1. The kids go in denial when they see the photos of a 2 year old you with your Mom- they mutter even in their sleep- Mamma you cannot be small, you are big
2. Your handbag contains stuff like- chocolates, pencil, eraser, a toy car, multiple hankies, sketch pen, kid's waterbottle etc
3. Your office table has a piece of crayon which came along with your laptop bag. And you leave it there because either you do not want to throw it away or you actually like doodling with it
4. You start writing with pencil again
5. The last 5 book reviews on your blog are that of kids' books.
6. You are enjoying kids' birthday parties
7. You rush the kids to the toilet if anyone speaks any word that remotely resembles 'Potty"
8. Everyone banks on you to get the kids' nose cleaned and you are a pro at it now and take special pride in nosie-less noses.
9. Your home is strewn with children's books
10. You are sleeping comfortably on rubber cloth with toys poking at you, kiddy books falling out from under your pillows and err no pillows - that too.
11. You can take the kids to the loo in the middle of the night and promptly fall back asleep
12. You have forgotten and forgiven the kids for sleepless nights and you find it hard to remember that you were really breastfeeding almost throughout the night in the good old days. And you certainly do not remember how, with great difficulty you would make the kids go back to sleep afte rthey woke several times in the middle of the night.
13. You forget that inspite of (12) above, you would go to office next morning in the good old days and inspite of (11) above now, you still feel you do not get enough sleep!
14. You stopped watching real TV and watch only cartoons or Animal Planet
15. You are extremely regular about the evening going out with the kids in the apartment
9.
The Scorpios
Monday, February 08, 2010
Friday, February 05, 2010
मुझे नींद आ रही है
तो हाथी कैसे सोते हैं?
We find out in Tulika books " I am so Sleepy"
Bahadur the baby elephant is very sleepy but has forgotten how to sleep. So he goes around asking his friends how to sleep. Each animal tells him to sleep in his or her style but Bahadur moves on as his memory tells him that
हाथी ऐसे नहीं सोते
Will Bahadur remember how he was supposed to sleep?Join this cute baby elephant in his journey through the forest meeting all the familiar characters like Shanmugam, Hutoxi etc.
Mommy tip- I always ask the kids to describe and interpret what they see in the pages. So if the Sun is painted yellow it means it ought to be morning and not evening as the evening sun is orange in our parts!
pic courtsey - Tulika Books
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Eecha Poocha
Another cumulative tale this time in Hindi based on a Malayalam tale, published by Tulika Books- Eecha (fly) and Poocha (cat) make a delicious kanji but they cannot scoop it without a spoon. Eecha flies off to get a Jackfruit leaf and Poocha - typical of cats, cannot control himself and empties the entire kanji into her tummy.As a result the tummy swells up - the process of which is illustrated too!
The tale follows a logical sequence as Poocha goes around asking help from animal to the animal's caretaker boy and so on to other objects ....for bringing her tummy back to size.
The cumulative tale format gives the kids a chance to participate by repeating the words page after page and therefore makes it totally interactive.
The wordbirds explain the origin and meaning of regional words - things like how traditionally kanji is eaten with a jackfruit leaf.
pic courtsey- Tulika
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Top Things That Irritate Me The Most
IBH very helpfully sent this link which made me abandon my original idea of doing a book post today and pitching in with my own list.
That it looks very similar to the original is not coincidental.
That it looks very similar to the original is not coincidental.
- Wet towel left on the bed or chair
- Celebrating Diwali on all days- Lights/ fan left on in the rooms
- Drip drip drip- taps left dripping
- Leaving dishes and boxes uncovered
- Not wiping the countertop or table after use
- Leaving electrical appliance main switch on or the mosquito mat on for the entire day
- Shoes left outside right next to the shoe cupboard
- Spilling food/ beverage etc inside the fridge and not wiping it
- Clothes strewn on the floor
- Curtains not opened during the day and windows not closed during the evening
- Exhausting supplies and not telling me so I meet an empty box when I am ready to cook
- Tiffin box not given for wash
- Handwash bottle not refilled
- Beakfast and Lunch morphing into one meal- they take so long to eat that one ends and the other begins!
- Wardrobe gone haywire - nightwear mixed with daywear, pants and shirts piled in one bundle and undergarments found among shirts.
Ah well, I could go on and on. But yes, I am taking steps in the direction of reducing my burden
For starters, on most days my kids are made to dump their clothes in the washing machine, put their toys or books away and put their shoes inside the shoe cupboard.
Weekends and holidays and dinners are eat yourself days. Though the duration of time I spend in screaming - eat eat, chew chew it will be easier to just stuff their faces. But I am persevering and hoping that the day they self eat comes soonest
Self dressing and self taking a change of clothes.
Helping me in doing the bed sheets, arranging the pillows.
They do a mean job with folding clothes. I am thinking I could make them do that everyday! Probably they could even start arranging their cupboards!!
Clean your mess drive- they do a mean jhaadoo after making a mess of the living room. Anti Child labour guys- be damned! You don't have kids at home is my guess.
Setting their table with their placemats for their dinner
Taking out bowls and spoons etc if they need to eat something.
Brushing their teeth by themselves during weekends.
Doing their daily ritual of body lotion application by themselves.
Yes the little things do matter!
What's your list of annoying habits (in others)!
Monday, February 01, 2010
This Chinese Chicken Recipe Usually Turns Out Very Yummy
Deep fry for a few minutes 1 kg chicken and sprinkle pepper powder on the pieces. Remove from pan.
In the balance oil, add 1 crushed/ powdered star anise, 1-2 red chillies and lots of pepper powder.
Saute onions, ginger garlic paste, salt.
Add the fried chicken pieces and cook on medium flame until the chicken gets cooked.
Add 2 tbsp soya sauce, 2 tbsp tomato sauce, 1 tbsp vinegar
Separately mix 1 tbsp cornflour with water enough to make gravy and add to the pan.
Boil until you get the desired consistency and quantity of the gravy. Sprinkle a pinch of MSG and turn off the gas
You may add spring onions, coriander leaves, dried chives etc for decoration and zing.
Can replace chicken with paneer. Need not fry paneer though.
In the balance oil, add 1 crushed/ powdered star anise, 1-2 red chillies and lots of pepper powder.
Saute onions, ginger garlic paste, salt.
Add the fried chicken pieces and cook on medium flame until the chicken gets cooked.
Add 2 tbsp soya sauce, 2 tbsp tomato sauce, 1 tbsp vinegar
Separately mix 1 tbsp cornflour with water enough to make gravy and add to the pan.
Boil until you get the desired consistency and quantity of the gravy. Sprinkle a pinch of MSG and turn off the gas
You may add spring onions, coriander leaves, dried chives etc for decoration and zing.
Can replace chicken with paneer. Need not fry paneer though.
Friday, January 29, 2010
The 7 Signs of Ageing
1. When you can answer questions on Rajiv Gandhi and Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and the class 9 kids in your colony cannot
2. When you find it hard to do dumb charades for movies of today while the kids find it very easy
3. When your sons are figuring out DVD buttons better than you
4. When you cannot figure out what is so good about books like the Twilight series or as Sue says what's so good about the hero in the movie
5. When your kids can broadly figure out the story of the movie Water Horse and your husband cannot
6. When you cannot fathom what is so exciting about a lollypop that you are ready to eat it the first thing in the morning and when you say ugghh to stuff like lacto toffee, poppins and white chocolate and fall in love with dark/ bitter chocolate
7. When you realize that you have forgotten all the rules of Ludo and are unconcerned when your sons move your "gotis" back by a dozen sections
2. When you find it hard to do dumb charades for movies of today while the kids find it very easy
3. When your sons are figuring out DVD buttons better than you
4. When you cannot figure out what is so good about books like the Twilight series or as Sue says what's so good about the hero in the movie
5. When your kids can broadly figure out the story of the movie Water Horse and your husband cannot
6. When you cannot fathom what is so exciting about a lollypop that you are ready to eat it the first thing in the morning and when you say ugghh to stuff like lacto toffee, poppins and white chocolate and fall in love with dark/ bitter chocolate
7. When you realize that you have forgotten all the rules of Ludo and are unconcerned when your sons move your "gotis" back by a dozen sections
Any one ready to take up the tag? Apologies to Olay jee though!
Ceekay?
Dottie Dotmom?
Thursday, January 28, 2010
While on the Topic of Education
My latest initiative with the kids is spellings.
They are showing an interest in learning spellings.
Borrowing my SIL's idea, I have made word cards.
Each card has the words - D O O R, BOOKS, YELLOW etc written in block letters with crayons and taped to the respective place like room door, book shelf, wall etc. The premise is that with repetitive sight -words reading they will learn to read. The colours make it easy to recall apart from being attractive.
I am treting the cupboard as a rolling learning point- I will paste 2 new words every week on the cupboard while the other object words will be fixed.
Now the best part-
Tejas began to read the letters and forming the words as soon as he saw them put up.
Ojas - Tejas, see colours.
They are indeed consistent.
A couple of years back when they started doodling- Tejas would try to doodle alphabets and Ojas would draw objects!
Clearly their line of focus is very evident.
They are showing an interest in learning spellings.
Borrowing my SIL's idea, I have made word cards.
Each card has the words - D O O R, BOOKS, YELLOW etc written in block letters with crayons and taped to the respective place like room door, book shelf, wall etc. The premise is that with repetitive sight -words reading they will learn to read. The colours make it easy to recall apart from being attractive.
I am treting the cupboard as a rolling learning point- I will paste 2 new words every week on the cupboard while the other object words will be fixed.
Now the best part-
Tejas began to read the letters and forming the words as soon as he saw them put up.
Ojas - Tejas, see colours.
They are indeed consistent.
A couple of years back when they started doodling- Tejas would try to doodle alphabets and Ojas would draw objects!
Clearly their line of focus is very evident.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wake Up Sid
Apart from sheer entertainment value also proved to be a wake up call for parents - as we were discussing with friends the other day.
It's a nice entertainer, no big brainer type movie, typical Konkona Sen movie with shades of her character from Metro - with her preconceived notions of how her partner should be.
I enjoyed the movie- not that my standards are high as I always say and normally I do not go into greater depths than whether the songs were hummable and whether the actors looked nice or whether the clothes and sets were good and whether there were punches in the movie.
But even by my low standards of dissecting a movie- Ranbir's dialogues with his mom were jarring. Not a little bit of affection for his Mom or Dad throughout the movie. Unrealistic and scary. Does parenthood amount to being just a provider at the end of the day?
The movie addressed the coming of age of the protagonist as he his forced to stand up on his own legs. From a lazy, spoilt brat he becomes a too -good -to- be -true -to -the -point -of -being- annoying -perfect boy. In a way it mirrors the real world - hostel life does knock you into shape- kids who do not move their backside at home start washing their clothes and cooking their own food.
The scariest part is that the success of our kids depend on how much we can understand their talents and help channel their interests towards their career because it would hurt me deeply if my child is unable to enjoy what he is doing in his life.
Hubby and I have discussed this a lot- we do not expect our kids to join our line of business but the business will certainly help them in securing opporunities they would like to pursue.
At 15 our education system expects kids do decide what they want to do in their life when even the available options are not clear enough. Yes there is an improvement from our days when it was either engineering or medicine and MS or MBA. But is that enough?
And oh yes, the songs are nice. I like Iktara, Wake up Sid number is quite catchy!
It's a nice entertainer, no big brainer type movie, typical Konkona Sen movie with shades of her character from Metro - with her preconceived notions of how her partner should be.
I enjoyed the movie- not that my standards are high as I always say and normally I do not go into greater depths than whether the songs were hummable and whether the actors looked nice or whether the clothes and sets were good and whether there were punches in the movie.
But even by my low standards of dissecting a movie- Ranbir's dialogues with his mom were jarring. Not a little bit of affection for his Mom or Dad throughout the movie. Unrealistic and scary. Does parenthood amount to being just a provider at the end of the day?
The movie addressed the coming of age of the protagonist as he his forced to stand up on his own legs. From a lazy, spoilt brat he becomes a too -good -to- be -true -to -the -point -of -being- annoying -perfect boy. In a way it mirrors the real world - hostel life does knock you into shape- kids who do not move their backside at home start washing their clothes and cooking their own food.
The scariest part is that the success of our kids depend on how much we can understand their talents and help channel their interests towards their career because it would hurt me deeply if my child is unable to enjoy what he is doing in his life.
Hubby and I have discussed this a lot- we do not expect our kids to join our line of business but the business will certainly help them in securing opporunities they would like to pursue.
At 15 our education system expects kids do decide what they want to do in their life when even the available options are not clear enough. Yes there is an improvement from our days when it was either engineering or medicine and MS or MBA. But is that enough?
And oh yes, the songs are nice. I like Iktara, Wake up Sid number is quite catchy!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
On Behenjis turning Modern
Or rather the other way round.
As Kiran blogged about it a few days ago
Many years ago it was a major insult if anyone used the word behenji types or dehati or likewise on me.
I come from a small town. And it would pinch badly if anyone called me that. As if I am not good enough. Or intelligent enough.
Ok to tell you the truth, living in a small town means your resources are limited, the styles are conservative, the opportunities are less and the show-sha is not at all there.
To cut a long story short, I moved on and out. Saw the world out of my town, lived in hostels, travelled abroad and now live in a metro in its own right and am maniacally hanging on to it. While I love small town life- the space, the clean air, the pace but not at gunpoint will I move back to a small town. No- not even Pondicherry (if you are reading this husband dear)
Because I don't want to become a small town behenji types whose only source of entertainment is television and who never goes to pubs and restaurants and discos (ah, I still don't but that is because the husband will never ever dance)
So that brings us to the point - am I a behenji or a behenji turned modern or what?
and coming to the root of the question- who is a behenji? Or in today's context who is a behneji?
Urban disctionery classifies Rani Mukherjee or Juhi Chawla as behenjis btw...
What I feel is I would rather be a healthy mix of both modern and behenji
So from a small town girl studying in a girls only convent school I became a hostel living- co-ed mein studying- alone travelling- wanting to do MBA-wanting to work rather than wanting to "get married after passing BA"- living alone in a city faaaaaaaaaaaaar South girl- Did it make me a non Behenji?
Ok so from trouser and skirt wearing I became a churidaar kurta girl (figure issues nonetheless) wanting very badly to wear a sari to work atleast monthly once and always wearing sari during functions- does that make me a behenji?
I believe in rustling up food at home for the 3 men in my life, there is a sudden urge to observe and create my own traditions in my own home- so while I still don't do a puja everyday but I insist that all festivals- North Indian & South Indian be observed in my home- from Kartik Deepam to Pongal to Diwali and even Christmas- does the first part make me a behenji or the last part (Christmas) make me non Behenji?
From being a strict mommy blogger only to facebooking now- does it make me a non behenji then?
I treat my husband as my friend- I am most comfortable that way because that is how we started- and not the pati parmeshvar but at the same time I believe in monogamy- not behenji or yes? (Disclaimer- doesn't write off harmless flirting !!)
I drive but will never drive to locations that are more than an hour away- behenji then?
I have become a compulsive shopper- this is a no brainer- this makes me what I am - a woman!!
But then I am buying stuff for my home and not just for me- Behenji or an arty-farty types or just a proud homemaker- which in a way translates to being behenji???
I am actually finding SAHM an attractive proposition while at the same time dreaming of becoming a hot shot top corporate types doing her own thing- behenji? or plain practical who wants to take a sabbatical and spend time with kids?
So am I getting behenji-ised or just becoming a woman of modern thinking and traditional values - who will shun regressiveness and at the same time keep traditions and customs alive
-who will be a superb homemaker and at the same time a professional when at work
-who will value quality time with family and at the same time will know how to do her own thing like blogmeets and girlie lunches and parties and society dos and the like
-who will at a drop of a hat do a large social get together at home churning up homemade food and at the same time do a stylish theme based birthday party full of fun
-who will be very very busy with work and home yet find time to connect
-who will splurge at the same time know how to save and invest
- who can equally enjoy a Rebecca & a Jeffery archer and a Women's Era or worse a Grihashobha?
-who will be houseproud but at the same time shake in her shoes at the mention of "housework"
-who will sing her kids to sleep but will sing- jhalak dikhlaja as a lori!
-who will mindlessly chatter with her friends and cousins of her age group but will be equally comfortable with the older age group
-who can get supremely attached to tele soaps and at the same time dance to music reality shows
-who supports and rejoices in consumerism but is a rabid control freak where environment is concerned
So what are you? Behenji or not?
As Kiran blogged about it a few days ago
Many years ago it was a major insult if anyone used the word behenji types or dehati or likewise on me.
I come from a small town. And it would pinch badly if anyone called me that. As if I am not good enough. Or intelligent enough.
Ok to tell you the truth, living in a small town means your resources are limited, the styles are conservative, the opportunities are less and the show-sha is not at all there.
To cut a long story short, I moved on and out. Saw the world out of my town, lived in hostels, travelled abroad and now live in a metro in its own right and am maniacally hanging on to it. While I love small town life- the space, the clean air, the pace but not at gunpoint will I move back to a small town. No- not even Pondicherry (if you are reading this husband dear)
Because I don't want to become a small town behenji types whose only source of entertainment is television and who never goes to pubs and restaurants and discos (ah, I still don't but that is because the husband will never ever dance)
So that brings us to the point - am I a behenji or a behenji turned modern or what?
and coming to the root of the question- who is a behenji? Or in today's context who is a behneji?
Urban disctionery classifies Rani Mukherjee or Juhi Chawla as behenjis btw...
What I feel is I would rather be a healthy mix of both modern and behenji
So from a small town girl studying in a girls only convent school I became a hostel living- co-ed mein studying- alone travelling- wanting to do MBA-wanting to work rather than wanting to "get married after passing BA"- living alone in a city faaaaaaaaaaaaar South girl- Did it make me a non Behenji?
Ok so from trouser and skirt wearing I became a churidaar kurta girl (figure issues nonetheless) wanting very badly to wear a sari to work atleast monthly once and always wearing sari during functions- does that make me a behenji?
I believe in rustling up food at home for the 3 men in my life, there is a sudden urge to observe and create my own traditions in my own home- so while I still don't do a puja everyday but I insist that all festivals- North Indian & South Indian be observed in my home- from Kartik Deepam to Pongal to Diwali and even Christmas- does the first part make me a behenji or the last part (Christmas) make me non Behenji?
From being a strict mommy blogger only to facebooking now- does it make me a non behenji then?
I treat my husband as my friend- I am most comfortable that way because that is how we started- and not the pati parmeshvar but at the same time I believe in monogamy- not behenji or yes? (Disclaimer- doesn't write off harmless flirting !!)
I drive but will never drive to locations that are more than an hour away- behenji then?
I have become a compulsive shopper- this is a no brainer- this makes me what I am - a woman!!
But then I am buying stuff for my home and not just for me- Behenji or an arty-farty types or just a proud homemaker- which in a way translates to being behenji???
I am actually finding SAHM an attractive proposition while at the same time dreaming of becoming a hot shot top corporate types doing her own thing- behenji? or plain practical who wants to take a sabbatical and spend time with kids?
So am I getting behenji-ised or just becoming a woman of modern thinking and traditional values - who will shun regressiveness and at the same time keep traditions and customs alive
-who will be a superb homemaker and at the same time a professional when at work
-who will value quality time with family and at the same time will know how to do her own thing like blogmeets and girlie lunches and parties and society dos and the like
-who will at a drop of a hat do a large social get together at home churning up homemade food and at the same time do a stylish theme based birthday party full of fun
-who will be very very busy with work and home yet find time to connect
-who will splurge at the same time know how to save and invest
- who can equally enjoy a Rebecca & a Jeffery archer and a Women's Era or worse a Grihashobha?
-who will be houseproud but at the same time shake in her shoes at the mention of "housework"
-who will sing her kids to sleep but will sing- jhalak dikhlaja as a lori!
-who will mindlessly chatter with her friends and cousins of her age group but will be equally comfortable with the older age group
-who can get supremely attached to tele soaps and at the same time dance to music reality shows
-who supports and rejoices in consumerism but is a rabid control freak where environment is concerned
So what are you? Behenji or not?
Monday, January 25, 2010
Honest Scrap Dare
by Kiran
10 things about me I bet no one knows
1. Travelled ticketless in train
2. Switched off in meetings more often than stayed awake- but see my notes- I manage to note down everything that happened
3. done a 6 year course in Kathak
4. I secretly agree that no matter how hard I work at it the end results of my cooking exploits are not in proportion to the amount of hard work
5. I am glad that I take my kids everywhere because they give me a sense of purpose when I am getting bored in a place or in a group.
6. Sometimes coming to work is my only escape from the alternative of slogging at home
7. I love to travel but the process of getting the luggage ready is so exhausting that I would rather not go anywhere
8. Cartoons enable me to get my house work done
9. I prefer shopping alone- mostly I escape from the group if I have to seriously shop
10. I am a poor loser. I cannot bear losing out in an argument or a situation or a game
10 things about me I bet no one knows
1. Travelled ticketless in train
2. Switched off in meetings more often than stayed awake- but see my notes- I manage to note down everything that happened
3. done a 6 year course in Kathak
4. I secretly agree that no matter how hard I work at it the end results of my cooking exploits are not in proportion to the amount of hard work
5. I am glad that I take my kids everywhere because they give me a sense of purpose when I am getting bored in a place or in a group.
6. Sometimes coming to work is my only escape from the alternative of slogging at home
7. I love to travel but the process of getting the luggage ready is so exhausting that I would rather not go anywhere
8. Cartoons enable me to get my house work done
9. I prefer shopping alone- mostly I escape from the group if I have to seriously shop
10. I am a poor loser. I cannot bear losing out in an argument or a situation or a game
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