Category: N

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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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Tea time poetry

It’s Day 5 at the Marathon Bloggers week long Feb fest, ‘‘A story for every picture, a picture for every story” and today’s prompt is ‘Tea.’


And so dear all.. coming up for today’s prompt is some very cheesy chai poetry :-)).

N learnt to make tea recently and has now been
promoted as my official tea-maker.  You should see
how proud she is, specially since H is the
acknowledged family chef .

Brew it, boil it.. make it any way
no matter how you like it, it’ll brighten your day.

Some like it black, some like it green,
Some like it simply with a dash of cream.

Some like it spicy with ginger and cinnamon
tulsi and mint, peppercorns and cardamom.
This one’s hot and’ll make your eyes all blurry
It does make one wonder is it tea or is it curry?

Orange and vanilla, lemon tea and peach tea
These fruit salad teas are completely beyond me!
Some like in their bouquet, Jasmine and Chamomile
But all of these teas only make me smile.

As for me, the cup that makes my day,
Can be made almost any way.
It may be too weak or it may be too strong,
there are also times when it’s isn’t even warm.
But it has that flavour, the one I like best
It’s the flavour of love that tastes the best.

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A special link

As soon as a baby makes his or her debut before friends and family the ‘resemblance’ discussion starts. And so it was with H and N. One look at H’s large feet and he was claimed by the Husband’s ‘side’. (at seven, he and I share a shoe size!!). N, was a bit of a mystery. She was definitely not like The Husband and not much like me either, at least that was the family consensus. Finally after much debate she was pronounced to look like my sister.. and that I think was how the first link formed.

The twins adore my sister…

My sister handles masihood brilliantly. She pampers the twins silly – buys them weird and wacky gifts, regularly treats them to ice cream, takes them for walks in the rain and even has the courage to take them to a toy shop and say that magic word ‘choose’.

A special link..

However with N there’s something special. Perhaps because N is a lot like her.. not just in looks but also in her personality. 
– They’re both no food people (Dumping tiffins, passing over breakfast to siblings, not noticing that they haven’t eaten anything for hours on end)
– Hence they’re both thin as sticks (the sister was for a long long time)
– They both like to sleep in weird postures (that, I am not at liberty to elucidate here)
– Both have scant regard for authority (specially mine)
– Both are extremely impatient with my ‘conservative’ ways (yes already)
– And recently when N got braces they were in the exact same teeth my sister had hers (I never needed any)
As N grows up I’ve come to value this connection between them. While the kids are young she’s a fun aunt. When they grow up, I see in her a special confidante who’ll perhaps see their point of view better, because she has the benefit of perspective.
That’s my sister teaching N the essential skill of whistling.. something I’m yet to master.
Linking to Marathon Bloggers for our one week fun fest ‘‘A story for every picture, a picture for every story”. Today’s prompt was ‘Links’.


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100 Happy Days – Week 4

Hey everyone, we’re in week 4 of the 100 Happy Days Challenge.

What a crazily packed week this has been. However, it ended in a very laid back lazy Sunday so that kind of balanced it off. Life’s been good. Touchwood.

Here’s my happiness list for the week..

Happiness is..

1. ….waiting for the sun to rise even while the moon refuses to go home….

… then finally when it shows up the clouds come by to steal its thunder. But the sun takes it in its stride and instead of sulking turns them a lovely red gold (perhaps it has also taken on the Happiness Challenge.. hee hee!!) Now that’s the attitude I like.

2. …the needle moving

.. the right way. It’s time to put your hands together ladies and gentlemen — I’ve gone back to my pre-Goa weight, finally. What I put on in a week, I’ve taken a month to kick off. The bold and underlining is to remind me how tough the whole thing is, next time I go on a binge. Sigh!!
But no dwelling on the past.. now I start my New Year target. As if on cue, the gym has announced a weightloss contest for February. I’m not going to win it, of course but I’ll surely be in it!! I do so love the whole excitement… the discussions ..
What did you have for dinner?
Haw! you had ice cream?
I made this super salad yesterday
Darn I have to eat out tonight.. .
I managed 4 ltrs of water yesterday..

Oh the excitement is so contagious and so much fun. And as always, I love the happy group feeling. Few years back we had the same contest. I blogged about it here. Everyone lost weight, at least a kg or two.. everyone! How cool is that!!

3. ….a day with an old friend

A school friend dropped in from Delhi. Pune is so out of the regular circuit we get very few visitors.. Delhi, Bombay, Bangalore seem to be the cities all my friends stay in and visit. This was a great surprise. She has two absolutely lovely daughters, all grown up. Just like newborns look universally cute, grown up daughters too always look pretty and responsible and bond with their mums in a special way that’s a treat to watch. Such a change from my chhotus.
We chatted, relived old memories over masala chai and caught up on mutual friends. A great afternoon well spent.

6. … green tea by N

Another easy yet important step for my daughter – she learnt to make Green tea for me. What made me happier was the way she’d set the tray.. might I add.. on her own.. I had a choice of sweeteners, a spoon and a box of biscuits. So proud of her!

5. … a deliciously fresh and crisp fruit salad

Strawberries, apples and a just a few black grapes tossed together in a lemon and honey dressing with a dash of salt. You must try it.

6. … chain blogging.

Some twenty of us blogger friends got together to blog about our earliest memories. It started with Suzy Que who tagged another one, then another and another.. and so on. The posts went live at half hour intervals and what fun it was. Messages flew back and forth.. Did you tag me? Is your post up? My predecessor’s post isn’t live yet. Check check.. Change the tag…All done!
I think we guys were responsible for a lot of FB traffic on Saturday morning. Did I just mention I love doing things in a group? Here’s another example of how wonderful it is to come together and form a happiness chain!

7… and finally putting up your feet 

…and watching the world go by on a Sunday evening… bliss!!

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Of love and donkeys..

Last Sunday afternoon as we switched on the television the fag end of the film ‘Ajab Prem ki Gazab Kahani’ was in progress. Ranbir is saving Katrina from the bad men. Katrina runs towards him and exclaims, ‘Prem!’ ‘Jenny’, say Ranbir Kapoor… ‘Prem’, ‘Jenny,’ …. On they go.
While N got caught in the ‘tense’ moment H let out a squeal of laughter.. “Jenny, he called her a Jenny.. a she donkey. He’s calling her a she donkey.”

Bet the film makers didn’t think of that! (I’m sure Jenny has another meaning).

Then comes a dialogue “Tum is ghar ki Bahu banne wali ho!” (!) and N asks,
“What’s a Bahu?”
“Daughter-in-law”, say I.
“What’s a daughter-in-law?”
Seriously sometimes the kids amaze me with what they know and sometimes with what they do not. While I was coming up with a reply she says, trying to make it easier for me,
“Who’s our daughter-in-law?”
“Nobody,” say I. “We don’t have one”.
“Does masi have one?”
“Nope”,
“Bua?”
“No”
“Never mind then”, says she losing interest.

And then finally at the happily ever after as Ranbir gives Katrina a kiss on the cheek.. “yuk,” says Hrit covering his face with his hands..”He kissed a she donkey!”

Sorry Katrina the kids are just not Hindi film buffs.

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