Chalk & Cheese.

Ro's recent post reminded me of this incident which happened a couple of weeks back. I was organizing the kids toys and while doing so, I found the Dora puzzle box which has been in storage for the past 18 months. I remembered that it was Ashus favorite puzzle to do when she was 2+ and decided that now is a good time as any to introduce the same to Antu. *you can call me an idiot right about now* Ashu was thrilled to see the box after ages and opened the box to see the seven different puzzles neatly arranged in different ziploc bags. Immediately, she started working on the puzzle while the resident 2 year old was happy playing with the box and excitedly talking to the picture of Dora and Boots on the box. In no time, Ashu finished all the puzzles all on her own and neatly arranged them on the floor. Like this. (She even spun a story with the finished pictures.)

Soon afterwards, the dad and daughter duo decided to go watch the Zurich Street Parade and marched off. Ashu asked me to guard the puzzles and not to clean them up since she wanted to make up more stories once she came back. I foolishly agreed and asked her to move them under the TV stand so that they are safe from "predators"! An hour later, Im busy making dinner in the kitchen while Antu is playing as usual in the hall. Or so I thought. I switch off the stove and come out to see THIS.

My heart stopped for a second. So now I got to pick 200+ puzzle pieces from the floor, sort it out, bag them and pack them off? And hope Ashu does nt remember? (yeah right!) Or do I actually sit and do the puzzles as fast as I could before Ashu comes home? (yeah right!) While I was clicking pictures, yelling at Antu and contemplating what to do, in walk in Ashu and her father. Oh ho! Ashu was mighty upset at the mess but the poor thing consoled herself quickly. And to Antus credit, she apologized to her sis even without me prompting her. (She would do anything to get out of a situation) And much to my relief, Hd offered to clean up. And thats what I call a happy ending. For me, that is. ;)

ps.

oh! Forgot the whole point of the post - Good luck, Ro! :D

Five years.

Who would have thought? I love you my dear blog. Happy Birthday!

That reminds me, when Ashu was a baby all I wanted to know was how will Ashu look like when she is 5. How will her voice be? What will her interests be? Who will her friends be? It was such a giddy feeling. Sigh! Good times. All I want to know now is when will the girls go to sleep! Ha ha ha! (Just kidding, Dad!)

Did I tell you Ashu is riding her bicycle without the training wheels? The big milestone happened last Sunday when Hd removed the training wheels and took Ashu down to teach her to ride. I gave him all sort of gyaan and told him that it will be great if Ashu can learn to ride by end of this year. Ha! 15 minutes later, he calls me and asks me to look out of the balcony. And whaddayaknow? Ashu is riding the bike on her own! This man does nt have to sweat for anything in his life, I tell you! Anyway, yay! I was so proud at the moment. Lets just say that I could totally relate to how Neil Armstrong's parents would have felt when he landed on the moon. (Or at the photo studio if thats what you believe! ;)

Super School.

In spite of all the reservations I have about Ashu's school, I like it because Ashu loves to go to school. But with the email the school sent today to everyone about the drop off and pick up guidelines, Im in love too.

Please remain in the car when you pick up your children as this makes the traffic flow function smoothly. Teachers on duty are happy to assist your child. If the school traffic line is full please immediately use the other line. If you have a sleeping child in the back and need to return to the main line when you reach the top of the road, the parking attendant will help to guide you back into that traffic line. Thank you for helping us out.

In my opinion, anyone who is thoughtful enough to think about my younger kid who is mostly sleeping while I go to pick up the older one should be the best in what they do. So what if Ashu will never know her ABCs? I don't have to park the car a mile away and walk with a sleeping child and that is what matters! :)

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! :)

A Twist in the Tale.

During story time, usually before bedtime, Ashu and I have quite an interesting thing going. So I give her some choice and she chooses the story she wants. Like "I want two animals in the story, Amma. You choose any animal. And I want a happy story. Not a scary one". So I spin a story on the characters given to me often involving her to move the story forward. Whenever Im stuck, all I have to do is ask her, "What do you think happened, Ashu?" and voila! you can move on with the story! :) Poor thing does nt know that the tale just formed in my head and is so thrilled that she "guessed" correctly! muahaha!

One day, I was completely blank. Story tellers block, I guess. So I decided to tell her some well known tales. "The Midas Touch" came to mind and I told her that story. Once Midas got the "golden touch", I described to her how whatever he touched turned into gold and told her that that might be a problem for certain things and asked her to guess what the problems might be. While I was imagining myself with uneatable golden Idlis and a golden river of Sambar and worrying, pat came the reply from her. "Midas can never draw a rainbow, Amma. Whatever color he touches will turn into gold. So he can only paint a golden rainbow. Never a colorful rainbow"! Now, is that cute or is that cute?

Another day, another story. This time the story of The Cap Seller. ("I want a story with an animal and a person, Amma. You can choose if its a boy or a girl. And I want a silly story!" *giggles*) So I tell her how the monkeys were wearing the caps and the cap seller was trying to get the caps back and how the monkeys were copying whatever the man did. Interaction time, I thought and asked Ashu to guess what the man did next to get the caps back. Pat came the reply, "Did he climb the tree and then swing upside down? Then the monkeys would do the same and all their caps would fall down from their heads." Well, theres an idea! Thats exactly how the story would have ended if the cap seller was nt wearing his hat now, would nt it?

Talking about copying monkeys, I call Antu Copy Cat all the time because she has to do everything her big sister does. Once Ashu asked me why I call Antu a copy cat and I told her the reason. "But why a copy CAT, amma? Do cats copy?" errr... Then thankfully the story of the cat and the tiger came to me. Its a popular phrase in Tamil, "puliya paathu soodu pottunda poonai" meaning "the cat who burnt himself wanting to be a tiger". So I told her the story about how a cat wanted to be like a tiger and decided to get some stripes. So he used the firewood to mark his body and ended up getting burnt. "But why did nt he just use some paints, Amma?", came the question. "Oh thats the moral of the story, Ashu. Use paint!", I replied and escaped! Phew. Kids today! I so get my grandma now!

Home Sweet Home.

Yeah right! Who am I kidding? All the unpacking and organizing! I really am an idiot. Every time I go to the US, I tell myself not to go crazy while shopping. But I cant help myself but scream "but thats so cheap, thats so cheap" and buy everything under the sun. And do I have enough storage to keep all of that in my house here? The answer would be a big NO. The edible marker pens I bought at Michaels to decorate my future cupcakes - do I really need that? The fancy ribbons which were on sale? *bangs head* The dozen summer outfits for the kids which they cant wear more than a month here? *bangs head again* The nth pair of shoes, the bhel puri mix and the Tetley elaichi tea bags at the Indian store? *bang bang bang* Anyway, long story short - junk junk junk. (sorry sis!) As if all this is nt enough, I find instant Tomato rasam and Pepper rasam bottles in the suitcase. Courtesy - the master packer, my Mom. Next time they ask me at the airport if I packed the bags and if someone gave me something to keep, Im going to confess, "My mom packed. And she must have sneaked in Oorugaais for her Son-in-law or badham halwa for her grand kids. I honestly don't know!"

That apart, the jet lag is killing us and the kids are missing the US and the US folks like crazy. They don't say it as many words but it pains me to watch Antu see her doll after a month and getting all excited to show it to everyone. Only everyone is not here. Only plain old me! :( And Ashu asking after the caterpillars on the phone to my sis. The teeny weeny caterpillars Utbt gave Ashu. They grew fat and big (just like the book described they would!) and were in their cocoons when we left. We miss seeing the butterflies by a few days. Ashu is hoping that it will skype-casted live from there though! ;)

Hd has worked hard around the house last month and it shows. New upholstery for the arm chair, new cooking pots, new storage unit for his office desk, ... Ashu even commented, "Amma! Appa has changed the toilet paper also. Its blue in color!" He also managed to dispose Antus crib(sob! sob!) and moved Ashus toddler cot in her room. So Ashu and Antu would be sleeping in the same room from now on. Ashu was totally cool with the idea and Antu marked her territory by plonking Jamadu on the bed and climbing in even before I could prepare my big girl speech. Sigh! Whats her hurry? Hd also had a fully stocked fridge with idli batter, sambar, chutney and eggplant curry all of which he had made during the weekend and store bought chapathis. I felt only guilt(and very hungry!) since all I left for him when I went was the dirty laundry!! *gulp*

And oh! If you thought I forgot about the travel part, I did nt. It was so uneventful that I was surprised myself. The kids and I slept for 5 hours during the SFO-LON flight. So that was cool. And slept the entire LON-ZRH stretch too. I think BA read my blog or something because I got the stroller both in LON and ZRH as soon as I left the aircraft so that was a life saver. And I wizened up about the LON airport security and packed only idlis for the kids. Take that, you saddos! And I was so disappointed that they did nt ask me to taste the food because I was starving after standing in the line for such a long time! ;)

The vacation is still going strong.

We are so busy having so much fun here that I dont have a minute to sit and think about anything. And I realize there are only 5 more days before we leave back for Zurich. Sigh! Last weekend was fantastic. It was the first time I went camping. Ashu has been wanting to go camping for the past 2 years and she was excited about the whole idea of sleeping in a tent in the middle of nowhere. We carried a truck load of stuff for an one night koothu. Utbt and Co also joined us with another truck load of stuff and we cooked, we ate, we played, we chatted, we slept looking at the stars. It was awesome. The campsite was quite rough and thorny. While Ashu would gingerly put one foot out of the tent, wear her shoe and then the other one, Antu would just run around barefoot taking a break to pluck out thorns from her feet. Chalk and cheese, I tell ya!

As if all the shopping and eating out and the camping was nt fun enough, we decided to sneak in a girls only trip to Las Vegas. Sis, a friend and I left for Vegas on Saturday morning. A very dear friend (who just happens to be my sisters SIL) from the Mid West joined us there and we four had a blast à la Sex and the City. Only replace sex with food and gambling! :D It was so liberating to do a trip sans kids. No diaper bags and strollers. No kids menu and high chairs. No tantrums and whining. Ah! Bliss! Giggling like crazy for every thing under the sun. Checking out dudes and dudettes in the poolside. Margaritas and Wine. (water in my case.) Coming back to the hotel room way past midnight and getting up in time for lunch! It was a dream come true. We also watched the show Kà by Cirque du Soleil at MGM Grand and it was brilliant. I loved the sets, the moving platforms and the special effects. Especially the one scene where one of the twins is drowning in the ocean. It was just amazing. Worth the money for just that one scene.

Got back on Monday morning and it seemed Ashu had grown taller in 2 days! Antu blessed me with a smile and then yelled, "Perimmaaa" and ran to my sister and hugged her. The little imp! At least I have one child who missed me. Hmph! While my mom is thrilled that her little girls had a blast, my dad is all "ellam all kali kaalam!" I agree that the statement "leaving your kids/husband and going for a weekend away to drink/gamble" would nt sound like a good idea to most of the previous generation especially when translated in Tamil (kuzhandhaigala vittuttu kudi, koothu, soodhaatam!) but they better get used to it! Hd went "You went for a break and now you are taking a break from the break?" Well, what can I say? I swear by the quote - "Live life to the fullest... think of all the people on the Titanic who passed up chocolate dessert." :)

Appappa!

Hd called this morning and Ashu yelled, "I want to talk to Appa, I want to talk to Appa" and snatched the phone from me.

Ashu: Hello!
Hd: Hello Baby!
Ashu: Hi Appa! We can't talk to you right now because we are all going camping. Chula and Mieja are also coming. We are packing now and we are busy. Bye!

I could hear Hd's heart breaking into hundred pieces all the way here. Sorry, dear. She does miss you. In her own way! ;)

30 Days of Summer.

Since I'm a sucker for punishment and also to retain my "Ulagam sutrum Boo" title, I decided to travel to the US with the kids. The husband wisely talked himself out of the trip sighting work and stayed back in Zurich. Ever since my parents reached my sister's place in May, my sis has been nagging to me to come to her place for the summer. But I said no way. 1. I did nt want to travel ALONE with the kids. 2. I did nt want to travel alone WITH the kids. 3. I did nt want to travel alone with the KIDS. OK. OK. You get my point. But I think my sis talked to Ashu behind my back and coached her or something because Ashu insisted that she wanted to go see everyone and "its not fair Amma, if we don't go". So I gave in. Told myself that since Antu turns two and will get a seat of her own, things might be a bit easier. And whaddayaknow? Things actually were easier. Easier to go the bathroom whenever I wanted to. Easier to eat the food when it was served. Easier to walk with both the kids when I did nt get the stroller in London as promised. Of course things were tougher when the security in London threw away all the baby food because I refused to taste 50% of every yogurt cup/fruit puree.

Ashu: Amma! I want my bag back.
Me: You have to wait, Ashu. They are checking it.
Ashu: But why?
Me: To see if theres anything dangerous in it.
Ashu: But theres nothing dangerous in it, Amma.
Me: I know that. But they don't trust you.
Ashu: *shakes head*

Anyway, we all landed safely without blowing the plane up. No bombs in Antus diaper or knives in Ashus coloring book. Phew. You never know what the kids were up to when you were nt looking, right? ;)

It has been a week but feels like a month. We went to Yosemite for the long weekend and had a blast. Saw a bear just five feet from us crossing the road. And I was standing with Ashu in my hip on the road. She was so thrilled. "Why is there no fence? No cage?", she wanted to know. After that incident, she started saving Honey sachets in her pant pockets so that she can give them to the bears when she sees them again! Antu is still in a daze about the change of place and so many people who cater to her every whim. Thatha and Perippa have replaced Appa and she does nt even give the time of the day to us women folks.

We also watched The Amazing Bubble Lady in the library, went to the beach, watched fireworks on 4th of July (Antu's first and she was gobsmacked) and have loads of plans for the rest of the trip. 3 more weeks to go and I don't know how Im going to deal with the good byes. The NOs and tears and tantrums and all the emotional drama. My parents, Sis are Bil are too much to take when they are a slobbering mess all at the same time. :)

Five year old girls and their weird questions.

Ashu: Amma, what is "pussy"?
Me: EXCUSE ME?
Ashu: Why is a cat called pussycat, Amma? What is "pussy"?
Me: phew!
Ashu: What? Tell me.
Me: Its just pussycat, OK?
Ashu: So what is pussy?
Me: I don't know.
Ashu: look in the laptop and tell me then.
Me: sigh ok. *googles* Ah ok. A pussycat is a female cat, Ashu. A girl. Puss is a girl in Dutch, it seems. And do you know what a male cat is?
Ashu: I don't know.
Me: I can tell that without looking in the laptop. Its called a Tomcat.
Ashu: *giggles* like in Tom and Jerry?
Me: Yup.
Ashu: And if Jerry was a girl cat, then we can call it Tom and Pussy! *giggles*
Me: sigh!

27.06.2010

Dear Antu,

Happy Birthday, Darling! You are way too cool for my mushy birthday letters. So I ll tell you how you spent your day today. We were at our friends place last night and got back late. You charmed the pants off everyone there. Today I packed a picnic and went to Park im Grüene. Three families joined us there and all you kids had fun in the water area, the train rides, the play area, etc... You did nt want to leave the water area and cried a bit when I carried you and walked away. You loved it when all of us sang the Happy Birthday Song (in English and Deutsch). I had made an Almond flavored cake with cream cheese frosting. Ashu suggested a Mickey Mouse theme since you love him. Ashu and I played around with marzipan and did an outline of the mickey mouse face and put it on top of the cake. Not my best work, but you recognized it to be Mickey and thats all I wanted! :)

This year flew away so fast. Today I told your Appa, "I cant believe last year this time I was in the hospital" and he gave me a look and told, "You mean the year before?" Yikes! You are TWO?! You are already wearing your sisters Age 3 clothes. You don't care if your dad or I leave you and go somewhere. You are not bothered when we three hug each other. You just keep doing your own thing most of the time. You are raring to go to school. You adore your sister and would rather listen to her than me. You both go and shut yourselves in a room and 15 or 20 minutes later come out dressed as princesses. You patiently let your sister dress you up when you would nt even cooperate with me to put a diaper on you. While your sister still dresses up in the clothes I select for her, you already have a mind of your own. "Kai want, kai want,..." is your favorite phrase. (I want, I want,...) Kai want, kai want butterfly dress amma. Kai want, kai want bikki amma. Kai want, kai want Dora Amma,... are some oft repeated requests!

I love you to bits, my adorable Antu. Hope this year has been as fantastic for you as it has been for us. And here's to many, many more fantastic ones.

Love,
Amma

Today is Ashu's last day of school. From August, shes going to be a Kindergartner. In another campus aka Big School. I'm very emotional about it and nagging Ashu so much that she is this close to saying, "Cut it out, Ma! Its Pre K I'm passing out of. Not PhD!" Well, what does she know?

She had a play date with her school friend yesterday at our place and the girls had a blast. A fitting end to this school year. And as soon as her friend left, Ashu asked if she can have a play date the next day as well. I told her no and informed her that we will be doing something special after school to celebrate the last day of Pre K. This made her very excited. "I want to buy something, Amma", she told me. We were in a store that time and I told her, "OK. Whatever you want!" So she picked up a big bag of sweets (the chewy ones, like fruitella?) and asked, "Can I buy this?" I remembered that she has been asking for this big bag of sweets for over a year now in the same shop. (This shop is right next to our building and we go there almost every day) And I have been always saying no because well, I can! Just kidding. Because it was a BIG bag and I did nt even know if she would like that sweet. But yesterday I said OK. There was this disbelief in Ashus face. "Really?", she asked. "Of course", I said and put it in our basket. Ashu followed me and asked, "Amma. Is it OK how much ever money it is? Can we still buy it?" I was shocked. I was always thinking that I have never said no to ashu because something was expensive. Only because we did nt need it. Apparently, I seem to have. More than one time that too! I told her that this was a special occasion and it was a treat. I felt quite bad and at the same time proud of her. All this for a bag of sweets which was on half price sale that day! Lucky me, huh? :)

I'm proud of you Sweetheart. Wishing you a wonderful time in Kindergarten too.

Our Trip to Norway.

Hd and I have always been wanting to visit the Scandinavian countries. But since the weather is quite harsh there, summer is the only time to visit and it was just not happening for us. We decided to fulfil our wish on our 10th wedding anniversary. We left Zurich on the afternoon of June 2nd and landed in Oslo around dinner time. Took a train to the City centre and walked to our hotel. The room was so small and I could nt believe how expensive the city was! Ashu was ecstatic that there was a bunk bed in the room. It was weird to see the sun shining until 11 pm and even around midnight, it was nt completely dark. The next day, we took a hop on hop off bus trip to see the city. We first stopped at the Vigeland Sculpture park. Its a huge place with around 200 statues. From there, we went to the Viking Ship Museum. It was fascinating. Its jaw dropping to read about the history of Vikings and their seafaring passion. Then we got back to the city, walked around the harbor, hiked to a small park, had dinner at an Indian restaurant($8 for a garlic naan!) and called it a night.

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel and took a train to Bergen. The train route is one of the most beautiful in the world. It was like watching Lord of the Rings out of the train window! The family compartment had a small children's play area complete with a TV showing cartoons and the kids had a blast and 6 hours went in a jiffy. We got down in Voss which is an hour before Bergen. Its a small town almost a village. Our B&B was a good 20 minute walk from the station adjacent to the lake. The location was awesome. There were bunk beds here too much to Ashus excitement! We left our baggage in the room and went for a walk around the picturesque town. Ashu was playing outside until almost 10.30 pm under the bright sun! And refused to go to bed because "Its not yet night, Amma!" The next day was June 5th, our 10th anniversary. Hd surprised me with a pair of designer sun glasses while I gave him a hand made card bought from a souvenir shop there! We took a train to Myrdal and from there the famous Flamsbana train to Flam. Its one of the steepest rail routes in the world. The train stops at the Kjosvossen waterfalls and it was a beautiful sight. And then stops at Flam from where we took a boat for a Fjord cruise in the Naeroyfjord. The 3 hours cruise was just an out of the world experience. Everything was so dramatic with dozens of waterfalls on the way, the sea gulls following us for some bread crumbs, the beautiful fjords, picturesque houses in the middle of nowhere, ... It was fabulous. We got down in Gudvangen and took a bus back to Voss.

On 6th, we checked out of the B&B and checked into another hotel near the station. It was a beautiful place with antique charm and the hotel has been there since 1888. The rooms were fantastic and not only were there bunk beds for the kids, but it was in a small room attached to our room. Excellent! :) We left our bags and took a train to Bergen. Bergen is a charming city and attracts lots of cruise passengers. We were very lucky with the weather because according to reports, it rains 275 days in a year in Bergen! We walked through the fish market to the Bryggen area which is the old town. And the colorful wooden houses by the wharf are on the list of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites. Its such a picture postcard perfect place. We took a funicular to the top of a mountain and took in the aerial view of the city. We came down and took the touristy road train for a small tour of the city. It was fun. After a leisurely walk around Bryggen, we took a train back to Voss. The next day we did another Fjord cruise. The second largest in Norway, the Hardanger Fjord. We took a bus to Ulvik and from there a boat to Eidfjord. We took a sightseeing bus tour in Eidfjord to go and see Vøringsfossen, Norways biggest waterfalls and Hardangervidda Nature Centre. The latter had a 20 min panoramic movie of Norway and it was mind-blowingly good. The waterfalls was also a fantastic experience. We got back to Ulvik by boat and took a bus back to Voss.

On 8th, our last day, we left Voss and reached Bergen airport. We took a plane to Oslo instead of the 6 hour train trip. And from Oslo, we flew back to Zurich and reached late in the night. The girls were quite happy to be home and Ashu was visibly homesick on the last day. But both Ashu and Antu were very cooperative throughout the trip even though we did nt do much kid centric stuff. We wanted everything to be about us both in this trip and succeeded quite well. Norway is so expensive that its not funny. An ice cream cone from a street corner shop costs around 7 to 8 dollars! I would never say Zurich is expensive any more. But what was surprising was everyone spoke English there. Right from school kids to old folks. Every shop keeper and every one on the street. It was such a pleasant change from Zurich. Its also such a clean country. (and that's saying something since we live in Zurich!) People are very friendly. The bus driver actually stops the bus and helps you carry down the stroller. The Swiss will have a heart attack at all the time wasted and the buses running a couple of minutes late!

So that's it. Norway - ✔

I could also tell you about how Antu fell down from the lower bunk with a thud or how my hair caught fire from the candle flame in a restaurant or how Antu got her first ever time out at the Bergen airport or how Ashu purely survived on hot chocolate and ice cream the entire trip, etc, etc,... May be later. :)

A Decade.

Dear R,

Can you believe that we are here? Feels like yesterday when I was asked to wait in a room upstairs while my parents, uncle and aunt received you and your parents on the day we were about to see each other for the first time. I saw you first. Have I told you that before? I sneaked near the banister and took a peek. How you took off your Walker sandals(seriously?), how you had rolled up your jeans(again, seriously?) and how your blue checked tee shirt was so casual while I was wearing my prettiest salwar kameez with gold jimkis in my ears. But when I saw your face, my heart skipped a beat. And after 10 years, it still does. And that's all I ever wanted. Happy Anniversary, dear!

Love,
S.

ps.
What started as a coincidence became a tradition. On our first anniversary, Hd and I were in Bracknell, UK. The second in Paris. After that Croydon, Vienna, Basel, Bangalore, Las Vegas and Zurich. For the 9th, on a whim, we drove to Colmar, France. We decided to go all out on our 10th and while you are reading this, we are somewhere in the Northern Europe. More once we are back. :)

Parenting 101.

( Ashu is playing )

Me: Ashu! Do you want to come eat your dinner now please?
Ashu: NO!
Me: Ok. Let me rephrase that. Come eat your dinner NOW.
Ashu: Ok. (comes and sits at the table)

Moral of the story: Nice does nt work.

See you in my next class. Have a great day!

Are you reading this, Pixar?

If you could have any superpower, what would it be? I have never been able to make my mind up on the answer. I take what Peter Parker's uncle told him very seriously - "With great power comes great responsibility". And why would I willingly take so much responsibility? Am I dumb or something? *swats the kids away from the laptop* So where was I? Yes, super powers. So with this zero ambitious mom, it was nt a big surprise that Ashu never took to pretend-playing super heroes. The most she has done is wearing her goggles and with a scarf around her neck and screaming, "Amma! Im sooper man" and promptly stumbling on a toy and falling down! Things changed about a month back. As always, she wore her silly costume (improvised with helmets this time!) and announced "Amma! I'm not sooper man!"

Me: You are not?
Ashu: No. But I can fly.
Me: Cool!
Ashu: And I fly to every ones house.
Me: And do what?
Ashu: I help, Amma.
Me: Can you come help me clean your room now?
ashu: No, Amma. I don't help for cleaning. I'm not Clean Man.
Me: Oh really? So what are you? Whats your name?
Ashu: I am Power Battery Man.
Me: Power what?
Ashu: Battery.
Me: *trying not to laugh* So what do you do, Power Battery Man?
Ashu: I go to kids houses while they are sleeping and change batteries in their toys and give them power.
Me: *definitely not laughing now*
Ashu: I am Power Battery Maaaaaaaaaaan! *runs aways with the TV remote*

Either my daughter has a very good imagination or I have way too many toys in this house which need battery replacement.

Lost & Found.

Jamadu is Antus favorite stuffed toy. He is a monkey. (Orangutan, I think.) In spite of me forcing Ashu to have a favorite toy when she was a baby, it did nt happen. Shes just not materialistic enough. But thankfully Antu is just like me and loves stuffed animals. But not everything, mind you. She has specific taste. When she was about a year old, we went to a department store and "Jamadu" is the stores mascot for the children's section. There were stuffed Jamadu toys and Antu picked one. I let her keep it for while and when we went near the check out, she would nt give it back. Hd and I thought it was so cute and bought her the monkey. She started hugging him to sleep and he became her best friend. I think "Jamaadhoo" was one of her first words!

When Antu went to India with her dad in October, I packed Jamadu along with her things. When they got back after a week, I noticed Jamadu did nt come back! I was horrified! Hd, needless to say, was clueless. "Are you sure you packed Jamadu", he asked! I was furious. I was thinking it will be with my mom but forgot to ask her. A week later, while I was talking to my mom I mentioned Jamadu. And she was like "OH NO"! "What mom? what did you do to the damn monkey?", I panicked. "I thought the airlines gave it to Antu. He looked so ugly and did nt think you would want it. Just yesterday I gave it to my cousins grandchild." And she went on to blame me. "What were you doing all these days? Why did nt you tell me earlier?" Yes, Its all my fault. By the way, ugly? Did she say UGLY? My mom was devastated that she has done this to her grand daughters favorite toy and told me that she ll go and ask my aunt to give the toy back. I absolutely forbade her from doing that. "Its OK, Mom. I ll buy another one if Antu misses him. Don't take it back from the poor child", I told her. But then who listens to me these days? When my mom came here in November, what do you think was the first thing she took out of her suitcase? Jamadu was back! (And my nephew in India is going to be scarred for life. Poor boy!)

Antu and Jamadu were reunited and all was well with the world. He traveled with her everywhere. This Tuesday, Antu and I went grocery shopping and I made the mistake of showing her a smaller version of the Jamadu in the store. She shrieked and held him close and would nt let him go. This one was small and had magnets in his palms and looked so cute too! I did nt want to to buy him though. So tried to distract her with other things but she would nt budge. I wanted to test a theory and showed her every toy in the store and asked her if she wanted it. She would say yes and take it in her hands but when I asked to give Jamadu back, she would nt but give the other toy back. She did this for a stuffed elephant, giraffe, teddy bear, hello kitty,... "Kutti Jamadu", she even named him. Oh ho! This is trouble, I told myself. Hd called up that same moment and I consulted with him. He being the doting father asked me to buy it for her. I gave in and bought him. We came home and she ran to get her Jamadu and introduced Kutti Jamadu to him. It was like the last scene of "Yaadon ki Baaraat"!!

Fate had different plans though. On Wednesday, Antu insisted on taking Jamadu with her when we went to the gym. I reluctantly agreed. Left her at the kids care and went to the gym. An hour later, I go to pick her up and the bright orange guy is missing! I searched everywhere but could nt find him. The caretakers there did nt know either. And they did nt understand when I said "monkey" and brought me a barbie and after all this time here, I did nt know what the German word for monkey was! (Its Affe, btw.) Antu just kept repeating Jamadu, jamadu but had no idea where she left him. I was so sad. Came home and Antu ran to get Kutti Jamadu and showed me and told "Here he is!" The spoilt brat! Called Hd, my sister, my mom and shared this major Earth shattering event. Ashu came from school and she was hugely disappointed with Antu at her irresponsible behaviour. Even went on to tell me, "You should nt have let her take him to the gym, Amma.This is why I don't take any toys to my school"! Who needs a Mil when you have a daughter like this? I was hoping that some child took it home by mistake and give it back the next day. Antu went to sleep with Kutti Jamadu that night.

The monkey motivated me to go the gym the next day. As soon as we entered the kids care, the lady there came running to us, took Jamadu from the shelf and gave it to Antu! I think I was more happy than Antu! :) The lady said that he was in the ball pit. Deep down. Phew. I wisely kept him in my bag, said bye to Antu and left to the gym. Yaadon Ki Baaraat- Part 2 (or "Naalai Namadhe" if you prefer! but seriously?) happened when we came home. Phone calls were made to share the happy news. Ashu was back to being proud of us. Hd came home in the evening and we all burst out the happy news to him. "He was in the ball pit? Did you wash him?", was his immediate response. (Avan avanakukku, avan avan prachnai*! Pasupathis dialogues are immortal, I tell ya!) So thats the tail end of the story!

*That, that person. Their, their worry.

Beware. The siblings photo strikes again.

For Momo's Ma who asked for Antus photo in the party frock. On the left is Ashu when shes around 18 months. On the right is Antu at 22 months. :)

Where is the party?

It has become a norm to celebrate Ashus birthday thrice. Once at home with close friends and family during a weekend. The second one, on the day of her birthday - a simple affair in her class. The third, a joint party along with her best friend (both their birthdays are a couple of weeks apart) in some play park or gym for the whole school friends. The first one happened last Sunday on 25th. Inspired by a friend(Hi Mons!), I decided to bake a rainbow cake. So went with a colorful theme for the party. The invite had a rainbow. Let me just post the pictures with captions. That way, I don't have to type much. :)

First, Ashu and I decided to make some rainbow decorations. I found this beautiful idea for a craft. Once I drew the arcs, Ashu could cut on her own. So it was a team effort.

This is her counting the rainbows after we were done. (we did 10 more the next day)


And this is how it looked hanging from the door frame.

I could nt find a colorful table cover matching the tableware. So bought a cream color table cover(disposable) and let Ashu design it.

Shes at work.

The finished product.

The Tableware.

The Drinks.

The Goody Bags. (color pencils, smarties and gummy bears)

The Birthday Girl.

The fruit platter which Ashu arranged.

The Food. (mac & cheese, pasta salad and paneer stuffing for the sandwiches)

The Flowers.

The Balloons.

Hd reading the book "One" by Kathryn Otoshi to the kids. Its my most favorite book in Ashus book shelf and its about colors! (thanks, sis!)

And finally, the cake. (takes a bow)

* Ashu really worked hard for her birthday party and I'm proud of her. She also helped me decorate the cake with smarties and sprinkles! Helpfully suggested that the rainbow in her Dora blocks will be perfect to put on top of the cake. And also helped her dad blow the balloons.

* On the morning of the party, the pink piping on the white frosting ran and the cake looked hideous. I was horrified. Somehow salvaged it and it turned out pinkish! Ashu was such a sport, consoled me and told me that she loves pink and the cake looks beautiful! :)

* I had bought a tricolor ice cream for the kids but almost all the kids had a cold. So skipped it.

* The cake was yummy. I was using the food colors for the first time and was sure the cake would taste "chemical"! But it did not.

* Antu wore Ashus first birthday frock for this party! (now don't start a dharna, Sue! I'm a second child too, remember? ;)

* I was *this* close to adding food color to the tea I was making for the adults. Stopped myself just in time.

* It was a pain to buy all the assorted party stuff. I wish there were shops like dollar store and party city here. But then,... this was more fun! :)

* After the party, Ashu came to me and told, "Thank you for the nice party, Amma. Can you make me a rainbow cake again?" Need I say anything more? :)

Out of the mouths of babes.

Today morning, I heard Ashu sing.

"Row, row, row your boat
gently down the stream
merrily merrily merrily merrily
life is ABOUT a dream!"

Whoa! I immediately thought of Tharini and how she would ve written a profound post on this and how I can only go "whoa"! :)