cousins Archives - Page 2 of 2

22/01/201515/04/2017

Dancing shoes for everyone please!

Last year, much against our wishes, we bought H a Play Station (after daring him to an almost impossibly consistent score in his spelling tests which he went to achieve, to our complete shock).

With strict rules in place – that he’d play only on weekends and only within specified time slots and not at the cost of outdoor play or studies – we left him to it. However we still weren’t too happy with the games he played. He enjoyed some WWE kind of fight moves, which he proceeded to try out on N.

A friend

Then H found a new friend, A, with an X Box and a passion for dancing and he got hooked. They’d spend hours together before his XBox copying the moves.

During Christmas…

..holidays we had a family get together. With the oldest cousin at 15 years and the twins at 8, they found they had little in common. There were days when we stumbled upon them all sitting together busy with tabs, computers, iPods and the television with zero interaction among themselves.

The sight was depressing to say the least.

Come New Years Eve we decided to have a ‘talent show’. And H showcased his dancing skills. He’s quite bad actually, but hours of practice, simple steps and groovy music made the difference and before we knew it all the kids had joined in one by one and were dancing together.

And then they were dancing

Since then the PS3 has been put to such good use. What’s more, you don’t even need a PS3 or an XBox. Our oldest one, the family techie, hooked up the laptop to the television, tuned into YouTube and the kids had a wealth of dance videos to follow. It was such happiness to watch them – the good and the bad, the shy and the uncoordinated … all together. Once H’s glasses went flying off but he didn’t pause to pick them up continuing to squint at the screen yet dancing away. What a sight it was!

We were pretty happy because…

The kids were all having fun in a good, healthy way.

They kept busy.

They had some great exercise.

They kept away from tabs and laptops.

And they bonded.. Wonderfully.

If you’re fed up of your children playing mindless games on the PS3 or the XBox try getting them a dance CD. Or simply switch on to Youtube.

What’s more you can join in too, even if you have two left feet. If an uncoordinated 8 year old can do it, well so can you. And if you’re still feeling self-conscious check out their video – No, don’t watch it, just listen to the music and the laughs.

You can check out the original video they are trying to copy.

28/06/200715/04/2017

Yadu, Vihaan or what????

That’s our brand new brother – the one we were talking about earlier. Isn’t he cute? When N and I went to meet him we just couldn’t keep our eyes off him. He has misty grey eyes, deep red lips and an awesome shock of thick black hair. He really is the cutest thing we’ve ever seen. He’s got these amazing dimples and smiles and giggles all the time. We just love him. He’s called Yadu but that’s not his final name. Can you beat it, he’s six months old and mama and mami still haven’t managed to decide on a name for him. Bade nana insists on calling him Yadu and so that name’s stuck till he finally gets properly christened.

19/12/200630/04/2020

New kid on the block

H says….

Being a kid is not really nice. People around take you for granted and don’t bother to update you even on the most important matters. Imagine there’s going to be a brand new addition to the family and no one bothered to tell us. That’s grossly unfair considering that he’ll be closer to us being from the kid fraternity. And when I say ‘he’ I’m not being chauvinistic or presumptuous – I overheard mami herself say that everyone’s saying it’ll be a boy! I’m all set to be ‘Big Brother’. N, I think, is a little immature to be big sister, though. She’s still quite a kid.I got thinking when mama and nani started sorting our old clothes. And then all that talk of due dates and name lists started making sense. Though we were a bit miffed for being let into the action so late, we’re just too excited to hold any grudges. Imagine a baby smaller than us… I mean babies are soooo cute.. and I’m just thrilled we stayed on here in Lucknow.

Coming into the world all on your own can be quite daunting. N and I will try our best to make it a little easy for him. We at least had each other for company but god only knows how other kids manage. Imagine being pushed out into a world where all that’s familiar are a few voices among a cacophony of hundreds of others!! God.. is it NOISY out here or what! And all those lights…the crowds…….it’s terrifying. Even N, who was so impatient to get out and explore, bawled like a baby. I AM glad we’ll be around to help out this new one. A word of advice from big bro here – no matter what people around you do just remember this – “They mean well”. Go with the flow and life will be cool. Bye then – see you around soon. Cheerio (as mass would say in her English class)
PS: Just a last tip – It helps to develop different cry tones for different problems. Makes life easy for the moms – work on it.
… and N adds…What shall I have him call me?…. Ummm… should it be N didi or just didi or maybe chhoti didi since I am the youngest didi. I think N didi sounds best. And H bhai I am NOT immature, I’m just a minute younger than you, remember? And that too, I suspect, is purely by chance. Had the Doctor pulled me out first, things would have been different. But hey I’m digressing. This is really exciting news. How typically uncaring of the older lot that we weren’t let in on the secret for so long, considering all this was going on since before we were born! Anyway, what’s important is that I’ll no longer be the youngest one around and AM I glad. I was just about tiring of the what-a-small-baby routine. Can’t wait for December 23.

Hey you young one, H bhai and I are there for you. Like he said, remember people around mean well but don’t let anyone take you for granted. Don’t let them push you into anything and do raise your voice if the petting gets too much but most important – have fun.