At 32,

I love my life a lot

From limping along in the Maruti to driving the Bolero. It might not be much, but for me it’s a HUGE achievement and I almost always have this goofy grin while driving

Have become less resilient. It takes me longer to recover from setbacks, from rude comments, from disappointments. Shouldn’t it be the other way around. As I grow older be more zen????

Finally have my priorities very clear. Financial independence…. Family.. Kids… Dance.. Reading.. Travel.

Have completely abolished the TV from my life. Other than the occasional movie, I find that surprisingly I have no inclination to switch it on.

Have made peace with the fact that I might not have a ‘çareer’. It requires more from me than I’m willing to give. Especially not now. Don’t know when.

From never having to worry about my weight irrespective of eating like a horse, it’s a tug of war these days. With adipose tissue layered on and refusing to budge despite the activities. Just look at food and hey, its on me :-(
Have become capable of managing a lot of stuff. Yes, I am morphing into my mom and at times my dad. Its both funny and scary.

Have understood that life doesn’t stop once you have kids and two at that! Life is what you make of it and what you do with it.

Haven’t yet got a tattoo, not yet found the right one. ( I did suggest to the BH that he could get my full name tattooed on his chest as his birthday present to me…Well, his recation… Errr.. Not suitable to be printed is all I can say..)

Realized that ‘niceness’ is overrated and that we need to distance ourselves from others at times

Have got back to dancing and as Mowgli says ít is ossum’. Not planning to stop this anytime soon.

Still have dreams that are yet to be fulfilled

And still as excited about my birthday as I was at twelve :-)

Bringing up the kids!

The most important update.. Bambi started daycare(a couple of hours a day) this month. The same place that Mowgli went. Totally different experience. The first day, she readily went with one of the ladies there, inspected everything , gave everyone her “you are extremely blessed to have me smile at you” smile. I went out for a  walk, came back in half an hour and she was happily playing. The next day, same story. I was out for more than an hour. She had had her snack and was playing. The third day they told me to come only after lunch. The fourth day was the same. So was the fifth. The change being that the moment Mowgli puts on his schoolbag, Bambi will also run and get her bag ( Mowgli’s old one.. yes, she might suffer some trauma at all the hand-me-downs that she has) and stand at the door. The BH and I remember Mowgli’s tears and tantrums and shake our heads in disbelief. It’s the same question that comes back. HOW IN HELL CAN TWO CHILDREN FROM THE SAME GENE POOL BE SO DIFFERENT!!!! Now we see tantrums of a different nature. She puts on her ‘Be’ (bag) and ‘jhoo’ (shoe) the moment she wakes up and is ready to go. And tantrums galore coz her evil parents don’t allow her to trot off to daycare at 7 am!!!

Onam was eventful with an entire battalion from the BH's side coming to spend a week with us. After the initial panic and grumblings and mumblings the Virgo in me rose to the situation, put everything down in excel and managed happily :-) Seems like I'm getting obsessed with lists and excel. The kids had lots of fun, so did we. Though I'm sure I heard a collective sigh of relief from the neighbours when everybody went.

What have the kids been upto? A lot.. Bambi managed to scald her feet with boiling chai a day before my in laws were to come. Got all the sympathy and proved herself to be a tough cookie. The blister took almost a month to heal. Apart from the initial tears, she was least bothered with it. It looked so painful, but she just ignored the wound and went around climbing everywhere and picking at the scabs. The scar is still there. The BH plans to milk it for all its worth on how  a careless mama poured hot tea over her. Cocoa has morphed into a totally 'Love starved'  woman understanding now that along with the kids she too has to fight for our attention. Its not uncommon to see her gently pushing Mowgli or Bambi and trying to get on our laps instead.

Bambi is growing up to be the bully of the playground picking fights with every one. She even keeps track of who behaves badly to Mowgli and goes on to administer justice which usually means walking up to kids double her size and either shouting gibberish at them or one tight slap! She follows Mowgli around wherever he goes, playing with his cars when he is not there, snatching his cars and running away( more like wobbling away) as fast as she can. Independent as can be. Everything has to be done by herself.

At times its really funny to see them both playing. Mowgli would be earnestly playing with his cars or animals whereas Bambi is more interested in disrupting or creating confusion in whatever Mowgli does.

And I vigorously nod my head at Bill Cosby when he said “The truth is that parents are not really interested in justice. They just want quiet.” Absolutely!

Mowglisms

For Teacher's day, Mowgli took two roses for his teachers.
I asked him " What did maam say?"
"Maam hug cheythu Mowgline.Pinne Maam parayuva Maaminu Hotwheels Car venamnu"
!!!
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We'd gone here for a day out with friends and Cocoa. The BH and I were about to walk onto a small bridge that leads to a watchpoint on the lake. Mowgli pulled us back saying "No.No" . I told the BH to hold him and started to walk alone when suddenly a small hand grabbed me tight." Mowgliyum varuva. Mowgli skared aanenkillum Mama poyal, mowgliyum varum".
He would get angry with Cocoa if she swam a lot saying she will get tired and then she cant come back. He wants all of us near him irrespective of the " i dont love you"s.
Time like this when my son blows me away with these words straight from his heart.
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'Dada, Cocoa boy aano Girl aano?"
'Girl'
Is lost in thought for some time.
'Dada, nammukoru boy baby also venam. Appam 3 boys and 3 girls'
Dada gets all enthusiastic and hyper about it!
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We'd gone out for dinner and Mowgli was half asleep by the time we got back. I put him on the bed and was about to change my dress when a sleepy voice said " Mama, you also sleep. Not joking sleep. Real sleep. Dada also. Its very night."
yes, we do sneak away after putting the kids to sleep :-)

Good Manners still alive

I stopped the car for two small boys today who were waiting to cross the road. They crossed over, turned back, smiled and mouthed a "Thank You".
Of all the people whom I've stopped for, can count on one hand the number of people who have acknowledged the gesture. Was very happy with the kids. Maybe something right is being taught in schools!!!