool person) for a leisurely Saturday lunch at the new Mamagoto outlet in Gurgaon for some really great food ( I'm told the Khan Market outlet is never less than packed, and for good reason). Oh, and there'll be some good conversation too :).

Some things to keep in mind to be eligible for this contest: 

1. The Title of your post should be The 'Just Married, Please Excuse' Contest 

2. Please include in your post a link back to Y's post.

3. Please leave a link to your entry in Y's comments section to this post.

4. In case you don't have a blog of your own, do leave your entry in the comments section to Y's post. In case you face issues while commenting, email your story at yashodhara dot lal at gmail dot com (But only up to two such comment/email entries can win, so you better make it funny)
5.Note -If you're not married, but still want to participate, you can do it - just tell us about a funnyJust Married story about someone you know! 

You Never Know When You'll Get Lucky by Priya Narendra.

When I said its raining books this season in my last post, I was nt kidding. Blogger Priya Narendra is out with her first book "You never know when you'll get lucky". And there is a fun contest to participate. Take a picture with Priyas book and send it to ureadshop@gmail.com and lucky winners will get books worth Rs.2000. Click the banner for more details. Hurry up and win!

Congrats Priya and keep rocking!

Have You Seen This? by Arthi Anand Navaneeth.

Its raining books this season from loads of fellow bloggers and one special book is written by none other than Art Navy from our very own IndianMommies corner! :) We are so proud of you, Art! Cant wait to lay my hands on this pretty book.

Have You Seen This?

Text : Arthi Anand Navaneeth

Pictures : Roomani Kulkarni

It's a very mixed-up world where flowers talk, doors run and trees fly! The goofy text of this mad little bilingual spins on wacky illustrations that whirl the reader along. Available in 8 language combinations it can spark off any child's (or adult's) imagination!

Target age- 3-7yrs

Here is a review of the book at Saffron Tree.

You can buy it  online from Tulika and at Flipkart

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!"

French Riviera.

We were off to South of France last week and had a fantastic time in the coast. Seven days of bliss. We stayed in a beautiful apartment in Nice with swimming pools and the girls had fun. It was very hot during the day so we did the beaches only after 5 pm. While it is completely a pebble beach in Nice, its sandy in Antibes and Cannes. Mind boggling really since they are so close to each other and yet the beaches were so different!

Monaco was so pretty. A funny thing happened. I was entering Monaco in the GPS while driving from Nice and the damn GPS just would nt recognize. We just went in the general direction and once we were in Monaco I tried again to find some place and it did nt. I thought it went kaput and then the light bulb hit me. I had the country selected as France and I had to change it to Monaco! duh! The Oceanographic museum and The Exotic Garden in Monaco are must see.

Ashu enjoyed the Matisse museum and seeing his works kept repeating "This is easy! I can do it!" loudly much to my embarrassment! :)

We went to Marineland in Antibes one afternoon and man! did we choose the hottest day ever! The killer whale show was worth it. The entry price is ridiculously expensive though!

The medieval villages in Vence, Grasse,... were simply beautiful. The cobblestone roads, the narrow alleys, restaurants, cute shops and galleries,.. It was so nice to just walk through the numerous alleys!

We visited a perfume factory in Grasse, the perfume capital! One would think that the perfumes would be cheaper to buy there but no sirree! It was an interesting tour though.

Cannes is so beautiful. We visited the Palais des Festivals and took the customary photo standing on the red carpet! Not as glamorous as you think since you are sharing screen space with a dozen other strangers!!! The beach is great. Anitbes too. But Nice is the best since its all pebbles and no mess! :) And the kids loved to throw the pebbles in the sea! Win-win! But be warned that the kids will collect pebbles in all kinds of shapes and sizes and insist on bringing them home! I was just glad that I did nt bring my mom to this trip. She would have sure emptied the beach and brought all the rocks home!

Driving around the coast means lots of toll booths. We set the GPS to avoid Toll after the first day and that was the best decision ever. Not only did we save money but also drove through more picturesque roads with spectacular views!

I kept nagging Hd that I wanted to ride a jet ski the entire week and at last on the very last day, we found a place. Ashu was quite shocked! "Are you going to ski", she asked me with a worried look! Grr.... Hd and Ashu went first to test the waters and God! Was frustrating to look at them! Hd should get an award for the slowest jet ski rider ever! Then it was my turn and Ashu who was ready to ride again realized it was with me and wisely refused! The rat! I had fun though I realized why Hd was so slow. The sea was so rough since it was late evening and could nt go in a straight line at all! I kept going in circles! Thrillingly scary! I had no watch on me and did nt know how much time has passed and the guard had to come and escort me back! So it was paisa vasool! :)

We survived on pizza, pasta or panini for every lunch. Managed to cook dinners with very limited supplies in the apartment. Was so nice the four of us sitting in the spacious balcony and eating and chatting. I realized how relaxing it is when I don't have to do everything by the clock. Dinner was at 9.30 and kids went to bed at 10.30. We all got up late, had breakfast and stepped out only to find a restaurant for lunch. It was a true vacation. At home, Im such a stickler for time that to get the kids to bed by 7.45 means that  everything has to work like clockwork the entire day and its so stressful. 

A week flew by and I hated to leave. Hd tells me, "We are going back home. To SWITZERLAND! And you are sad?" Hmph! Whatever!