Venky the Menace

Mommy went shopping and bought expensive cosmetics.Once back, she put the shopping bag on the dining table and went into the bedroom to do something. Venky promptly examined its contents and then came smiling and hiding his hands behind his back. Mommy examined Venky's hands which smelt GOOD. Venky proudly said "Let me show you". Mommy panicked. She got visions of her Shehnaz Hussain creme's bottle shattered into pieces. Venky proudly showed how he had spread her hair conditioner all over the floor. The Shehnaz Hussain creme had been attempted to be opened but thankfully they pack it well. Mommy was just glad that her creme has been saved.

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Mommy shouted at Venky for cleaning up his scattered toys. Venky cried (but he cleaned up the mess). Papa felt bad for the "small baby". Papa took Venky in his arms and sweet talked him. Venky pulled Papa's new Reebok T Shirt and blew his nose into it.

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Dadi left her dupatta on the bed while she was having her lunch. Venky finished his lunch and en-route to the washroom spotted the dupatta. He promptly picked it up and flushed it in the loo! Thankfully one corner of the dupatta was visible and it was pulled out, else we would have had a broken bathroom.

An Obvious Answer

I have to write the conversation in this post in hindi, else it will miss the impact

Hyderabad is getting hotter everyday. With temperatures soaring, we have been taking a quick bath right before bed time to cool ourselves. So, this is the conversation that happened yesterday between Vibhu and Venky

Vibhu - "Venky, nahaoge?"

Venky - "Haan."

Vibhu decides to tease Venky a bit - "Chodo na! Kya karoge naha ke?"

Venky (matter of factly) - "Pochenge."

We laughed for full 10 minutes :)

The Big B

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 :)

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? :-)

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!

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!

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?