School school

As a kid I envied all the adults. They did not get homeworks. Their work was over as soon as they left office. While we, the kids had to spend the evenings and most of the weekend doing homeworks.

But the ordeal is far from over.

This is what Venky's diary read on Friday, 14th of Aug

" 15th August is our independence day and we have been trying to teach its significance to Venkatesh. Please make sure you show him the flag hoisting and the independence day parade to Venkatesh and send us 3 pictures of him pariticipating in the independence day clelebrations. We will use the pictures for a show and tell session with all the children. Please make sure that the pictures reach us by Monday."

"What the ...... DAMN!" These were exactly my thoughts when I read the note. This was a rather difficult assignment.

First, 15th Aug was a Saturday. That's supposed to be my wake-up-when-I-feel-like day. Since most of the flag hoistings happen by 8 am, that means not only I have to wake up early, I have to wake up EARLIER that I do on weekdays. Isn't it torture to make my sleep deprived self do that?

Second, show him the parade!!!! Where ? WHERE? TV is banned by the school (Yes, we watch TV only when Venky is sleeping). There are no parade's happening anywhere within the 10 km radius of my house. So, exactly where?

Third, the pics have to be sent on monday. Helloooo??? Saturday was 15th Aug so most of the shops would be closed. And sunday being sunday, most of the shops would be closed. So how do we get the prints in time?

Shucks! My worst school teacher was more considerate than this.

We toyed with the idea of NOT doing the homework. Then gave it up. I wouldn't be able to stand you-didn't-do-the-homework looks and polite inquiries from Venky's teacher and more importantly, we couldn't have let Venky feel left out in the show and tell session they were having.

So we woke up early on the Saturday, found an intitution where flag hoisting and parade was being done. Tooks digital pics. Seleted the best 3. Then ran around for rest 1.5 days to find an open studio which would do the digital printing. By Sunday evening, we had our copies and Venky took them proudly to the school on Monday.

The pics came out rather well. Here's one for you to see

Okey, I admit I am showing off. But the homework was hard work.

Its a GUY thing

Moms teach their sons how to brush their teeth
Moms teach their sons how to put on their shoes
Moms teach their sons to put away the toys after the play is done
Moms teach their sons A,B,C,D and 1, 2, 3, 4 ....

You obviously got who's the mom here.

Dads teach their sons how to pee without touching ANYTHING (yup, including the organ involved) in the loo and to hold your body in a strange convex position such that the stream still falls where it is supposed to.

Yes, you read it right.

Venky demonstrated it first and then declared "Papa has taught me!" with a proud smile.

And while I was wondering in shock ..."But WHY???" Venky made another declaration - "I won't need to wash my hands now."

It IS a guy thing.

ETA - Vibhu could not understand what was funny about this. He went on to say "Only women can find this amusing ...". IT IS A GUYS THING

What does it take to love ...

We have often heard about "Ma ki mamta" - A mother's love is unquestioned and unchallenged in our society. It is supposed to be the epitome of affection. But now I find myself questioning it. Again. Every time I challenge Venky, he proves he loves me more than I can ever love him. He always puts me before himself. And he did it yet again.

Last Saturday, Vibhu had to pick up something from the office. He decided to take Venky along as he loves going to our office and running around the water fountain there. Once Venky was informed that he was being taken to the office, he got really excited. He hurried up with his bath and finished his breakfast quickly. He jumped around the whole house waiting excitedly for his dad.

Just as they were ready to leave, I decided to pull Venky's leg. Venky always cries when we leave for office. That day, I was being left behind, so I did a Venky. I held him and asked him not to leave me and go. Venky said - "We'll go and come back very quickly mommy." This switch of roles had become interesting. I persisted - "Please Venky.. don't go". Venky did all the hugging and kissing he could do and kept assuring me that he'll come back soon.

Finally his dad called him to go. As Venky took unsure steps toward the car, I pretended to cry. Venky looked at his dad for help - "Mommy is crying."

Dad asked - "So, what should we do now?"

After a pause Venky said - "I'll not go."

Dad - "Should I go alone?"

Venky - "Yes. Come back quickly."

I cannot imagine the amount of self restraint it would have taken him to say that. A 2 yr old gave up something he wanted to do so much because I was crying. I felt so humbled and was ready to cry for real now. But I smiled and said it was okey for him to go.

Venky ran off happily with is dad and had a blast in the office, but as soon as Vibhu reminded him that I was alone at home waiting for him, he was ready to return. And ofcourse he did not forget to check on me once he was back home. :)

My son, if you retain half the will power you have right now, you'll grow up to be a fine man.

Supermom - Who, me?

Well, I definately felt like one.

Vibhu was abroad for two weeks and for once, I had Venky all by myself. No parents, no ILs. Venky had been going to the pre schools for 2 weeks and was not fully settled.

Needless to say, life was on the run. This was my schedule
6.30 am - Wake up. Get ready. You have exactly 30 minutes to yourself
7.00 am - Gently start waking Venky up. DON'T get him in a fowl mood.
8.00 am - Brush and bath done (hopefully). Start his breakfast session (depending on his mood, this can take from 15 mins to 1 hour)
8.45 am - Start for school (dump the unfinished breakfast)
9.00 am - Drop Venky at the school and proceed for office

11.15 am - Drop what you are doing in office and start for Venky's school.
11.30 am - Pick up Venky. He wants to go home by auto rickshaw, but I have a car. Pacify him for 5-1o mins to get into the car.
11.xx am - Reach home. Venky doesn't want to go home now. Spend another 5-10 mins to take him out of the car. Then try to leave for office while he clings to me and the maid tries to pacify him.

5 pm - Hit the Gym! Yes, I didn't drop it! Am so proud of my self. :)
6 pm - At home. Take Venky to the park. Play football with him (he has an amazing kick for his age, I think I should relocate to europe so that he can build a career out of it)
8 pm - Start the dinner session. Can take upto 1 hour again.
9 pm - On bed. Story telling .. and dozing off around 10 pm

Vibhu is now back and is thoroughly impressed with me. So are his parents. It definately feels like an achievement and I soo want to congratulate myself. But then I read Sarikh's posts and well.... the halo vanishes. After all, I have just one kid AND a domestic help.

Sigh! I have a long way to go! :(

The moment of truth

Venky and I are putting away the Lego pieces back in its box. Once its done, I pick up the box to keep it at its designated place. Venky shows concern

Venky - "Bhaari hai kya?" (Is it heavy?)

I - "Yes"

Venky - "Mommy nahi utha pa rahi hai?" (Mom is not able to lift it up?)

I (a little amused) - "Yes"

Venky - "Mommy buddhi ho gayi hai?" (Mom has grown old?)

I - "!#$%^&"

Sigh!

ETA - I was wondering how a 2 yr old managed to make that deduction. Apparently, his grandmom has taught him this logic. :)

My first tag (a stolen one)

Nobody tagged me, I picked this up from PS cause I really wanted to do this tag. Sigh! I am an obsessed mother after all. So, here are 5 reasons why I love being a mom

1. When I come back from work, Venky is so excited to see me. He runs to me and hugs me tight. I don't think I can remember anybody else being so happy to see me ever. With Venky, it is everyday!

2. Motherhood has made me an emotional and sensitive person. People who know me from my "young" days remember me as an unemotional, pragmatic, self centered person. I have cried more number of times after becoming a mother than I did ever before.

3. Life is never boring now. There is always something to do, to take care of. With Venky around we are never short on laughs - he keeps doing / saying these adorable, cute, funny things all the time

4.On weekends, Venky wakes up first. I get to open my eyes to his soft sound and smiling face. He crawls into my arms and blissfully sucks his thumb for sometime. Oh, I love lazing on a weekend morning with a cuddly baby. It just makes the whole weekend perfect

5. I have made a new circle of friends. I was (am) such an introvert and asocial person. I really find it hard to make conversations to unknown people. With Venky's arrival, my social circle has exploded. Now I easily talk to other parents and get invited to their kids' birthdays.

Damn! 5 points are over already. But you know, I could go on and on and on.... :)

Pre school - Day 1

I was nervous like hell. It was like going for a maths exam (Okey, not maths because I was good at it, but lets say... sanskrit exam or whichever subject you feared the most).

Challenge # 1 - Getting Venky (and ourselves) ready on time. I had to make sure that we get up at 7am to ensure that Venky reaches school by 9 am. That is quite a bit of an effort for one who not seen the 7 am sky for lets say.. a decade? Needless to say, I slept badly because of the tension. And woke up at 6 am. Tossed and turned till 7 am and then finally got up.

While I got ready, Vibhu handled waking up Venky. Venky wanted to sleep more and was terribly upset with Vibhu for forcing him out of the bed. His dada, dadi came to the rescue. By the time I dressed up he was in a good mood ( he was told that he will go to "school" and that excited him - isn't that a blessing!). So brush, shower and breakfast later (which went fairly smoothly and on schedule), the whole family was ready by 8.30 to take him to the school. Yeah, 4 adults (Vibhu, MIL, FIL & me) were to drop him to the school. I remember getting such a grand see off when I first went to the US. From the next time on, I called the cab. Sorry, I am digressing. So, we ALL got ready and left for Venky's school well in time.

Challenge # 2 - Waving goodbye. No matter how much we prepare Venky for our departure to the office, he always does a flip flop at the last moment. Although Venky's grandparents were to accompany him, I was wary about his reaction on seeing us leave. I tried to prep him by talking to him about it on our way to his school.. and lo, we were there! Venky hopped off excited (his 3 pre school visits had made him somewhat comfortable with its enviornment), and headed straight for the "jhoola". Dada, dadi followed him. We called him and waved bye. Yeah, today's child psychology - "inform" the child of your departure. I guess this days parents are the one who are made to follow the rules! I almost thought Venky'll will come back running and crying. But lo and behold, he waved goodbye. Traitor! Girgit! Dal Badloo! "Jaldi aana", he said. Hmmm.. okey, that'll unbreak my heart.

Challenge # 3 - Stay in school for 1.5 hours. Now, we were in office and Venky was in the school along with his grandparents. Grandparents were supposed to stay out of sight as long as possible and the teacher was supposed to handle him. At 9.15 am Vibhu pinged me on IM.

V [9:15 AM]:
my phone is in the car
call papa once

SS [9:15 AM]:
:)
arre rahne do na
itni jaldi kyon call karna hai?

V [9:16 AM]:
to find out if they are watching him on CCTV

SS[9:16 AM]:
we'll call at 10.30

tum toh Venky se jayada pareshan ho

its ok. Let them be
we'll call at 10.30 and then find out

V [9:16 AM]:

:(
ok

Dads these days I tell you! They've started behaving like mothers. And they've confused the moms which way to behave! So, I got back to work and then I got another IM at 10.38 am

V [10:38 AM]:
did you check?

SS [10:38 AM]:
what?

V [10:38 AM]:

on Venky?

I called my FIL now and found out how Venky behaved. Ofcourse I reported it back to Vibhu immideately. I wanted him to concentrate on work and not get fired during this recession. So,

this is how it went...

SS [10:45 AM]:
it went off very well
other kids were crying
he was not

V [10:46 AM]:
good

SS [10:46 AM]:
mostly he was on his own
he asked for his tiffin and ate

V [10:46 AM]:
they did not call papa(my FIL)?

SS [10:46 AM]:
all parents were just around
so they (my parents in law) were sitting in the office
but Venky came to them only once
and then kept himself busy
thoda classroom ke andar
and thoda bahar

V[10:47 AM]:
cool

SS [10:47 AM]:
some kids were just not leaving their parents

V [10:47 AM]:
hmmm

SS [10:48 AM]:
I talked to him (Venky)
he said ki maza aaya
and he is ready to go tomorrow again
so far so good :)

V [10:48 AM]:
awesome

SS [10:49 AM]:
I told you ki my son is a rock star :)

V [10:49 AM]:
hee hee

SS [10:49 AM]:
but you are one worried parent :p

V [10:49 AM]:
ok ok :p
bye

SS[10:49 AM]:
chalo bye obsessed daddy
think about work now :p

Hence proved - Venky is a rock star, Vibhu is an obessed dad and I am a happy mom!