Category: celebration

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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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Whew Diwali..

So Diwali has gone. I have to admit it’s a bit of relief. Oh I like Diwali, in fact I like all festivals but they do turn your life upside down. There’s loads to do. You are overworked and the maids are overworked and are always in a hurry and more than a little cranky.

The kids are in the way.. Either they’re disconnected with the cleaning and decorating, which irks you no end or they want to do everything and that’s worse because you have to think up ways so they can help without doubling your work. The hapless souls got more than their share of yelling thanks to frayed nerves. Not that they seemed to mind. Egged on by friends they kept up a steady list of completely non priority demands.. May I have a pat pat gun? May we buy some Lotus flowers? Can we get home the PS 3? In fact when I took some time making the rangoli for the puja N asked if we cold postpone the puja to the next day and go down for the fireworks right away. Priorities!

When we did go down she discovered a sudden fear of fireworks. Last year she was the one going crazy setting off rockets and anars while H stood in a corner trying to pretend he wasn’t scared. Well this year he got over his fear and N developed cold feet to the extent of dropping the phuljhadi even before it was half done. I’ve no clue what has brought this on. Investigation is pending!

H on the other hand was all over the place, a phuljhadi in one hand and his dhoti in the other (despite repeated assurances I could not convince him that it wouldn’t fall off if he let it go).

The Husband probably puzzled and very annoyed by his star performer’s seemingly irrational fear, gave her a piece of his mind. By the time I reached down after wishing a few friends N had been home in search of me and when I ‘didn’t open the door’ had assumed I was ‘lost’ and was crying in one corner.

We had kept the menu simple. I did manage to make jimikand (or Yam). According to North Indian folklore if you don’t eat Yam on Diwali day you are reborn as a chhuchhundar (Wiki calls it the Asian House Shrew). And so I saved my family from an extremely smelly next life (Oh yeah they smell BAD). For the record the yam kebabs I tried (for the first time) turned out quite delectable.

So that was our Diwali!!

I might not agree with Scrooge but I can see where he was coming from.

Managed to get them to pray
The hurried rangoli
Loved these floating candles.
The markets had such pretty stuff I wanted to bring it all home.

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