Category: Uncategorized

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A budding reader and a know-it-all

Open house day at school is always an eye opener. Sitting across the table with the teachers each time we wonder, “Are we talking about the same child?” This year was no different.

Naisha got a relatively clean chit. She just needs some help with reading and spellings. That is pretty much down my alley. We went out and bought some new books (even though there’s a host of them at home) because we have a rule here, “koi bhi shubh kaam ke pehele paise kharch karne chahiye, kaam achchha hota hai“. And so Naisha’s reading me a Dora story bit by very small bit every day. I don’t want to push her and put her off reading completely so we’re going at her pace.

How else can I help her? Any suggestions?

Next stop.. Hrit. On a positive note his mirror image writing is almost gone… just a bit of b and d remain to be sorted. Thank the Lord.

Now for the not so good. Apparently Hrit suffers from the ‘I-know-everything’ syndrome. For instance, even if the teacher tells him a spelling he likes to go with his own version, based strictly on phonetics. The dear boy has no clue about the vagaries of the English language. He refuses to listen to the teacher following his own pace, preferring to be ahead of the class. If everyone’s supposed to do two pages, he likes to do four… even if they haven’t been taught, even if he’s not clear how they’re supposed to be done. He’s a man in a hurry. And if his neighbour is ahead of him.. he pretty much freaks out.. right or wrong.. he needs to finish before everyone else in class. Man in a hurry, for sure.

I have been talking to him about the advantages of listening, of being right rather than being first. However, I suspect I’m not doing a very good job because he came home today, yet again, with his homework all done.. done pretty shabbily but done nonetheless.

This is something I’m not sure I know how to handle. Suggestions?

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That could be me

The other day we got talking about newspapers and I told the kids I used to work with one long long ago. I reminisced about the night shifts and coming home in the early hours of the morning. Naisha nodded very sagely and said, “Yes mama you must have had to wake up very early to deliver papers to so many houses.”

Nothing like kids to keep you grounded.
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The tooth fairy comes calling

Finally, after much waiting, it fell off.. the very first one.. Hrit’s tooth. For some reason he felt it was a major achievement and insisted I call and tell everyone. He followed me around asking, “Are you H A P P Y?” These days he’s spelling out half his sentences. If you’re wondering why, well so am I.
He showed off his gaping dentures to all his friends and all the aunties he could find reminding me of the hilariously gross character Lugaretzia from Gerald Durrel’s ‘My Family and Other Animals’. Great book, by the way.
Getting back to Hrit.. he was just too thrilled.

Then he got worried if the tooth fairy would consider his tooth worthy of being taken away. He wanted to know if it would help if he would brush it now that he could hold it in his hand and see it ‘properly’. Finally, the tooth, all brushed, bathed and cleaned was laid down reverentially under the pillow.

Had there been a real tooth fairy she would have been thoroughly confused wondering where to check for the tooth considering Hrit changes rooms more than once during the night. Oh we have enough activity between 11pm and 6am to confuse the sanest of minds.. but then that’s another post.

Anyway the ‘tooth fairy’ decided to leave the task to morning and just before she woke the kids up for school, the tooth was smuggled away and some money found its way under the pillow to their immense excitement. Hrit looked like he couldn’t believe his eyes and is planning a major ‘eclair’ treat for his friends with the princely sum of 10 bucks.

I so so love this age. I’ll miss them when they grow up.

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A Happy Day

The kids and I spent a happy-in-a-daze kind of day for reasons nothing if not simplistic.

For the kids it was their cycles. Their bicycles, that had been languishing for some two years, suddenly became their most prized possessions which they hadn’t been ‘able to ride’ only because we (The Husband and I) hadn’t got air filled in the tyres. The shop is a fair distance away, a tad too far for me to wheel the cycles over. All of last week the kids whined and whined and whined, what with them being home 24X7 (we’re still in the Diwali vacations.. sigh!). They drove me up the wall till I dreamt of carrying two cycles on my shoulders and flying like Hanuman to the repair shop.

Meanwhile The Husband was blissfully at work, coming home with barely any time to bear the brunt of the complaining. Then came the weekend and Hah he was so caught. The cycles were loaded in his car and dropped off. We decided to get tubeless tyres so no more filling air in the tyres. Monday went by in a fresh haze of whines. Yesterday, while the kids were at a birthday party The Husband came home gulped down his tea and rushed out to the cycle shop. This was unusual to say the least. tearing him away from the tele after work is … well it just doesn’t happen, ever.

Are you thinking he did it to put a smile on the kids’ faces? Wrong. It was pure, unadulterated fear. The fear of putting up with two whiny voices with the unlimited capacity to go on. “What if the shop shuts,” he said with a shudder before dashing out. By evening the cycles were home to the absolute thrill of the kids. They’ve been on them ever since.

Now for my story. Before I begin if you’re even mildly the tech savvy types look for the cross in the red box at the top right hand corner of the page, click it and begone. If you’re still here read on…

A man called Santosh called from airtel yesterday morning offering some kind of a plan. Normally I disconnect with a polite ‘thank you’ but yesterday he caught my attention. I then agreed to try the package. As a result I got the browser activated on my BB. Now I know that’s no big deal for most people. However, for me, each small step in the techworld is the biggest of achievements. I spent the day happily downloading/installing stuff.. all kinds of themes, ringtones,wallpapers, messengers.. the works. I found loads of freinds on whatsapp. Oh it’s so much fun.

I just hope I don’t run up a huge bill at the month end. In any case I’ve alerted The Husband to the possibility. What with his parents being here he’s sure to be in a frame of mind to overlook much of what I do. Yay!

That’s how two cycles and a browser-on-the-phone made for a very happy household. (If you think I left out The Husband.. wrong — when the kids and I are at peace — he’s a happy man.. so there)
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Something totally unrelated to the above post… firstcry.com is stalking me. I swear they are. I ordered some stuff from them and they were good. Delivered the very next day and I put them high up on that pedestal which until now had just flipkart. Just as I was beginning to sing their praises to all and sundry I realised they were stalking me. Each time I log on there they are flashing all the products I looked at. I open blogger, they’re there. I comment on ANY blogpost there’s the ad at the bottom of the page. I go to facebook, they’re there. I open mail and there they are. They’re everywhere. If anyone knows how to stop this, help me please.

Leave me alone firstcry. I know where to find you. I’ll get there when I need you.

Other than that I’ve been pretty much enjoying netshopping. I’ll put up pictures of some of the stuff as it gets in.

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HAARAM.COM, STOP POSTING OUR POSTS ON YOUR SITE WITHOUT OUR PERMISSION!

A bunch of us bloggers have noticed that you have listed our blogs and have been copying our entire posts on to your site for which we neither signed up nor gave explicit permission. Hence would appreciate if you could stop doing that and take our blogs off your site ASAP.

Consider this a gentle reminder from our end..for now.

We may not be so gentle the next time, for this is a serious issue of copyright violation..
Thank you.

All of us

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Five reasons why I hate housework

Housework’s one of those things not noticed if they’re done but noticed if not done. Yup you’ve guessed it.. it’s not my forte. It’s not something I signed up for when I decided to be a SAHM. I opted to be a full time mum and that I still enjoy.. well mostly I do. But housework.. not my thing. Unfortunately it comes with the territory. When the maid’s play hooky, which is often, you are simply expected to double up as one.

And so here I am maidless and venting, with a vengeance.

5 reasons why I hate housework

1. It’s unending
It really is. Like draupadi’s sari. Even with all the modern day appliances. Washing, cleaning, cooking, dusting, clearing up, making beds, putting clothes to dry, ironing, settling cupboards… on and on and on.. to infinity. And I’m not even beginning to include the kiddie stuff. It sucks one in like quagmire.
Corollary: It leaves no room for thought for anything else. You’re only thinking of the next task and the next one and then the next.

2. It requires an extremely high level of multitasking (which I obviously lack).
Sample this: I put the milk to boil and spot the Hrit’s beyblade near the gas stove (which he’d brought in for me to fix and I couldn’t because my hands were all floury). I fix the bey blade and go to give it to him in the kids’ room where I trip over a bunch of toy animals. I start putting them away till I smell … you’ve guessed it.. milk. Then it’s just happy mopping.
I routinely burn my veggies. Routinely. The other day I decided to sit it out in the kitchen and carried my book and beanbag there. Big Mistake. I was roused to the smell of.. right.. burning vegetables this time. Rush rush to salvage what I can.. Wash the pan.. fresh oil.. more cooking… aaaargh!

3. It tires me out without letting me lose weight.
Oh yes, it does. If I were to lose even half a kg a day doing all of those chores I’d do it gladly. Where’s the point of getting bone tired and not losing an ounce? On the contrary hanging out in the kitchen in close proximity to food spells pure danger. Plus you’re only too happy to eat what the kids are eating rather than making special low-cal stuff for yourself.. more problem on the weightloss front.

4. It spells the end of ‘quality’ time with kids.
No way can I spare the time for crafting with Naisha or trying out a recipe with Hrit. The dread of clearing up paint or picking up bits of paper.. prohibitive. As for the cooking, I just want to get over with it and get to the other tasks before the next meal comes along.
Corollary: It takes away the pleasure from otherwise pleasurable tasks…. like taking the kids down to play or putting them to sleep. While I’m telling them their bedtime story my mind wanders off to the dinner table that needs clearing or the kitchen that needs to be tidied.

5. It spells the end of ‘me’ time
Well you might catch some television while doing your ironing but reading, blogging, even an hour at the gym can be considered pure luxuries. (That explains just four posts in November and the increasing weight).

Housework makes me crabby and irritable mostly because I’m just not fond of it. How oh how do scores of women do it every single day of their lives without turning into complete harridans? I’m turning into one for sure. I’ve even taken the God’s to task… so there’s your proof.

Disclaimer: These are the ramblings of an overworked housewife sorely missing her maid, who is pregnant (the maid, not the housewife, Thank God) in her husband’s quest (for the fourth time) for a ghar a chirag. The post is to be taken with oodles of salt.
Thank You.

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