Tooth-in - Tooth-out

 In the kg3 household, it is the life mission of one little person to consistently compete with the other person born before her.  Whatever good things happen to her sister, needs to happen to her as well, even if it’s a natural process. Unfortunately for me, the growth and fall of their teeth also comes under this category. While her sister has lost and re-grown more than 5 teeth, all of the little one’s teeth were intact. The fact that she was born 27 months after her sister doesn’t matter. All she wanted was a shaking tooth, and she’s been tirelessly checking her teeth for the past six months. 

Finally, her wish was granted last month. Whether the shaking tooth was natural or a result of her self-torture, we would never know. Once the shaking started, every morning, noon and night, the tooth would be re-visited in the mirror checking for the level of uproot. During all the times not spent before the mirror, the tooth would be subjected to the whims and fancies of her tongue. As the days progressed with no signs of the tooth falling, the patience level was running low. She was so eager to lose her teeth, that she was this close to pulling her tooth out of her mouth. Thankfully, on the auspicious day of Onam, as I was cooking, she duly bought her tooth in her hand and proudly displayed her ‘oota pallu’ which only she has the right to call so. To say that she was excited would be an understatement, and madam was all smiles the whole day. She could  hardly wait for the weekend to end, to go to school, and see, which one of her friends would be the first one to notice. The little joys of life!

Bed-time stories: Of old-ages and after-lives...

It was another one of our bed-time talks, when suddenly the topic of human evolution is raised by Swathi. After a vague explanation of the first man and woman, mankind coming from monkeys and all that stuff, the next question hits me “So, you mean to say...since we are your kids, when we have kids and they have kids, this house will be full of kids?” Oh.My.God! Whoever coined the term, “terrible twos”...sixth year is the worst, I tell you. These kids and their curiosities!!!

So, coming back to the question, as I was silently wondering as to how best to answer this...Smruthi jumps in and says (her exact words here)”No Swathi...It’s not like that...Let me explain (yeah, she said exactly that!) Humans are born from their mom’s tummies, grow up, get married, have kids (thank god, she has the order right), grow old and then die one day. If humans don’t die, there won’t be enough space on earth. So, they die, go to God and God makes them to be born again as a baby through some mother’s tummy”. Yes, she delivered this entire speech in a single flow. Without a moment’s pause.

As always, I was dumb-struck and speechless. Now, she turns towards me and says “Ma...next time also, will you be my mother?” Ok, now, I’m officially freaking out. I have seen and heard this “Adutha jenmam-nu onnu irundha...” dialogues so many times in movies, but this girl delivering the same dialogue, trust me, it didn’t sound one bit cheesy or filmy. Since I didn’t know what else to say, I nod and hug her and kiss her and then realise that this is one of those very rare moments when Swathi is being silent. No arguments, no interruptions, nothing! Just silent thinking! Then, she blurts out, “Aiyoo Amma, will my kids be calling you paati then?” Trust my little girl to come up with such an observation with such a timing. I don’t understand why, but the thought of some-one, some-day calling me “paati” sends her through a fit of giggles, and she laughs, not just some sarcastic laughter, but a non-stop, hugging-your-stomach and tears-in-the-eyes kind of laughter for the next five minutes, till I get annoyed. Never a dull moment in life, I tell you!

Ad...Bad...Sad...

Son comes home happily in the evening. Mom tells him that his supposed-to-be dad is not his true father. Son is shocked, ponders for a moment, and asks his mom why she hadn't told him earlier. Reason being he could have used his true dads' formals as well in an exchange offer of a leading shirting and suiting. Head-Bang! Bang! Bang! It was all I could do to not hit my head in the steering wheel, before changing the radio channel. How much more crappier can these ads get? Don't the ad agencies ever replay their ads once before formally releasing them? I mean, they can't just say whatever comes to their minds and release them with the product name just tagging along in the end, right? These products would seriously sell better if they don't have these ads to 'promote' them, would be my not-so-humble opinion.

Some ads are supposed to be so creative, that it takes a super-imaginative person to grasp the idea behind them. To me, they just remind me of a childhood joke, where the kid goes to an essay-writing competition having prepared to write about a cow, but he is asked to write about a tree instead. Being the creative kid that he is, he still continues to write about the cow and adds a final line to the essay stating that such and such a cow can be tied to the tree. This is the feeling I get on watching some of the ads these days. Either the ad agencies and the brand marketers don't review these ads AT ALL or my iq is so pathetic to understand them.

And I don't even want to get near the deodarant ads, where all it takes for a woman to follow a man is his deodarant, which is apparently strong enough to even attract the ladies from deep inside the amazons. God! No wonder, people start channel-hopping as soon as the commercials begin.

There used to be a time when I waited for the commercials, just to see the infectious happiness in this dairy milk girlfriend and the complan mother. I seriously miss them, not to forget the washing powder nirma and the 'kudikka venam....appdiye saapduven' horlicks kid. If I can attribute one good thing to these ads, its just that they are so completely irritating to get me started to write again. Who would have thought, these ads could be so damn powerful to revive my blog from hibernation!

Its ma b’day!!!

Yeah! Its me Swathi and I’m celebrating my b’day today! My fifth one at that! Because my mom has grown too lazy these days to write a blog post even for my b’day, I’ve decided to spare her the guilt of not giving me a b’day letter, by writing it myself! (She has the nerve not to sit and post a blog even after me reminding her to do so.)

In this last one year, I’ve played much, irritated (and have been irritated) much, fought much, and have also studied much. Unless you count the fights over the pencils, eraser, labels, water bottle, hair clips, bands, shoes, socks, window-seat, mommy, daddy, racket, mobile, chocolates and everything else under the sky, this year, I’ve been a very lovely and lovable sister, sharing almost everything else not listed above, with my sister. My mom, would say that I need to be more caring and share everything with my sister. I agree, but I can’t just give away these things, so what if they are hers, in the first place? She should learn to earn these things from me. Nothing comes free in this world, what say you?

I like to dress up, and carry myself very well, in almost all the costumes – with matching accessories, footwear, glasses, et all. And coming to costumes, I prefer wearing my sisters’ dresses more. So, what if they are second-hand, they are still new, and most importantly, they are still my sisters’ favorite. That single point is enough to make me wear them. Not because, it irritates her, but, because I love everything my sister loves. I don’t find anything wrong with this, but somehow, others don’t agree. Anyways, who cares! I get to do, what I want to do – most of the times. (read as ‘always’)

I’ve become more technology-driven this year, and have taught my dad to use his mobile, and my mom to play subway surfers and temple run. Not that she has become an expert yet. Forget about collecting the coins, she still can’t manage to run even a simple 100m without getting caught. Ask her to read a book, she can go on for ages and ages, without food and water, but can’t manage to play such simple games, I tell you. And the same goes for the physical games as well. While she has been a book-worm all through her education years, I’m more hooked to games – my favorites being badminton and basket ball. Just because I call her to play with me, she thinks she can teach me all about the game. Ha! As if already don’t know the game, all credits to my dad. None like my dad to teach me sports. My daddy always the best :)

I’m being labeled as not-so-sentimental by my mom, and I agree with her, and I don’t regret it. I love her, and she knows that. Then, what’s the point in saying the same thing again and again, and this means ‘practical’ and ‘not-so-sentimental’ in her terms. Its ok. Let me be me! Not only me, but my poor dad is also suffering from her not-so-practical behaviour.

You see, unlike my sister, I’m not much into this reading and writing stuff, so, having written this much of a post is really a huge accomplishment. And moreover, I believe in being humble. So, signing off for now, yours favorite, Swathi. Wish me happy b’day folks! Oh, I forgot to mention, mom, its not only dad, but I love you too :)

Yeah, that's me!

PS: Dear Swathi, my lovely and best birthday wishes to you! As always, you fill our life with so much energy and fun, that there’s never a single dull moment in life with you around. Thanks for coming into our lives, and may you get the best of all that life has to offer. Once again, wishing you the happiest birthday darling!

27:02:2014

My dear Smruthi,

Its your birthday again, and you are turning seven today! I’m not sure, for how many more years I would get the liberty to declare your age, but as long as I have that, (and even after that…) I would continue to be in awe at the amazing speed with which you are growing.

I sometimes feel that the days are not very far, when you would come to us and say “Mom! I know what I’m doing”. (Yes, this has been your favorite dialog from ‘Abhiyum Naanum’). I’m dreading the day you would actually mean it, not because my little butterfly is learning to fly, but in its new-found curiosity, the butterfly may actually want to fly far in its independence, and I may have to ‘let go’ as a parent. Believe me dear, as a mom, letting go is very difficult – be it when you ride your new bicycle all by yourself, (and remind me not to be like Abhi’s father, who followed her when she rode her cycle to school) be it when you go to the music class in the next street, all by yourself, or when you leave with your friends for a day’s outing, WITHOUT us, and took care of yourself for an entire day. But, all these you did do, and here I was watching you grow, wondering how fast the days are flying by!

Do you know, just a couple of days back, as I was having my dinner, you came to me and narrated an incident from school (a quite mischievous one, at that!) You didn’t necessarily say it was a secret, but the fact that you hadn’t shared it with anybody else – not your best friend, not your sister, father, grandparents – no one, but only me, made me feel honored. When asked what made you reveal this to me, and not to anyone else, imagine the answer you gave? “’Coz you are the one I love the most in this world!” You will never know, how much this means to me. It gave me a deep sense of satisfaction, that I was indeed doing something right as a mother, for you to be sharing such deep feelings with me. Trust me, I will not reveal ‘our little secret’ to anyone else. Promise J Expecting more of these little secrets in the future years to come.

Like your previous year, this year also, you have been curious enough to know and learn things, greatly, to the point of annoying me. I mean, who doesn’t get annoyed when being continuously questioned about the facts they pathetically don’t have answers to? On that note, you are most fascinated by solar system, (How do the planets stay in orbit all the time? How is it that they don’t fall down? Because they don’t have anywhere to fall down to) love, (Whom should I love when I grow up? Yeah, right! A perfect question to your mother!), child birth, (Why doesn’t the male breed of dogs give birth to puppies?). Oh God, please help me!

You are becoming more and more glued to me every day, and you proudly declare that you are a ‘Amma Gondhu!’ (Mommy’s girl) You can read my emotions and know when I’m upset, happy, angry, whatever! And you also know pretty well, how to lift my moods when I’m angry or upset with you girls. You never miss a chance to give me your teddy bear hug or that charming kiss, and tell me that I’m the best. I can never have enough of these, and I cherish each and every one of them.

The best part this year has been that you have started reading books, and just out of curiosity, I opened you up to my blogs. You did read your previous birthday letters, and head-banged on some of them, but still, you love the fact that I write a letter to you every year. Yay! Makes me the best mom again, according to you. Thanks (blushing).

Wishing you the happiest b’day dear, and may each year be better than your previous ones!

Love you dear. Now and ever!

Your mom!

Abhiyum Naanum!

I watched this movie twice in a span of three days last week, the first time, enjoying all by myself, with no kids or hubby to fight for the remote (long live schools and office) and the second time as a family. Wow! What a movie! Very few movies – very few – give you this feel-good feeling when they end. No heavy sentiments, no tragedy, no fight, just love and laughter. The bonding portrayed between the dad and his girl is simply contagious. You yearn to be that dad/daughter and start expecting the same from the counterpart as in the movie :)

When the same movie was telecast just the day after, the mom, dad and the two girls sat glued in front of the TV right from the start. And Smruthi was glued to each and every scene in the movie. When the little one was feeling bored, and irritated due to sleep, Smruthi refused to move without seeing Abhi getting married. And worse, her interrogatory skills came back in full form as she watched the movie.

- Why did she bring the beggar home? (This for the Ravi Shastri scene)

- Why has she not invited anybody else for the cake-cutting of her dad? (The lake scene)

- Why did he collapse when he heard Abhi say ‘Love you Jogi’ on the phone?

- Is loving bad?

By now, I start feeling like switching off the TV and hitting the bed, just for her sake, when she suddenly asks: ‘Maa, he said that Jogi has no parents, and only a paati, now how come there are so many relatives ma?’

Apart from being interrupted on watching a nice movie, such questions at 9:30 in the night, was starting to get on my nerves. Before being questioned further, I leave the TV and the question-bank to the dad, and retire to bed with my little one. After 10 minutes or so, I hear a loud screaming, only to see Smruthi crying, because her dad had switched off the TV just before Abhi’s marriage, So, I compel to the poor guy to let her watch the movie, just this one time, and to give her company like the nice dad in the movie. So, that was that! Smruthi slept peacefully that night after watching her first ever night-show, fully understanding a story, and loving it too :) A story like this, and who cannot?

Universal Conspiracy!

Here I was, voluntarily entering into the blogathon, resolving not to give up, till the end of the month, and what more, I actually started writing a post a day for every day of the month – for 9 days, that is! That is when it happened. My consistent writing and my exceptional writing skills (ahem! Ahem!) urged murphy to stop me from reaching the finish line of the blogathon. So, the entire universe conspired, first it was my flu, and then, consecutive hospitalization and surgeries in the family, not to forget pongal and guests in home, making me toggle between hospital, home and guests – gave me no time to breathe, let alone blog. So, ultimately fate won, and the blogathon - my very first one, lay totally forgotten somewhere in the back of my mind. Now, that things are settled and quite back to normal, I bounce back with some fresh ideas for the blogathon, and it is already end of the month! Sigh! Why is Murphy always behind me?