Candlelight dinners and other diversions

It’s that time of the year again when the twins start to dabble in all of their long-forgotten interests and hobbies. Nope, it isn’t vacation time – it’s exam time.

Remember this post I did last year?

Just as the exam dates drew close N decided she had to have a candle-light dinner…. at home, mercifully. She collected all the candles from around the house and lit them up, switched off all the lights and the three of us huddled around the dining table peering at our plates in semi-darkness.

If I ever complained that The Husband never asked me out for a candlelight dinner, this was the time to send out an apology. And a heartfelt thank-you to Thomas Edison. Seriously, candlelight dinners are over-rated. It’s worse if you’re in the middle of the monsoon season unless of course, you like your food seasoned with a bunch of fluttering moths.

So there I was, trying to figure out whether that black thing in my dal was a jeera or a keera, while thinking how soon I could get the children back to the study table without hurting N’s rather delicate feelings, which become even more fragile during exams.

H however, had no such compunctions. In true sibling tradition, he declared he hated the whole idea and went around the room switching on the lights while N ran after him switching them off. When I finally got them to sit down he resorted to saying things like, “I cannot see your Ffface’ and that he was too ‘Fffaar fffrom the light’ and that ‘we must never do this again in Fffture’ and kept blowing out the candles while N kept re-lighting them.

I gave up all hope of them studying that evening.

Then N decided she wanted to knit

For a long time she has been mildly fascinated with the idea of knitting. Now suddenly she wants knitting needles and also that I teach her how to go about it. I probably would have gone looking for the needles except I have no clue where to find them. Or for that matter how to teach her. Whoever knits these days?

.. and they’re ‘giffing’ 

I’m not sure that’s a real word but here’s how one goes about it – You pick a word or a phrase, couple it with an expression and repeat it over and over and over again till you drive everyone crazy. As if WhatsApp wasn’t bad enough I have real-life gifs walking around the house saying things like ‘Freedom, I want freedom!’

via GIPHY

..and they’re cooking up spells

They jump out from corners brandishing ‘wands’ and shouting out never-heard-before spells. ‘Magnifera Indica’ screams N and H replies with a ‘Triticum vulgare’, which sounded scarily like Valar Morghulis and I wondered where they’d heard that Game of Thrones line. As it turned out they were simply practicing scientific names of fruits and animals. Those  were mango and wheat respectively! Such a relief! Though the shouting still gets to me.

Finally, H decided he wanted to make comics

…to make science easy for other children,’ he said. All his comics have a rather grisly theme – an insectivorous plant-eating up an insect or a lion eating up a deer (I think) as part of a food chain. If he ever does want to take this up as a profession, he will certainly need an illustrator.

 

We’re at the fag end now and I’m hoping we’ll get through with my nerves intact. Keep the prayers coming.

 

Linking up with the Write Tribe Problogger October 2017 Blogging Challenge #writebravely #writetribeproblogger

42 Replies to “Candlelight dinners and other diversions”

  1. A laugh riot. Loved the GIF part specially. My DH has the same objections to a candlelight dinner and I see his point now!

  2. Hahah…I was suppressing my laughter all throughout reading this post. And that line – about their hobbies and interests getting a kick during the exams is absolutely hilarious. You must always be living on the brink whether to laugh and have fun at H and N’s antics or stop yourself from tearing up your hair 😀 Ffffff reminds me of Shahid Kapoor from Kaminay (aiffe aiffe kaiffe kaiffe – aise aise kaise kaise) And H’s comics is something I can recognize with familiarity. At the same time, when you were writing this post a few weeks ago, the illustrator in my house was laying down new rules of illustrating (which no one can make out what it is). And he thinks he is good at drawing, ironically 😛 My Monday post is dedicated to this.

  3. Hahaha, you and your family should get a reality show of your own 😀

    Candle lights dinners are so overrated! I hate having to only see the silhouette of my partner while on a romantic date and I absolutely hate it when I cannot see and enjoy the food that I’m eating. So yes, I hear you there!

    H and N are so creative! Don’t blame them, they take after you, after all. How does the saying go? Chip of something 😉

    1. Glad we agree on candlelight dinners. They’re no fun at all. I need to see my food too. I think N will outgrow all such romantic notions soon enough.

  4. Life is so much more interesting with mini versions of us in the house 🙂 I am sure your mother has some stories to tell too. Tulika, you write so beautifully that it doesn’t feel like we are reading your tales, we actually live them with you. Hats off to your amazing storytelling prowess…keep writing and inspiring.

    1. Sulekha we were easier kids, that’s for sure and we were scared of our mom, so we never made as many stories, except perhaps hiding story books in our course books. That’s as far as we went.

  5. “…that black thing in my dal was a jeera or a keera”
    That was super hilarious. Didn’t we all do such things closer to exams. I actually learned to make chowmein at home during my tenth boards. 😀 The things I used to do were stitching designs on paper and making greeting cards. I don’t blame the kids but I do understand how it feels. Thankfully, we were done with three FAs by September end and there are no exams in October. Diwali will be peaceful. Big hugs to you and lots of love to the little chipmunks. Tell them it’s Mangifera Indica not Magnifera Indica. My Botany Mom kept teaching us all these scientific names all her life. She still does that to the girls. 🙂

  6. Omg! I am in splits! I can onky imagine N and H running all over the house, switching on and off the lights! And how clever they are! Cooking up spells and making comics! That is smart studying, right there!

  7. Lol! Oh my! Aapke charan kahan hai? Please. No really! I wpuld so like to bow down to you in reverence. How do you have not only the patience to take all this and then enjoy it and wrote so beautifully about it – all during exam time!
    I have one lo and come exam tine, my house is a warzone with the two of us on either sides!

  8. Your kids are hilarious! I can just picture every scene with such clarity 😀

    Mangifera Indica! Going to teach Gy that one. Oh yeah, it’s always more fun when it happens to someone else. You have my sympathies, Tulika 😉 Poor N, let her have her candlelight dinners. What’s a little lack of studying at this age? (Runs away)

  9. hehe Jeera or keera. I guess I would wonder the same. 🙂 I’ve never liked the real-life candlelight dinners because when there is no power, seriously it is no fun. And knitting. Nice. I never really learned that or had the faintest interest in that. Life and times in your home are really interesting. 🙂

  10. HAHAHAHAHAHA….that was hilarious, Tulika! But, I must say, baba, hats off to you for dealing with it all with such patience. I would have pulled my hair out! 😛
    Jeera or keera!!! Hehehehehe…I really don’t have words to write a proper, sensible comment here..all I want to do is re-read your post and experience another bout of laughter! Hehehe

  11. I loved the spells. Your kids are so creative, Tulika. Comics, spells, candlelight dinners – what fun. Obviously not so fun for you. 🙂 We too used to make excuses when we were kids, not this fabulous, though. 🙂

  12. Hahaha! I am still laughing at “jeera or keera’. N is sooo sweet! I can truly empathize with you though and can relate to all that.
    During AG’s two month prep leave before board exams, I would have said, “Can we focus back on studies, please!’ a million times. A ‘research’ on the internet for something would end in checking Facebook, newer recipes and types of sandwich and shakes were explored and all that had to be made by him only with no assistance from me, calling a friend on phone always ended in playing a game of Plants vs Zombies … Exam time is truly a time to test your patience!!

  13. I was rolling in laughter all the way Tulika! How do you keep your sanity and patience? Did they finally get around to study? BTW brilliant way to learn the latin names of species – I wish I had this growing up as it was a toughie for me! 🙂

    1. Well they did study – not as seriously as I would have liked them to but I have to let it go.
      Oh yes, good way to learn. And they do sound like real spells.

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