Venky is already one. In mind that is. He has to wait till June to be Big B for real. Yup guys, there's "good news". Venky will have a sibling come June :)
We started "preparing" Venky as soon as we learnt that I had concieved. Venky took the "news" like, well.... a "news". 'You are going to have another baby. Fine. Big deal !" No, that was not what he said. That is what his attitude was.
Now, Venky has pretty much internalized the fact that he is going to be a big brother. He thinks that my huge tummy is going to burst open like a baloon from my naval and the baby is going to jump out.
Venky - "Mommy. My slippers have become small. You can keep them for the small baby. Buy me a new pair."
He made us buy him a new pair. When we got home, Venky brought a plastic bag, kept his old slippers neatly into it and put it nicely into the shelf that is now designated for the new baby.
Oh, my non-possesive, sharing little rock star is ready to give all his stuff to the new baby. Only, he wants the new replacements! :)
Venky's toy bucket was overflowing. So, one weekend I sat down to sort out the stuff he was not playing with. Venky wanted to know what I was doing with his toys. I told him that I was keeping away the toys he does not play with for the small baby. Venky jumped in to help, and even gave away those toys that he still plays with. I was impressed, but I am still skeptical about his "sharing" attitude once he faces the reality. Lets see...
Me - "Venky what will you teach the small baby?"
Venky - "I willl teach him to brush his/her teeth. To drink milk from sippy cup. To eat on his/her own (Venky still has to do that BTW)..."
Me - "You keep an eye on him/her, okey? When you take him/her to the park, make sure s/he plays safely. If s/he is naughty, schold him/her and let mommy know. Don't let him/her go on the slide (Slide is banned for Venky also). "
Venky - "OK. But I can take him/her on my lap and hold him/her and slide slowly. Then it should be okey. Right?"
I loved the picture of togetherness Venky painted for me. That is exactly why I am having another baby. The answer to Venky question had to be an "Yes." My smartie thereby extracted the premission to get on the slide :)
I get the feeling that Venky will be a responsible, protective big brother. If its a sister for him, I am sure he will irritate her big time with his "protectiveness" during teenage. Good for me as a parent. I can just watch from the sidelines and grin :) Its like my job getting done without me having to do it.
If its a brother, he is sure to get a lot of hand me downs (I am already feeling sorry for the poor guy). I can see a lot of broken stuff in my house. The brats jumping all over the house. Me shouting 24*7 and going insane.
Either ways, I kinda like the feeling of being a mom of TWO :)
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Pigs can fly too.
As kids we used to often play this game called "Chidiya Ud". Essentially, two or more people should have their one finger on the table. One of the players is supposed to call out
"Chidiya Ud" (Bird fly)
"Tota Ud" (Parrot fly)
The other players are supposed to lift their fingers up in air in response. If the caller says something like
"Table Ud" (Table fly) - meaning an object which basically cannot fly, then the other players are not supposed to lift their fingers. If a player ends up lifting his/her finger, then s/he gets out and has to face punishment.
We recently taught this game to Venky. Its a handy game to keep the kids busy if you have to make them sit at a place without any props. One day, Venky and his dad were playing this game. Vibhu was calling out.
"Tota Ud"
"Kabootar Ud"
Venky's finger kept going up in the air.
"Snail Ud"
Venky lifted his finger again.
"Out, out! Venky is out. You lifted your finger. Snail does not fly." Shouted Vibhu.
Venky thought for a while. He then looked at me and asked.
"Mommy. Can the snail not fly if it goes on the aeroplane?"
I arbitrated and Venky stayed on in the game. How could I beat that logic? :-)
"Chidiya Ud" (Bird fly)
"Tota Ud" (Parrot fly)
The other players are supposed to lift their fingers up in air in response. If the caller says something like
"Table Ud" (Table fly) - meaning an object which basically cannot fly, then the other players are not supposed to lift their fingers. If a player ends up lifting his/her finger, then s/he gets out and has to face punishment.
We recently taught this game to Venky. Its a handy game to keep the kids busy if you have to make them sit at a place without any props. One day, Venky and his dad were playing this game. Vibhu was calling out.
"Tota Ud"
"Kabootar Ud"
Venky's finger kept going up in the air.
"Snail Ud"
Venky lifted his finger again.
"Out, out! Venky is out. You lifted your finger. Snail does not fly." Shouted Vibhu.
Venky thought for a while. He then looked at me and asked.
"Mommy. Can the snail not fly if it goes on the aeroplane?"
I arbitrated and Venky stayed on in the game. How could I beat that logic? :-)
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Perspective
I've introduced Venky to alphabets. Although his pre school which follows montessory style does not recommend it, I thought it was time. We are going to put him into a regular school starting June. Since Venky got admitted in PP1, I am worried that he should be at par with the rest of the class. So, I have started with standing line, sleeping line and simple letters like T, O, H etc.
Through Venky, I am learning that ability to read and write opens a whole new world to you. A world which was there right in front of you and you did not know that it existed. Its a complete new found power. A couple of days after we introduced Venky to the basic letters, we were driving on the road. Suddenly, Venky started shouting "T, T, T Mommmy TEeeee" with so much of excitement. I realized that he had identified the letter 'T' on a hoarding. He had suddenly discovered the meaning of something he had been seeing everyday.
From then on, everytime we are on road, we are identifying T, O, H, L, Q and the matrix is expanding. The excitement in Venky's voice when he spots a letter is palpable. And we cannot help being proud parents.
The other day, Vibhu bought a cricket set for Venky (he believes that if Venky starts early, he can be the future Sachin T). Before teaching Venky the game itself, Vibhu decided to teach Venky the terminologies of the game.
"This is called a bat"
"This is the ball"
The Vibhu pointed to the stumps and said
"Do you know what is this?"
"Yes, Standing line. One, two, three standing lines!"
Venky then pointed to the bails and continued
"And this is a sleeping line!"
Heh. heh. Vibhu had his head in his hands but I was grinning ear to ear!
Through Venky, I am learning that ability to read and write opens a whole new world to you. A world which was there right in front of you and you did not know that it existed. Its a complete new found power. A couple of days after we introduced Venky to the basic letters, we were driving on the road. Suddenly, Venky started shouting "T, T, T Mommmy TEeeee" with so much of excitement. I realized that he had identified the letter 'T' on a hoarding. He had suddenly discovered the meaning of something he had been seeing everyday.
From then on, everytime we are on road, we are identifying T, O, H, L, Q and the matrix is expanding. The excitement in Venky's voice when he spots a letter is palpable. And we cannot help being proud parents.
The other day, Vibhu bought a cricket set for Venky (he believes that if Venky starts early, he can be the future Sachin T). Before teaching Venky the game itself, Vibhu decided to teach Venky the terminologies of the game.
"This is called a bat"
"This is the ball"
The Vibhu pointed to the stumps and said
"Do you know what is this?"
"Yes, Standing line. One, two, three standing lines!"
Venky then pointed to the bails and continued
"And this is a sleeping line!"
Heh. heh. Vibhu had his head in his hands but I was grinning ear to ear!
Monday, 8 February 2010
Reprimand of the day
My FIL calls up to talk with Venky. After having done his conversation with his grandpa, Venky hands over the phone to me. I talk to him addressing him as "Papa". After I hang up, Venky comes to me with a lifted finger and a stern expression on his face.
"You call Papa 'Jaaneman', you call Dadu 'Papa', what's wrong with you? You should call Papa as 'Papa', Dadu as 'Dadu' and Dadi as 'Dadi' ! "
Yesss Sir. Point taken!
"You call Papa 'Jaaneman', you call Dadu 'Papa', what's wrong with you? You should call Papa as 'Papa', Dadu as 'Dadu' and Dadi as 'Dadi' ! "
Yesss Sir. Point taken!
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Its a battleground
The game is on. Vibhu and me on one side and Venky on the other. And more often than not, the ball is in our court. After being duped and tricked, now we are being manipulated. Till now we have been able to save ourselves from the devil's traps (or so we think) but the day is not far when we helpless souls will be taken for a many rides.
You guys think I am panicking unnecessarily? And that my son is just a 2.5 year old innocent little kid? Well, listen to this story then... (you asked for it ;-)! )
Venky has to recite "Papa Chalisa" before he can get any favors from Vibhu. Now what is "Papa Chalisa"? Lets say Venky wants a chocolate.
Venky - "Mommy, I want a chocolate."
Mommy - "Only one chocolate a day. You have had one today already!"
Venky knows now that Papa is his only hope
Venky - "Papa. I want one chocolate."
Papa - "What will you have to do for that."
Venky - "Papa, you are so nice. You love me so much. You make me cozy and put me to sleep. You take me in your arms and feed me milk. You let me splash-splash water and bathe me. You take me out in the car. You also give me chocolates. I love youuuu papaaaaa."
This is followed by a hug and Venky gets a chocolate. Poor mom can only glare at the dad.
So, the other day we were planning to go out somewhere.
Venky - "Papa, I want to go out too."
Papa - "What will you have to do for that?"
Venky - "Papa you are so nice. You love me so much. You put me on the fornt seat of the car and take me out ....."
Like all the kids in the world, Venky is never allowed on the front seat. He is always belted in the rear seat. And like all the kids in the world he want to sit in the front of the car. Vibhu and I could only look at each other and shake our heads! Needless to say "Papa Chalisa" was followed by a tantrum to sit on the front seat.
Now what do you guys have to say? Little kid, eh? Should I run away before its too late?
You guys think I am panicking unnecessarily? And that my son is just a 2.5 year old innocent little kid? Well, listen to this story then... (you asked for it ;-)! )
Venky has to recite "Papa Chalisa" before he can get any favors from Vibhu. Now what is "Papa Chalisa"? Lets say Venky wants a chocolate.
Venky - "Mommy, I want a chocolate."
Mommy - "Only one chocolate a day. You have had one today already!"
Venky knows now that Papa is his only hope
Venky - "Papa. I want one chocolate."
Papa - "What will you have to do for that."
Venky - "Papa, you are so nice. You love me so much. You make me cozy and put me to sleep. You take me in your arms and feed me milk. You let me splash-splash water and bathe me. You take me out in the car. You also give me chocolates. I love youuuu papaaaaa."
This is followed by a hug and Venky gets a chocolate. Poor mom can only glare at the dad.
So, the other day we were planning to go out somewhere.
Venky - "Papa, I want to go out too."
Papa - "What will you have to do for that?"
Venky - "Papa you are so nice. You love me so much. You put me on the fornt seat of the car and take me out ....."
Like all the kids in the world, Venky is never allowed on the front seat. He is always belted in the rear seat. And like all the kids in the world he want to sit in the front of the car. Vibhu and I could only look at each other and shake our heads! Needless to say "Papa Chalisa" was followed by a tantrum to sit on the front seat.
Now what do you guys have to say? Little kid, eh? Should I run away before its too late?
Wednesday, 13 January 2010
And Venky got admitted to big school
We did not have too many choices. Our priority list looked like this
1. Chirec - Close by. Recommended by most. Has goot student - teacher ratio for small kids. Focus on acadamics for big kids. Starts taking exams from class 6
2. DPS - One of the traditional schools. Focuses a lot on academics. Starts taking exams from class 1
3. Oakridge International - Hi funda school. Focuses on "all round development." Doesn't have too much data on academics. Mostly good for small kids due to high teacher/child ratio. Good for kids who want to do higher studies abroad. For higher studies in India - not sure. Fees almost twice as much as the previous two schools.
Chirec was the first to give out admission forms and call for "observation." We were more nervous than we had been during our own 10th board exams. Once there, we met 4 other couples from the same office that Vibhu and I work in. All applying for nursary. Given that school had clearly said that they were looking for "diversity" - we were among the least diverse of the lot. Venky made himself comfortable but he refused to make any conversation with the teachers there and simply ignored all their questions. Our interview did not go very well too. They only asked "So, both of you work. Who takes care of him.?"
I find that question so irritating that the irritation must've shown on my face. Well, you know, I obviously do not leave him on streets and go to work. I just can't stand people who like to question parent's commitment to their kids. "Oh poor child, how does his stay without parents!". Excuse Me!!!! How dare you judge my parenting skills. I obviously have an arrangement that I and my child is satisfied with. How dare you suggest that I don't love and care for my child enough!
So that was the interview with Chirec.
And then we got to know that DPS planned to close its nursary and PP sections and begin schooling only from class 1 as they don't have enough infrastructure. There goes our 2nd backup!
Next was Oakridge's "observation" day. Venky was in a good mood since morning. The waterfall outside the school's campus helped. Oakridge's had put some tri-cycles in their field next to the observation room for the kids to play with till they awaited their turn. So, by the time Venky went into the observation room he was in a great mood. He talked to the teacher. Identified all colors, animals and vegetables she asked him to. Put the beads in a string and had a discussion about "bournvita" health drink (which he has never tasted BTW). All in all, the observation routine went very well. The headmistress offered to take him in PP1 due to his rock-star performance and he was just within their age bar of 3 yrs for PP1 (for Chirec it is 3.5).
So, while we are still waiting for Chirec to respond back (interview happened more than a month ago), Oakridge's deadline came and we shelled out more money for Venky's PP1 admissions than what was required for our (mine and Vibhu's) entire education put together.
Venky is going to Oakridge starting this June. The bright side - he gained an year. Not so bright side - we are not sure about their focus on academics for older kids. We do want him to go to a good college in India and not abroad. Hmm.. so for now, we'll let him be there and take a call on changing the school when he gets older.
Thus begins Venky's 15 years of schooling.
1. Chirec - Close by. Recommended by most. Has goot student - teacher ratio for small kids. Focus on acadamics for big kids. Starts taking exams from class 6
2. DPS - One of the traditional schools. Focuses a lot on academics. Starts taking exams from class 1
3. Oakridge International - Hi funda school. Focuses on "all round development." Doesn't have too much data on academics. Mostly good for small kids due to high teacher/child ratio. Good for kids who want to do higher studies abroad. For higher studies in India - not sure. Fees almost twice as much as the previous two schools.
Chirec was the first to give out admission forms and call for "observation." We were more nervous than we had been during our own 10th board exams. Once there, we met 4 other couples from the same office that Vibhu and I work in. All applying for nursary. Given that school had clearly said that they were looking for "diversity" - we were among the least diverse of the lot. Venky made himself comfortable but he refused to make any conversation with the teachers there and simply ignored all their questions. Our interview did not go very well too. They only asked "So, both of you work. Who takes care of him.?"
I find that question so irritating that the irritation must've shown on my face. Well, you know, I obviously do not leave him on streets and go to work. I just can't stand people who like to question parent's commitment to their kids. "Oh poor child, how does his stay without parents!". Excuse Me!!!! How dare you judge my parenting skills. I obviously have an arrangement that I and my child is satisfied with. How dare you suggest that I don't love and care for my child enough!
So that was the interview with Chirec.
And then we got to know that DPS planned to close its nursary and PP sections and begin schooling only from class 1 as they don't have enough infrastructure. There goes our 2nd backup!
Next was Oakridge's "observation" day. Venky was in a good mood since morning. The waterfall outside the school's campus helped. Oakridge's had put some tri-cycles in their field next to the observation room for the kids to play with till they awaited their turn. So, by the time Venky went into the observation room he was in a great mood. He talked to the teacher. Identified all colors, animals and vegetables she asked him to. Put the beads in a string and had a discussion about "bournvita" health drink (which he has never tasted BTW). All in all, the observation routine went very well. The headmistress offered to take him in PP1 due to his rock-star performance and he was just within their age bar of 3 yrs for PP1 (for Chirec it is 3.5).
So, while we are still waiting for Chirec to respond back (interview happened more than a month ago), Oakridge's deadline came and we shelled out more money for Venky's PP1 admissions than what was required for our (mine and Vibhu's) entire education put together.
Venky is going to Oakridge starting this June. The bright side - he gained an year. Not so bright side - we are not sure about their focus on academics for older kids. We do want him to go to a good college in India and not abroad. Hmm.. so for now, we'll let him be there and take a call on changing the school when he gets older.
Thus begins Venky's 15 years of schooling.
Monday, 14 December 2009
The first in the series
On the fore head. Right below the hairline. About 2 cm long.
Venky chose perfect timing. It was a birght, sunny Saturday morning. Vibhu left for his cousin's marriage in Jaipur. Venky and I had our breakfast and Venky played around with his football as I sipped my coffee. Our driver returned after dropping Vibhu to the airport and I decided to dismiss him for the day as I did not have any plans to go out. I was looking forward to a lazy Saturday with the TV remote all to myself :-).
I called up the bride to wish her on the wedding day. The moment I heard "Hello" from the other end I heard Venky give a loud wail from outside. I rushed out and saw his hand covered in blood. Then I saw further and saw his head covered in blood. The blood was running down in a stream down his ear. I panicked. I called out to my maid to get some ice. Then I asked her to find some cotton. Both of us could not remember where it was. My Tshirt and pyjamas were already covered in Venky's blood. I started getting desparate, I had heard somewhere that if the child loses a lot of blood he may go into to coma ( Probably it was the bollywood movie "Bhoothnath". I don't know if the information imparted in the movie was correct, but that is all I could remember at that point of time)
Our next door neighbours who saw everything from across the wall, came down running with the cotton ( Thank God, I live in India!). Once I pressed cotton on Venky's forehead, the blood stopped in sometime. I also saw a deep long cut. Venky had tripped while playing and hit his head on an edge. Our neighbors adviced me to see a doctor. Now that the blood had stopped I regained my composture. Venky had stooped crying too.
Our neighbors are a big joint Telugu family and one of the DILs (Shobha - Thank you so much), took out her car and offered me to drive to the nearest Apollo clinic. While on the way, I called up my driver and asked him to come back and bring the car to the clinic.
At the clinic, the doctor did the first aid and advised me to visit the main hospital as the cut would probably need stiching and it required an expert. Meanwhile my driver had arrived with car. I thanked Shobha for her help and proceeded to the main Apollo hospital.
I was more calm and could think better now. I remembered that one of my bachelor cousins lived close by. I called him and picked him up on way to help me out at the hospital (Thank God again that I live in India!). We went straight to the emergency section at the hospital where they saw the wound and called their plastic surgeon for an opinion.
We waited and waited for the next 2 hours. Venky started coming back to spirits and started demanding a "banana". The doctors had advised us not to feed him anything as he would be administered anesthesia for the stiches and he had to be empty stomach for that.
My cousin did all the running around to get the hospital formalities processed while I stayed with Venky. Venky cooperated will all the medical procedures (Oh! my rock star!) and was back to his chirpy self. Finally, finally the doctor arrived. One look at the cut and he says - "Oh! its close to the hairline, we'll just glue it up."
He then gave me further explanation - "The scar will be covered by the hair. To stitch, we'll have to administer general anesthesia to such a little boy. Its not worth it. He'll have a masculine scar to show off, its all right! :-)"
I was sooo relieved. All this talk of taking him to OT and anesthesia was really making me nervous. I quickly agreed. My cousin got the glue. The doctor applied it and we were done!
On the way back Venky (and the two of us) had his banana. We came home, had a huge lunch, after which my cousin left. Both Venky and I crashed soon after that slept for 3 hours.
In the evening Venky was back to his normal self. Back in spirits, back in energy. Everytime, I asked him if the cut was paining, he replied with a big "NO".
So, that was the story of how Venky got his first scar. I have 3 such scars (knee, elbow, other side of palm) and I have broken my shoulder twice. Vibhu does not have any. Probably that is why Venky to chose to fall when his dad wasn't around. Sigh! It all comes back to you in this life and for once, I am desparately wishing that Venky does not take after me.
Venky chose perfect timing. It was a birght, sunny Saturday morning. Vibhu left for his cousin's marriage in Jaipur. Venky and I had our breakfast and Venky played around with his football as I sipped my coffee. Our driver returned after dropping Vibhu to the airport and I decided to dismiss him for the day as I did not have any plans to go out. I was looking forward to a lazy Saturday with the TV remote all to myself :-).
I called up the bride to wish her on the wedding day. The moment I heard "Hello" from the other end I heard Venky give a loud wail from outside. I rushed out and saw his hand covered in blood. Then I saw further and saw his head covered in blood. The blood was running down in a stream down his ear. I panicked. I called out to my maid to get some ice. Then I asked her to find some cotton. Both of us could not remember where it was. My Tshirt and pyjamas were already covered in Venky's blood. I started getting desparate, I had heard somewhere that if the child loses a lot of blood he may go into to coma ( Probably it was the bollywood movie "Bhoothnath". I don't know if the information imparted in the movie was correct, but that is all I could remember at that point of time)
Our next door neighbours who saw everything from across the wall, came down running with the cotton ( Thank God, I live in India!). Once I pressed cotton on Venky's forehead, the blood stopped in sometime. I also saw a deep long cut. Venky had tripped while playing and hit his head on an edge. Our neighbors adviced me to see a doctor. Now that the blood had stopped I regained my composture. Venky had stooped crying too.
Our neighbors are a big joint Telugu family and one of the DILs (Shobha - Thank you so much), took out her car and offered me to drive to the nearest Apollo clinic. While on the way, I called up my driver and asked him to come back and bring the car to the clinic.
At the clinic, the doctor did the first aid and advised me to visit the main hospital as the cut would probably need stiching and it required an expert. Meanwhile my driver had arrived with car. I thanked Shobha for her help and proceeded to the main Apollo hospital.
I was more calm and could think better now. I remembered that one of my bachelor cousins lived close by. I called him and picked him up on way to help me out at the hospital (Thank God again that I live in India!). We went straight to the emergency section at the hospital where they saw the wound and called their plastic surgeon for an opinion.
We waited and waited for the next 2 hours. Venky started coming back to spirits and started demanding a "banana". The doctors had advised us not to feed him anything as he would be administered anesthesia for the stiches and he had to be empty stomach for that.
My cousin did all the running around to get the hospital formalities processed while I stayed with Venky. Venky cooperated will all the medical procedures (Oh! my rock star!) and was back to his chirpy self. Finally, finally the doctor arrived. One look at the cut and he says - "Oh! its close to the hairline, we'll just glue it up."
He then gave me further explanation - "The scar will be covered by the hair. To stitch, we'll have to administer general anesthesia to such a little boy. Its not worth it. He'll have a masculine scar to show off, its all right! :-)"
I was sooo relieved. All this talk of taking him to OT and anesthesia was really making me nervous. I quickly agreed. My cousin got the glue. The doctor applied it and we were done!
On the way back Venky (and the two of us) had his banana. We came home, had a huge lunch, after which my cousin left. Both Venky and I crashed soon after that slept for 3 hours.
In the evening Venky was back to his normal self. Back in spirits, back in energy. Everytime, I asked him if the cut was paining, he replied with a big "NO".
So, that was the story of how Venky got his first scar. I have 3 such scars (knee, elbow, other side of palm) and I have broken my shoulder twice. Vibhu does not have any. Probably that is why Venky to chose to fall when his dad wasn't around. Sigh! It all comes back to you in this life and for once, I am desparately wishing that Venky does not take after me.
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