Some mommy moments - 2

Any achievement small or big  by our child will make us - the tribe of parents proud.   That is why you will find many of us parents blogging  about our child's first step,first smile,  gurgle, smart baby talks and later as they grow up we blog about their achievements big and small. Even I as a parent was proud when my child took that first step, at their first gurgle, first tumble , first spoken word etc., I had captured those precious moments in my camcorder.

   But, it will also be an embarrassing moment for many children, my children don’t like when I put status messages about their achievements. Even I would feel the same when my parents talk or praise about me to others.  It is so embarrassing for the children but only when we become parents we realize that we are so proud that we do brag or blog about many such moments. My children give me many such bragging or blogging moments.

Especially  the proudest moments  come  when the world around them recognizes them and compliments  them, then  that becomes such a huge mommy moment worth recording.

At home, I and my son are like the cartoon characters Tom and Jerry. You will never find my son seriously studying school books, but he  will always be busy with his daily dose of cartoons, FIFA 13 time, real play time forming teams and playing matches against other teams. I live in a place where there are enough children to raise more than 20 soccer/ cricket teams and with an intercom to connect them,  it is difficult to pin this boy away from his play time. As if this was not enough he has many extra curricular activities like fiddling with gadgets like camera, tab, wii games etc and he is always on highgrounds when experimenting with these things, no wonder he made a newton's car here.

I am not against children playing but I  want my son to mark some time for his daily studies and avoid cramming during exam time.  Like Tom chasing jerry, I keep chasing him from room to room to pin him down for his daily dose of revision. But boy,  he escapes like jerry all the time.  I lose my energy and give up finally.  He would do his daily dose of homework though with earplugs hanging from his ears and his eyes fixed on the cartoons. His books will be everywhere around the house but you will never find him beside it. If ever by mistake,  he picks the book you will find him sleepy.

 To pin him down is easier for me with a stern action, but he manages to melt me with that beautiful smile and a sweet “Please Ma, konjam relax panikkren” ( mom, I will relax  a bit) or when I get angry and shout, he gives me a glass of cool water and says “ TACP, Ma” ( Take a chill pill, ma).  His matured talks and his sense of humour sometimes melts my heart and I give up. HE is such a happy go lucky child who will not crib or cry when he loses or neither does he raise up to the skies when he wins and so enjoys every moment of life in a balanced way. His status message on any of social networking site like skype will read “I am a happy boy"

But  how he manages not to put us  in awkward position is still a matter of pride for me. He came romping home last week telling us that he was nominated for the prefect council ( 30 selected among 300 children across all sections of 8^th grade to shoulder the responsibilities of the school  like assistant head boy, head girl, assistant sports captain etc., by  assisting the 9^th grade and Xth grade children).  These children are selected by the teachers based on the overall  activitites like curriculum and co-curriculum like discipline, behavior  with peers , teachers etc.,.

Again,  it was one of those PTA meetings and he never let us down.

Every PTA moment has been a memorable event  for me as all his teachers have heaped praises on him, not only on his academic performance  but also for his inquisitiveness, maturity exhibited beyond his age and that he is a responsible child. Though his sister has set a wonderful precedent for him in the school , his teachers never compare him with her.   Unlike my dot  who beautifully balances studies, sports, arts and other extracurricular he is not a topper in his class( not even in the top 10 because atleast  6 competitive children get 98%)  and has a bad handwriting to boot, but  his English teacher says that there are lot of insightful ideas and thoughts behind his scrawl.  His maths teacher tells me that his ability to crack HOTS( high order thinking skills) amazes her .  His science teacher says that his creative thinking skills and his doubts and questions forces her to refer external books.  When I told his teacher that he never studies at home and if I should consider external tuitions for him now since he is going to higher classes and all his peers go for the IIT & NEET coaching, she said “ Your son can tutor 3 – 4 children himself, he needs no tuitions, he is playful. He will be responsible with his studies and  I tell you most children  watch tv, nothing new about it. He is fine, he listens in the class, understands the concepts clearly and most important he knows how and when to apply them".

WOW! at those words i felt like the richest person in the world and started blogging about this and hence this brag post.  i can't balance emotions like  my son, you see:)

Priceless memories - made and some lost

I’m a nostalgic person and so the latest advertisement of LIVE.LOVE.REWIND of Sony camcorder reminded of my days as an young mom 14 years back. Just like the advt, I used to capture those priceless moments - the laughs, gurgles, smiles and cries of my children.

Their first roll on, their first crawl, their first stand up, their first step, first hold on the feeding bottle, their first mottai (tonsure) their prayer time, rhyme time and all the natural camaraderie the two little ones shared, their special moments like birthday, ayush homam, vidyarambham, their bonding with their grandparents, their nursery days, their outings, early school events and beyond( they are still in school) were silently captured by my camcorder and some of them on my still cameras (analog one). Their milestones are also recorded in a scrap book.



The still photos developed into many albums and every event was marked. The videos captured were all copied on an anti-fungal Panasonic VHS-casette ( CD’s were not popular 14 years back) and safely kept (or so I thought) to be cherished later. The photos taken during their pre-school days in my digital camera were all stored on my computer.

Days roll by fast and before I realize my children have grown. Now, These memories link our present with the past. I want them to remember those old times and reminiscence on their infancy and early childhood (they are now at 14 and 11.8).

During holidays, it is our favorite past time to watch all those photo albums. We huddle together and enjoy all their infanthood moments which are carefully captured and preserved in photo albums. I recall to them all the warm memories of their baby hood times which they treasure and enjoy listening. They enjoy this wonderful trip back in time and always ask me gleefully,

“amma, naan chinna kuzhandai ya irukkum bodu enna sonnen?’’ ( Amma, what did I talk when I was a baby?)

All the while, I was aware that my children’s beautiful times of childhood are safe in a VHS casette. Our VCP is not in working condition and is stored in the attic and since they have become obsolete, we never bothered to watch the videos.

I recently decided to burn the VHS cassette into a DVD so that we could sit and watch their childhood videos, but was greatly disappointed when the DVD shop owner told me that the cassette was corrupted and he could not read the cassette. All those priceless moments which were made with love are now lost.

Luckily my daughter’s appearance in the kannada movie ‘ amma ninna tholinalli’ for a song sequence with her little friends when she was 5 years old, her first dance show from her dance academy at town hall,Bangalore (again at the age of 5) which was relayed on TV were all recorded in a separate VHS. These could be burnt, albeit not perfectly.

The photos of my children captured on the digital camera which were stored on my old computer were also lost when my computer crashed.

All the memories which were such an incredible part of our life have been lost. Time does not stand still, my children are growing fast, what will they have to look back on their times spent together and growing days?.

I want them to reminiscence about their past when they grow up.

















Except those photo albums and a few scrap books and yes, I hope this blog survives and in later days this serves to make their hearts smile.

“Life-long blessing for children is to fill them with warm memories of times together. Happy memories become treasures in the heart to pull out on the tough days of adulthood”
Charlotte Davis Kasl

Vacation time, Ahoy!

It is now time to ‘do nothing’ or to simply stand and stare. Time to go easy, take a break and enjoy holidays and life.

The exams are over and the short vacation of 15 days have started before the next academic session starts on March 29th. The children who were merrily going around their daily tasks like school, academics, games, drawing, music etc., have more time on hand now.

To keep themselves busy, of course apart from their daily dosage of TV(IPL time, CID, cartoon time), computer time(star doll, pokemon),playing with friends, week end outings, swimming they have decided to spend time - gardening, cooking , drawing and reading.

For Gardening, I have been asked by my spirited children to add some plants tomorrow, they will choose and care for them only during holidays. Later on it will be my duty.

Cooking is craft for them,fun and learn activity, trying to assemble their own burgers, baking pizzas, wheat cakes, French fries( with my supervision), home made pani puris, bhelpuri’s, pav bhaji’s. They will also help my MIL in the making of traditional cooking like sevai, kai suttu murruku( hand twisted oil fried snacks). Making their own food (only for 3.30 snack time) turns my fussy eaters into good eaters since they prepare their own food. They also make their food appealing and help themselves to get the required ingredients in the nilgiris supermarket in my complex. This way they will also learn about the herbs, spices, dairy products. It also makes them aware of the nutritional values. Glad they have developed a taste for tender coconut water, home made lemonade in barley water, buttermilk spiced with mint,coriander and ginger powder. They do indulge occasionally in fast foods during our weekend outings. Oh yes, after all their cooking activity, I have to add finishing touches by cleaning the mess thereafter.

Drawing classes of course, will be taken care by their Pallavi aunty – who is blessed with artistic hands. She makes beautiful murals, miniature fountains and other décor items. Her paintings and drawings are very lively. She is not commercial and teaches art for art’s sake. Her classes are not crowded and also she connects with the children well. So it is an informal art class for the children. (will upload my daughter and son’s drawing in a future blog)

Their vacation also means my over time. Now I have to be on my toes, no computer/ TV time for the next 15 days for me, also the additional duty of being peacemaker/mute spectator for their frequent fights.