Category: celebration

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Putting the cheer back in Diwali

I was chatting with friends a few days back and I found myself saying with a sigh, ‘I wish Diwali was already over. It’s a bit of a pain, right?’ And that friend replied, ‘Not really. I like Diwali, it’s fun.’ It might count that he was a ‘he’, wasn’t a mum, wasn’t even married for that matter. But the thing that struck me was, ‘Hey! I used to think like that. When did Diwali become a drag for me? When did I stop missing putting out the diyas, doing up the house, dressing up in new clothes?’

Me the Scrooge

It happened slowly, over the years, ever so slowly that I didn’t notice. It happened when all of that became a compulsion. I’ve shared how I felt many times here on the blog. I even took Lakshmi ji to task. Jokes apart, Diwali to me had come to mean loads of cleaning, wading through crazy crowds, trying to drive bargains and draining out my bank account handing out those bonuses.


However, that’s not what festivals are supposed to be about right? Well, they are, but they are more about being happy and excited and content and about spreading cheer and making everyone happy while also being happy yourself. 
So this year I decided I’d put the cheer back into my Diwali. I needed to, specially since The Husband might not be home this time. The key, I realised, is to lower expectations and do more fun stuff with the kids. It helps immensely that at 8 years they are older and a little less of a pain. (I cannot believe I just said that!!)


So I drew up a ‘Will’ and ‘Won’t’ list for myself. Take a look.

I won’t

Dive into closets and lofts for that once a year cleaning.
Trawl the old city for the best idols, the ‘different’ diyas, the cheapest bargains.
Worry myself sick about visitors.
Try to clear up the kids’ cupboards or their room (Whew! Such a load off, already).
Go ballistic yelling at them to clear up either.
Try to keep a democratic approach with them (This one is HARD).
Try to say ‘Yes’ to them as much as possible. (I have good friend Shailaja to thank for this tip).

I Will

Put out fresh (not necessarily new) covers.
Put up the pretty stuff I’ve bought for Diwali.
Order gifts online.
Paint diyas with the kids.
Try new crafts with them.
Have a few festive foods like the mandatory Yam (So we don’t turn into chhuchhundars in the next life!) and a simple sweet like a kheer or the super easy atta laddoos which we make together.
Buy lots of sweets.

Hand over the bonuses with a smile and without a grudge because the people around me do make my life simpler and happier.
The list comes with a word of caution to myself:
– The house will not be as clean as I would like it to be or as it used to be
– The food will not be as elaborate
– The gifts will not be as glorious

The democratic approach

Starting from there we’ve spent the past few days happily cleaning up TOGETHER. 

The kids made out lists of things they would do and the things they wanted me to do for them. They allocated cleaning one small area (a drawer, one shelf of a cupboard) each day to themselves. H even included ‘not trouble N’ in his list! Now that’s a time-saver if ever there was one. Their lists for me were, of course, much longer (buy crackers, help us paint diyas) but that was fine.

Our fun times

Since painting diyas was top of the list, that’s what we started off with. Midway through it N wanted a dance break so we put on some LOUD music and she danced. Then we got back to work. After a while she wanted to invite her friend over. And we did just that.

We tried making jam jar lanterns for which we’d been saving for some time. After a few mishaps they turned out fine. Take a look.

Here’s what we did..

We pasted cello tape. Then painted them with fevicol, then applied powder glitter. We intended to peel off the tape later but we couldn’t find the tape and ended up peeling off much of the glitter. So next time we left the ends clearly visible. Like this…

… and then peeling it off was a cakewalk.

We stuck on some sequins and ended with some ribbon and gota. All we need now is for some candles to go in and we’re done.

And we tried some damage control. We pasted kite paper hearts on the really bad ones. Once the candle lights it up, we’re hoping it’ll look just as good as the others.

Then we wondered what to do with the bottle caps. So we made them into tea-light holders.

This was easy. And here’s a tip: Use a toothpick to pick up the tiny sequins. Once the kids got a hang of it, it was fun.

To our surprise and happiness they even floated on the water so now we have ended up making floating candles! Yay!

There’s a few days to go for the big day and we’ve had a relatively peaceful time. We still have some more things in mind which we might try out. But I’m not pushing it.

So what would your ‘Will-Do-Won’t-Do’ list look like? Of course it might be completely different from mine. If you love cooking that’ll feature big time or if you love to shop, city shops might be fun. The thing is to list and prioritise. 

Happy Diwali!!

Come join a set of fabulous bloggers sharing their Diwali moments , easy Crafts, DIY ideas, Recipes and book recommendations with you .

Starting from today till Diwali and beyond, each one of us will be writing a post related to Diwali.
Participating blogs

So sit back, relax and check out all the fabulous Diwali Dhamaka posts from the participating blogs in the linky.

Link in your Diwali posts here

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One happy Mother’s Day

Happy Mother’s Day to all fellow mums. Not that we need a special day.. yet I bet yesterday was special. Mine was too. I was plied with gifts through the day. 
Check out my booty..

1. Moments of peace

My first gift of the day was a ceasefire. “No fighting today, mama,” they declared to me (like I was responsible for all the fighting that goes on through the day), “because it is Mother’s Day and you hate it when we fight.” 

So there was peace. 

Bliss…..

…. For a full ten minutes!! 

2. A Sea Horse card 

… from my son who is in the ‘water kingdom’ phase.

Other mums in the family got a fish, a seal, a water snake and a snail card!

3. Some great advice

….from my daughter – to celebrate Mother’s Day at Mc Donald’s’. Consumerism’s sure caught up with the kids.

4. A pet bunny

5. And I got my portrait done too

… by my daughter.

Just perfect.

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Happiness roundup – Week 10

Time for the week’s happiness roundup… Where does the week go? But then that’s a good sign isn’t it? Time moves fast when you’re happy, right? 

Here’s what made me smile this week…

1. That bye bye kiss to the kids

Believe me, I’m not thinking “Peace at last!” when they board the bus each morning.. Oh well maybe on just some days. Most days I count it a huge perk of being a SAHM… to have the leisure to wave to the kids. I’ve been doing it for about four years now and I still love it every single day. N shouts out these messages “Have a good day mama”, “Take care”, “Be happy”..punctuated by a dozen flying kisses. It’s a totally ‘aww’ moment. H likes to stick out his tongue at me or make a rude face.. Yeah apparently that’s how he shows affection. It’s ever more adorable and endearing to watch the dads blow back kisses to the kids. Oh I love mornings.

2. A super movie. 

Caught Queen this week and loved it. Watching that awkward behenji protagonist from Delhi find her feet and take wing was amazing. A must watch if you haven’t done it already.

3. A bit of crafting.

Although I was merely guiding, not doing it.. yet it always gives me pleasure to see something pretty take shape. First we did this simple bookmark for N’s “most strict teacher” (because of who she spent a quarter of the year crying each morning before school) who has now turned into favourite. 

Then my niece came to stay and made this amazing bag. I’d been waiting for ages to do this with N, but she just doesn’t have the patience. My niece however did a super job. Doesn’t it look pretty? 

4. Gujhiyas… 

I thought I was being proactive when I bought a pack of gujhiyas ‘for the guests’ some two days before the festival. But we finished it even before Holi came around and then were rushing around as usual at the last minute.

5. A quiet evening watching the kids play basketball.

Sitting in the balcony and watching kids play from a distance is just so relaxing. The sounds are muted yet the thump of the ball and the camaraderie in their shouts make me happy. I can watch them for ages.

6. Watching Chak De on the telly. 

This Saturday the kids and I watched it and enjoyed it for varied reasons. My primary one was SRK. Isn’t he gorgeous?

The kids, however, were so caught up in the film that by the end N was jumping on the sofa cheering India on while H, my lazy lazy son, prayed as they took on the Aussies.

7. And finally it has to be that mad mad festival.. Holi.

Your turn now. What made you happy this week?

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I is for Innocence

The other night as my 8-year old was on the verge of drifting off she said, “Mama, if I ask you something will you tell me the truth?” Now this is one question I dread as much from my daughter as I’d dreaded it from my mum in my teenage.
So anyway.. “Yes,” said I.
“Is Santa for real or do papas and mamas give us gifts every Christmas?”
Whew.. What could I do? I’d promised to tell the truth so truth it had to be…the whole truth and nothing but the truth.The deluge of tears that followed was heart wrenching.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she sobbed after I’d very deliberately, very surely killed Santa. “I argued with all my friends. They told me there was no Santa and I didn’t believe them. I believed only you.”

Heartbreaking! O I felt so guilty.

“Who will we decorate the tree for? Who will we keep the cookies for?” she went on.. And then the thought struck her “Did YOU eat up all the cookies we kept for Santa? And the letters we wrote to him.. all lies.”

And more questions..
“Are there no reindeers either mama?”
“No,” said I, shamefaced.
“No Rudolph?”
“No”.

“If I hadn’t asked you, you’d have never told me and then when I had babies I wouldn’t have bought them gifts thinking Santa would get them and then on Christmas day they wouldn’t have had any gifts at all. How sad they would have been.”  Some thought!

Finally after a long sad time we managed to console her.. not convince mind you, just console her.. that there had been a Santa long time back and then parents had just taken over after he passed away. Next morning having slept over the issue and apparently having given the matter plenty of thought she said, “Mama when I die (death and dying are pretty much dinner table conversations here) and I am born again and if you’re my mama again please don’t ever tell me that there’s no Santa. It feels really sad”.

Even as I hugged her I wonder how would I handle it given a second chance.

Coming from her it sounded like I’d woven such an elaborate web of lies, which of course I had. So what should I have done? Killed the Santa story completely? That would be so sad. Or maybe I shouldn’t have built it up and embellish it as much. Definitely NOT make it the core of Christmas celebrations. How deeply I regretted not telling the twins about it earlier… or at least hinting at it.

My son had seemed unconcerned through this entire exchange. However in one of his Hindi worksheets on Christmas when they had to write a line about Santa this is what he wrote.. “Our parents give us gifts but we think Santa has come”.

 

 

What do you think, people? Do your kids know there’s no Santa? How old were they when they find out? How did they react?

I’m dreading Christmas this year.

PS: A few days later my daughter wanted another clarification.. ‘Are tooth fairies also not for real?”

Linking to ABC Wednesday  a fun challenge for bloggers.

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A new beginning

He tried hard, desperately hard, to survive, seeking support from his community, his religion, his people. Once, he had been completely invincible. But then as strong hands came together holding up the proud flag … orange and green .. he died, forever. Where there is unity, strife has to die. He died because they wouldn’t accept him.

*************

Today’s prompt was ‘They said he died because they wouldn’t accept him’. I refuse to mourn on such a happy day and so decided to celebrate the end of strife and all else that’s not well with our country.

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY!!!!

And with that we come to the end of our week long 55 festival at Marathon Bloggers. What a blast it has been.

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