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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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Of scavengers and hoarders

While most people are cleaning their homes during Diwali H and N turn into merry scavengers. They lie in wait for people putting out ‘interesting’ stuff. They then try to beat the cleaning lady and carry it all home before she can carry it away with the garbage.Here’s what they brought over this week..
1. Empty shoe boxes, really smelly ones .. ugh!
2. An old bamboo basket.
3. Countless empty mithai gift boxes – some were really prettily decorated, I have to admit.
4. An empty PSP carton with a huge picture of G-One from the SRK film Ra-One
5. Sheets and sheets of thermacol.Okay I have a confession – some of their finds do get me excited. Yes well genes and all.

Getting to the point, their last find – thermacol, is one of my favourite craft supplies. What with the maids playing hooky and tons of Diwali cleaning to be done I’d barely spent time with the kids over the last few weeks. So this Sunday we decided to have some fun.

I cut out some shapes from those thermacol sheets. I used a hot knife to cut through and it was really easy (That tip shared by my sister). The kids along with some friends spent a happy time painting them. Check out their creations.

I let them choose their own colours and designs, not that they would have listened to me anyway. Check out H’s Tigerfish. Craft is not really his forte :-).

 

The phones were an old idea and they got bored of them even before
they painted them. The fish and flowers they loved.

I have to admit this was the kids’  idea. Over the summers in Lucknow they had super fun with thermacol. They made some interesting things.

The phones were a superhit then, made with masi’s help.

 

This was a project that took a long long afternoon.
Dreaming of rain during the summers.

 

..almost done.

 

And finally.. pride of place on nanima’s wall.

For now I’m wondering how to smuggle out and throw away lights that don’t work, bits of candle wax, blackened diyas and many many mithai and chocolate boxes they are hoarding in their room.

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We’re Different

If you were to watch the kids of our society playing in the garden now, something might catch your eye – a 6 year old boy in a Spiderman suit (meant for a four year old) with a bat and a girl in a chaniya choli behind the wickets, brandishing a diwali gun for some reason playing pretty comfortablly with the four or five other kids around them.
 
Each day I think my kids are just too grown up to play dress-up and each day they prove me wrong. I see other children refusing to wear shorts because they’re “too big”, girls loving their fluffy dresses and smart halters, kids feeling awkward if they’re dressed differently… not so for mine. They revel in looking different. How come they’re not embarrassed? I often wonder. How come they don’t get teased to death? To wear a costume outside a fancy dress party is kind of weird by my standards.

So why did I let them?

Well because my standards are never their standards. Weird/scary/silly for me is often fun for them.

Besides, one of my rules for survival states – ‘Allow the kids to do what they want unless it’s life threatening or involves a mess that I’ll need to clear up’.

Plus, there’s a bit of a history.

This year we finally managed to organise a fancy dress and talent show in our society. That was no mean achievement given that the average population here is above 60 and likes to lead a quiet life bereft of so much as the whiff of excitement… specially stuff that involves anything to do with noisy children.

As usual, there was this huge debate at home on who will be what and as usual what I wanted wasn’t what the kids wanted. Hrit was dying to show off his Spiderman costume, a hand me down from his cousin, while Naisha wanted to be Krishna complete with a blue face and body. I, on the other hand wanted for them to do something together, for once. I thought of an earth-moon sequence where Naisha would be the moon revolving around a rotating/revolving earth, Hrit. I thought it was a great idea. Not so, the kids.

After much negotiation they agreed provided I let them wear “what they want” for “however long they want” after the show. Hence.

The show, by the way, was great fun even though we had no budget. Someone got a laptop, another one got the speakers and someone else got a pen drive full of music. A creative mum rustled up some badges while everyopne chipped in with leftover birthday decorations. The mums turned up with their kids and we were set for a great time while the senior citizens snoozed (Yes well.. I don’t quite like their attitude. I’m sure you’ve guessed that by now!).

A few pictures of the event…



A bunch of grapes, a bhajiwali, a nurse aur do mere wale. They’re not in costume because
much of it was paper and I wanted to preserve it till the fancy dress actually started.
Shivaji, a zebra crossing (that had a real flashing red light) and a Japanese doll.
And there’s the girl who could do a hundred cartwheels, as part of the talent show.

The youngest of them all.. a fairy.
Shivaji gets busy with his mum’s camera



Krishna and Radha
Our very cool DJ aunty

 
For the talent show Hrit Naisha did an edited version of Ek Chidiya, an old favourite of mine. Even though I say it myself, they were pretty purrrfect :-).



During a ‘dress rehearsal’ at home

 

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