Tantrum Time...

...Is when Mamma comes back home from office.
Pleasantries are exchanged and then Ojas & Tejas move to better topics like- quarreling with Mamma and each other, being stubborn, biting Mamma, screaming, head banging, hitting each other & Mamma, crying, wiping their nose on my clothes- looks like the bottled up emotions of the entire day and the pressure of being nice with their grandma gets a release at the end of the day when I come back home.
So when Tejas wiped his nose on my clothes and left a small snot on my dress, I picked up that offending snot and read him his rights-
1. Cry and I wipe the nosie on your face
2. Laugh till I count to 100 and I throw the nosie away
What Mamma couldn't achieve, his own tiny black snot could achieve- he laughed in the most efficient way- with minimum spend of energy, at times just smiling when he found my attention wavering.

And after a spot of good behaviour he went back to being his bity self. So I just said I am going to throw Tejas into the dustbin and get a new Tejas from the veggie market. That Tejas will not bite me, will not cry and only smile.
Ojas immediately supported me and "phoned" for a new Tejas and also said let's take the bag and pick up a new Tejas
After a while I put my finger to his mouth and said, let me check if this is the New Tejas or the Old one, the new Tejas will not bite.
And this "new" Tejas did not bite, he just smiled
I am seriously amazed at my capability!

What Adorns My Desk

2 planters of Epipremnum aureum- commonly known as money plant- the marble variety and the jade green one. And a Delicious Monster in a Steaz Cola bottle
I had once exclaimed in a forum that I am so done with money plants as I have them all over my garden & inside my home and the eloquent greenthumb Madmomma so rightly said I dont mind money plants in certain places where I want lots of foliage. They grow fast and give an illusion of much happening.
So true- they give you an instant gratification!
A client customised the white mug for me and I have prompty adorned it with the marble money plant
The Old Monk Bottle was contributed by my neighbour 2 years ago and believe it or not the only time I poured water into the lovely bottle was when I installed it into my table. It stayed dormant on 4 leaves for more than a year and just developed a delicate looking threadlike root that coils beautifully inside the bottle.
New leaves have sprouted only mid of last year to my surprise. I do not want to water it for fear of disturbing the eco-system in the bottle- what say? The water level has come down to half!
Now what do I adorn a tall Olive oil bottle and a beer bottle with? Any ideas?

A Home in my Garden

Close to the heels of apu's post on critical mass, I chanced upon a new wonder in my garden...A sparrow cross bulbul kind of bird flying out of my croton that peeps from the corner in my garden.

I failed to catch the said bird on my camera. One morning as I was pottering in my garden, I found a same/ similar bird fly out from the croton and I thought this is definitely not a coincidence. What is that bird doing inside the croton?

I discovered sheer joy when I peered inside as against the killimillun (chameleon) that I ususally would discover whenever I peeked inside the croton branches.

My wish come true ...A tiny, freshly constructed brown nest...

Conversation

Dadda- Bye
Tejas- give me car key
Dadda- I am going by car (lies)
Dadda leaves and Tejas proceeds to search for and find the key.
Tejas- arre, dadda keys? tumhara phone kahan hai (where's your phone), chala gaya, keys nahin liya (he went off without taking the keys), kaise jayega (how will he go)?
Ojas- speaks the truth- Bus mein jayega (he will go in the bus)

Mamma- Ojas, you have nails, shall I cut them
Ojas- No
Tejas-sotto voice- cut karo Ojas ka nails, Tejas ko khuji karega (cut Ojas' nails, he will scratch Tejas)

Mamma- Shall I read Ed car to you?
Ojas- no red book
Mamma takes the red book as instructed.
Ojas- I want fish book
Mamma- but I am reading the red book naa?
Ojas- exasperated- Humko parhna hai (I have to read it)
Ojas takes the fish book, Tejas grabs the red book.
Mamma- now what will I read (out)?
Ojas- You read Ed car naa?
Mamma- Dude, that's what I originally planned!

Check Checkers

If you want to have a long eating cum bitching cum chatting cum planning cum laughing cum sympathising cum strategising session which could run well over 3 hours on week day afternoon with a friend just go to Checkers.
The place had hardly 2-3 tables filled one was by the manager himself- being a weekday faternoon and a location not so conducive for walk-in customers like us. But that suited us fine because we needn't jostle to reach the buffet spread and had undivided attention of the servers.
The buffet spread for Rs 400 per head was a good value for money- selection of salads, huge spread of the main course and yummy desserts.
I loved the chilly chicken...slurp.. why didn't I slip some into my bag or atleast why didn't I eat only the chilly chicken.
And I a going weak kneed just remembering the tender mutton and the large piece of chocolate gaeteux I devoured.

Number Game

Monika tagged me and here it is:
One for husband- the only person whom I can love and hate at the same time, the only person with whom I love to spoil for a fight, and the only person with whom I can sit quietly for hours together and yet feel annoyed when he moves away from shouting distance
Two for twins- Ojas & Tejas- I feel I am the richest person in the whole world when I have one each cuddled and huddled on each of my arms
Three for siblings- bro, sis & me- stands for sharing & not sharing clothes, lecturing the bro, our combined stay in Chennai, and assorted moments of "bachpan"
Four for home- number of years spent in the "own" house..it's not big enough, it's not the house of my dreams but it has a garden- a house of my dreams has a garden anywhere anytime.
Five for marriage- number of years we have been married...as on date...
Six for friends & relatives - with whom I can take off from where we stopped anytime and anyday
Seven for self realization- the class I was when I realized I don't have a steady best friend in class! See "six" above- I don't regret it so far!
Eight for days of the week- which I wish for - the 8th day being the one I need to recoup from the week bygone!
Nine for family- we have moved from 5 to 9 in the last five years...K, twins, SS...and you bet this is a dynamic number- may the tribe increase...
Ten for Work Ex- 2 jobs, 10 years, and I feel I have miles to go yet....

I tag

Phoenixritu

Sue

boo

madmomma

kiran

desigirl

BindiyArt

When Dipali talked about her Bindiya, I thought with a shrug- anyway I stopped sticking on the bindi on my forehead a long time ago so it does not matter what my views are.

Until recently when I wore this outfit- a typical high neck, embroidered 3/4th sleeve one which gave a tough corporate-ish lool. ;)...As I gave myself a once over in the mirror, checked my lipstick and hair tied tightly behind in reverence to the summer - I said to myself, a page-3 style black whacky bindi is lacking!

And then I remembered this diary back from my college days

The over enthu me who would take pains to get a friend painstakingly "draw" a different bindi everyday using an eyeliner! And then I would go on to record the design for posterity!

And then I discovered the computer bindis- the black pre-cut bindis in such designs and used them with great abandon as my drawing skills are too limited.

When "health awareness" happened I came to the conclusion that only Shilpa bindis are good as the sticker used in them is clinically tested. So henceforth it was just round bindis which became very boring and started causing a white mark on the forehead... so the bindi was chucked out cold turkey.

Until today when I decided- why not try my hand at drawing the bindi-

So here is the first one...self designed and drawn!

Lollypop Eating Rules

Ojas' Rules
1. Should not do bitie immediately
2. Should do bitie only when it becomes small

Tejas' Rules
1. Ojas should eat fast and no do waai waai and eat (not lick and eat)
2. Ojas should allow him to therefore lick the lollypop atleast once because he has alread done bitie and finished off his own

Mamma's Rule
therefore not to buy a lollypop (which she didn't FYI- it was picked up by Tejas at the store) else
1. suffer for an hour until Ojas finishes his lollypop or deigns to allow a lick to Tejas
2. Get startled when Ojas wakes up in the middle of the night screaming hysterically that Tejas has snatched his lollypop

Awww Inspiring Moments

-While I did have an inkling that Ojas has a left-sidedness to him, still, everytime I see him using his left hand as dextrously as his right, I do a proud aww- especially when he is busy coloring with his right hand and I tell him- Ojas now colour with the green crayon- he simply picks up the green crayon with his left hand, colours the relevant sections green and goes back to what he was doing originally with the right hand

-When a quietly opened pack of masala-peanuts in the car prompts Tejas & only Tejas to ask- Mamma kya smell ho raha hai (what's smelling)- ah Mom feels so proud that her olfactory skills have been passed on too and it better do consider the amount of smelling I was doing when I was carrying them. Tejas also has a keenness and curiosity to smell random things like salt/ pepper and he can detect faint odours inside the house- like the white flowers bouquet I kept inside the house which is not perceptible otherwise but very lightly perceptible when we enter the home from outside.

-When Ojas drew a house and drew Ojas, Tejas, Mamma, Dadda & Grandparents inside the house!

-When they put back their shoes inside the shoe rack - easier on Mamma afterall.

-When they somehow try to match their attire with what I am wearing. (sometimes they are desperate enough to try and check whether if not the outer garment, atleast the chuds are matching!)

-When they make the bed and decide on the colour of pillow I should use for the night

-When they say- Dadda sleeping/ Dadda working on the laptop if I ask them to ask Dadda to do something for them- which means I get to do whatever work I am trying to offload

-When they ask- tum kahan jaa rahi ho (where are you going) everytime I pick up my handbag or change my attire

-When they ask their Dadda to ride piggy back on them as a return favour

-When Ojas wipes off wherever I kiss him

-When Tejas says- should not do wipie when I kiss him

It's a Strange Feeling

...To see people whom you have grown with greying, becoming parents, getting a pot belly... You realize we are no more the naughty and young but older, mature and with serious responsibilities... A happy-sad feeling ..yet makes you feel good to have someone whom you can grow old with or can relate to
-----when you talk of sucking on the mango seed until all traces of flesh, fibre and even colour is gone,
---or when you see your kids removing all the sofa cushions, you just look across and smile and realize that is exactly what you would do when you were the same age...together...
---never tire of the same old tales we tell each other
---to be able to discuss rude, crude potty humour without an iota of disgust...actually with a lot of pride

And so may all our tribes increase...
Let no one be deprived of such simple, pure pleasures!!!

Flying Colours

Ojas & Tejas have passed their Nursery with flying colors! They are excellent in all respects and need to work on their story telling skills! And the teacher has recommended lot of reinforcement during the vacation on stuff like- follow the path, connect the 2 links, join the dots. So this is what Mamma did with them these holidays-Study of lifecycle- Plant feeds on rain, caterpillar feeds on plant, fish/ chicken feed on caterpillar and Ojas/ Tejas feed on fish/ chicken

And there was this discovery day organised at school to showcase what has been learnt during the year.

Learning by Observing

Tejas- mera CD do...(give me CD)
Tejas- Mera cycle key do.. (give my cycle key)
Mamma- why?
Tejas- humko office jana hai
Mamma- how can you go to office without your laptop and phone
Tejas- Phone hai- green color (all lies)
Mamma- Laptop?
Tejas- Laptop office mein hai/ Laptip hai cockroach le gaya (laptop is in office/ cockroach took my laptop)
Mamma gives up and gives the cycle key
Sticks it in the tricycle handle, sticks the CD into the tricycle handle and rides around singing Ra ra rasputin...

Pic(k) of the Day

SOUNE HORH

The Latest Addition to the Plant Kingdom of my Home

I managed to kill my earlier (un)lucky bamboo- that supposedly sacrificed itself by being at the recieving end of some ill luck... touch wood/ anti-jinx!

I am sure it was more because of my sheer laziness while I was pregnant with Ojas & Tejas. Somehow I couldn't be arsed to pick up a glass of water and replenish the dry bowl. So this time I picked it up at the florist to make up for my negligence and am determined to take good care of it.

The base is a terracota serving plate and the decorations are translucent coloured glass fish and stones.

21 sticks are supposedly very powerful all purpose blessing.

What Does One Get When One Sleeps with the Kids

Do you think I would have wanted to miss this out had I Ferberized the kids?

1. A series of bedtime tales spun by Tejas...
Mosquito came, he bit Tejas in the buttom (buttocks), he came from the window....blah blah blah.
Mamma- then what happened
Tejas- now Lizard story. Lizard was there in the garden, Dadda put it in my pant (the plastic one), blah blah blah
Now Cockroach- cockroach was flying, he came from the window...blah blah blah

2. Listening to Shayad yehi hai pyaar from Metro and singing along too.

3. Bonding- Mamma why are you angry? Dadda is seeing TV? Tejas/ Ojas want to watch cartoon (basically bonding on common woes of not getting to watch TV)

4. 2 tiny arms wrapped around yours truly - feels like heaven?

5. Discussion on what was done in school

6. Story time - a proper one from Mamma that is!

Around The World in 80 Clicks

A tag started by HBM that was passed on to me by ArtNavy.
Here are the rules:
Just write a post of your own (5 things that you love about being a mom) and find someone to link to and tag - someone from your own country, if you like, but definitely someone from another country - and link back here and leave a comment.

So are the 5 best parts of being a Mamma to Ojas & Tejas ?
- That I can look at a cow or a gas cylinder or a petrol bunk or an auto and shout in awe for their sake- little joys!
- Knowing that I am the most wonderful person according to 2 little people in my life
- That a person who will not sing Happy Birthday in public will now be dancing on any location in public or private with the 2 kids in tow and not feel goofy or loony or shy at all
- That I can truly understand and apply in my life the quote - Not letting school interfere with education - which means I may just stop midway to show a goat or a flower to Ojas & Tejas at the risk of arriving late to their school.
- Being pleasantly surprised at testing my own mettle in terms of ability, endurance and sustainence in terms of child-rearing? Today I am sincerely amazed at my ability to even give their meals on time, remembering their vaccinations, taking the all important decision on schooling or deciding when is the right time to take them to the doc!

I tag
Gauri
Getting ThereNow
Usha
Dipali
Dotmom

Silly Question of the Day

Random mothers - look at them, they are twins, they are wearing identical clothes.
Proud Mamma overhearing- Yes they are fraternal twins
Random Mothers- no they look alike.
Proud Mamma insists- that's because of their hair style (belch, hair cut)
Random Mothers agree- and also dresses...
Another random mother in the group- both are boys?
Proud mamma- yes
Same random mother- Both are yours?
Proud Mamma- ??????

The First Religious Story

I spent a good amount of time looking at various titles of Amamr Chitra Katha to pick out the most suitable one for Ojas & Tejas. I looked at Hanuman, Krishna the reason being they have a host of stories as kids. But the violence depicted in the tales discouraged me from getting those comics for the kids.
So I have started rendering my versions of the stories-in a desperate attempt to make them acquainted with the tales that I have enjoyed so much without being judgemental at that age. The first tale that I told them was - Hanuman Swallows the Sun.
Me- Hanuman is a cute monkey God and he was very hungry. So he saw the orange color sun and thought it is an orange and wanted to eat it. Should you eat the sun? It will be hot naa?
O/T- And very dangerous
And thereafter he flies like an aeroplane towards the sun. Sun thought it's a race and started running like Ojas Tejas ran in the race, But Hanuman things it is an orange and he eats the sun. So what happens? It becomes night and you cannot go to school.
So God became angry and slapped him.
And Hanuman opened his mouth to cry- bwaaaaaah and the Sun fell down from his mouth and ran away.
And God told Hanuman to eat an orange and not the sun else he will slap him again.
O/T- and piggie also cried naa. And tiger cried? And elephant? What does penguin eat? Fish?
Ah well..
Let me look for another religious story to scr&%oo...

Don't Miss...

The screening of Jungle Book at 5.30 pm on Pogo- odd timing though- a time to be spent out of home rather than in front of the TV.

Though I am pretty excited as the kids know bits of the story and the characters.

For instance I asked Ojas- what is the name of the leopard?

Ojas- No answer

Mamma- slightly miffed- bagheera naa

Ojas- extremely miffed- woh panther hai Mamma!

Lizard Trouble

This plastic lixard is the most feared threat off late. The kids are convinced it is real and they swear that the lizard for snacking on their play doh. it's the size of my little finger and is able to achieve greatness that the entire Mamma and Dadda cannot achieve- one threat of throwing the lizard on them can get them eat their food, put the toys back and stop throwing a tantrum.

So much so that the moment our attention got diverted from the lizard and the kids- they took a broom and swept the lizard out into the garden.

Another subject of great interest is the killi-millin - the chameleon in the garden who resides in the croton and palm "tree" on most nights. His eating and squatting habits are the subject of in-depth discussion in the household.

Unlearning for Learning Disability

March was declared the month for learning disabilities and a host of bloggers have followed up with posts. Go through them and the links in each of those posts for a comprehensive idea.

DISCLAIMER
I do not have a clear first hand experience of learning disability but I would like to leave behind some thoughts from what I have gathered out of my interactions with other parents and reading articles on this subject.

For every parent, his/ her child is the best, the most perfect and nothing can ever be wrong with him/ her.
- Therefore even if one parent is able to sense that there could be a problem, more often than not the other parent remains in a denial stage for quite some time.
The denial could manifest itself in various forms like blame, envy, anger, guilt, fear, depression, comparisons, forced change of scene to see if there is a change in the kid or obsessive gathering of information to prove that the child is normal, in the meantime missing out the obvious signs.

- An important first step for parents would be to come to terms with the condition, deal with their feelings and build a support network from school/ doctors/ friends and relatives.
Without meaning to, children and relatives could be really cruel at times- there are situations of isolation, criticism, teasing, comparisons not only in school but also at home/ social settings. Most important would be teamwork of both parents.

-Unlearning what parents have learnt about parenting from mentors, books, other parents and tailoring their parenting style to suit their child- working out alternative learning methodologies, loking at new learning opportunities or situations, flexibility of approach, a higher threshhold of patience.

-One must trust the school & doctor but it's always ok to be assertive about what one instinctively feel may be right for the child. And of course rely on their own research and assimilation of the same keeping their child in mind.

-Changing/ Lowering standards of perfection- whether it is housekeeping, cleanliness, homework, behaviour, timetables.

-Observe keenly the child's primary learning style and adapt to the same.

-Homework in style- Forget about steretypical, straitjacketed methods- look for alternate strategies and support methods- computers, tutors, make it a game, study buddy, parent becomes student & child becomes teacher game...whatever floats your boat. Just innovate.

-Stop trying to be a super parent and measuring self worth just through the child.

Bihari ? Tabhi....

Shamelessly tagged myself on this one and did a very smilar one ..
You are a Bihari if...
1. You cannot have any meal without the potatoes- infact you cannot cook if you don't have potatoes
2. You are not disappointed if you get peanuts when you were offered badaam.
3. Your vocab include words like- atthi (which is a substitute for any word you cannot get at that moment and the other guy can totally understand you if you say give me atthi, or move off, atthi is coming), khar (crisp/ khasta), chaap (sadakchaap, chappalchaap), chhutihar (faded and looks old), bhannate (swiftly), lesraana (fine line of difference between lesraana which is lazing around and lesraa gaya which means spilled and spread out- think of a diaper accident- you will get the drift), masbhind (immensely lazy), phirant (truant/ spoilt), mota-moti (approximate).
4. You have, at some point of time, been called with your name with syllable "ua" or 'e" or "wa" attached to it -like Ritu is called as Ritua or Neha is called as Nehe or Nehwa and Mitu is called as Mitua and no not always in a contemptuous manner.
5. atleast one elderly in your family refer to someone's wife as uski dulhin. Even if she is no longer a shy new bride.
6. You can have roti and vegetable for all 3 meals happily
7. At any given point of time you would have had a Chotu, Ramu or Kaanti work for you (who would be called as chotu-a, or kaanti-a)
8. When someone says "hug'' an immediate imagery is of the potty before you realize it is just a hug! And when someone says Mercury you know it is the tubelight not the element mercury, or when someone says marketing you do not think of Kotler but of shopping
9. You know what is sattu, litti, bhunjaa, singhaada

Random Art

Play doh