A few side-effects...

Of Blogging!

Walking by the park and seeing an utterly delicious looking dad with a camera and clicking away pictures of his cute lil toddler from every corner of the playground, and the first thought which comes to mind is "Must be a daddy blogger!!!!"


Wanting to be caustic to the boys, but garnering admirable patience and coaxing the mouth to utter a friendly warning...'cos that's what responsible mothers do, even though my teeth have whittled away with all that gritting.


Realising that since blogging, spoken english has risen several notches on the "sound good ' scale and dipped alarmingly on the "understandability' scale, especially when spoken to the boys. From now, a simple "get your behind on the chair and finish your work" hollered in just the right tone will suffice instead of "you must try ..yadayadayada..." The first sign came many months back when the then 10 yrold and his father just gaped at me, after listening to a long passioned speech on self motivation!


Listening for the nth time, a neighbor's advice on how to feed my boys, and thinking, she must be a troll in her virtual avatar!


Looking at my blog and thinking it needs a makeover...again and scouting for new pictures even if the readers don't notice. (*this is the point where you are allowed to roll your eyes!)

Trying hard to ignore Google Reader which indicates that you have x no of blogs to be read, losing the battle and then subscribing to more blogs...


Being able to connect with others on the same virtual wavelength and actually have a wonderful time...


Being able to instantly share a touching video...(it's been making waves here in Singapore). Do watch it, and keep a tissue or handkerchief nearby


Find the beauty in your moments, even the imperfect ones and enjoy yourself, you never know how long it will last!

On that profound note, i do wish you a great weekend!

HOWZAT!!!!

The first day of school went off smoothly...new textbooks, new notebooks, new timetables...everything seems exciting and interesting, and its worth waiting till evening just to hear about who sat with whom and how many new children were there this time...

So the evening saw each child sharing some tidbit, the 11 yrold has a cricket tournament coming up where he is playing in 6 matches and of course very thrilled about it...while i see myself the only candidate for grabbing the hat of the cricket mum, soccer mum and keeping 6 yrold occupied well enough mum during the next 10 days. I'm also currently feeling very pleased with myself for having got through 2 weeks of holidays in one piece and more importantly having had fun all the way.

and then the 11 yrold says: 'amma, the princi is our english teacher'

me(pleasantly surprised) : 'Really? that's good news, she's an excellent english teacher"

11 yrold(contemplative): 'you know, she reminds me of you'

me(considerably elated and resembling a balloon, so puffed up with pride was I) trying to be nonchalant: "Why?"

11yrold : 'I can't read her handwriting on the board'

Tooooosh, that was the fastest a balloon ever deflated into oblivion!

And as you can see, the 11 yrold is good in delivering a yorker! (or whatever you call it)

when a wish came true!

When school starts after a two week break, it's going to be tough and exciting. Tough because the free spirit has to be caged into a routine, esp after all the unrestricted fun of the past days and exciting because it is after all a new year in school among familiar faces and different teachers.

We've had plenty to do the past 15 days, with libraries, waterparks, and the science centre being our favorite haunts, not to mention overdosing on high energy food. I really enjoy these days when there is no need to adhere to a set timetable and when we take the day as it comes. So it did not come as a surprise when the 6 yrold wished he could have extra holidays. :)

Still we thought we had prepared pretty well for the new term. Polished shoes, ironed uniforms and a packed school bag were set in its proper places, giving the first day of school its rightful importance; even though we all knew that the remaining weeks would be spent in the last minute flurry of packing school bags, and hunting for the right pair of socks at the last minute...



Monday morning dawned a bit too early and it was back to the routine of waking up with the birds and trying to coordinate your limbs which seemed to be having a mind of their own.





Lunchboxes packed, waterbottles filled and prayers said, we were ready and waiting for the bus, which never arrived.





Fifteen minutes later, we were still waiting...and i mentally prepared myself to drop them to school!





Finally i called the bus driver in irritation...and got a puzzled reply 'But school reopens on April 7th!!!'





A call to a friend confirmed the same...





Sheepish looks all round, a burst of laughter, a moan from the 11 yrold for having given up his precious sleep for nothing and a yell of delight from the 6 yrold who was quite thrilled that his wish came true!

Ok so i had forgotten the actual date, but really it's not my fault! Whoever reopens school on a Tuesday, anyway?

'Break'in news!

I've had a dreamy week, that is, a week where i seem to have dreamt most of my quota of dreams! Dreams where the main players are mostly my kids and sometimes the hubby, just saying. (sheesh! i think i dig myself deeper everytime i try to explain *wry grin)

I get up in the very wee hours of the mornings thinking to myself that THIS would make a wonderful story/book/movie and then i fall asleep again. Needless to say when i finally arise, the dream remains just that! nothing but a vague dream! Because i just cannot remember what it was about the dream that was so interesting!

Most of the time, i've a sneaking suspicion that the kids see me as a giant mobile phone (why mobile phone? beats me! ) where they press various buttons to make me do a certain thing.

For example, press one to make amma dance...to their tunes. Press two to cook favorite food, press three to start a slanging match...press four to make her tear her hair out..., press five to test the karate kick..., press six to play 'bored' games..., press 7 to whine and whine till she gives in..., press 8 to put her on mute!

Can you tell that vacations are on?!!!!

A two week break for those wonderful teachers to catch their breath and for us parents to lose ours! I'm right now an 'always on demand' mom!

I bet they are having fun!

Forget-me-not (2)

The end of a week and the beginning of a lazy day. A piping hot cup of masala chai and the settling down to read a few blogs, in peace hopefully. A sip and a thoooooo...a grimace and a sigh...

It was plain ginger flavored watery milk! I had forgotten the tea leaves..Again!

I sneak a look at the hubby. He is still sipping the warm drink, probably thinking that its another one of those concoctions i churn out once in a while, disguised under the mantle of health drink.

And when i read this, ( a post i wrote long back), i realise not much has changed.

Reminded me of the recent time i had left my handbag in the train in Sydney. I got down and had walked out of the station when suddenly i felt different. I felt very light (not lightheaded, but light as in the opposite of heavy). That's when i realised that i had left my handbag in the carriage. That handbag is what gives me the perfect balance, stuffed as it is with everything I may need! So, we rushed back, the 11 yr old enjoying this reversal of roles and proceeding to air a few mean sound bytes. The official made all the appropriate sounds before finally telling us to wait for 15 minutes, we were lucky that the train had terminated at that station and it would make its way back at the same platform. And that's how i got my bag back..

and of course just because the hubby was extremely mean to me that time, he forgot his wallet and card holder at the security check at the Perth airport, the boarding tickets at a check in counter in Melbourne. and i made a few loudly appropriate noises too.

Every time i leave home, i invariably do a few patting exercises...pat my pocket to check if my train/bus card is there, another pocket if my mobile's safe... my handbag to see if the money's there...my ears to see if I'm wearing BOTH my earrings...someone watching would be forgiven for thinking that I'm practising the latest dance moves!

So a few days back, kid senior came back from school, and sheepishly informed me that he had bought lunch at school...He had forgotten that i had made lunch for him (burgers with homemade veg patties, that too waking up at 6 am, people!) even though he had put it in his bag himself, with his own not so little hands!

'Where did you get the money from?' i asked.

Scratched his head and said "I don't know, it was there" giving the impression that it was a miracle! Turns out that the miracle occurred when two friends returned the cents they had borrowed on different occasions.

What do i say?

Lage raho?

(PS.Abha, don't make me stand in a corner, I've not YET forgotten your tag, just a few crucial details! :)

Small talk!

11 yrold : "Can i check the Arsenal website on your laptop'

Me(doing some small talk) : 'Fine....why? Is there an important arsenal match?

He nods and then a minute later, he adds : 'BTW, its 'ARE'senal not 'ARSE'nal!"

Thud, (*that was my jaw hitting the floor! anothe word joins my "think before you talk' vocab))

I enter the room to see a dedicated 6 yrold busy with his handwriting homework. Diligently drawing the T's, l's and b's with his trusted ruler.

Me (because i just can't keep my mouth shut): why do you need a ruler?!!!!

Rolling his eyes : "Beeeecause, my teacher wants NEAT handwriting!"

I give up!

In other news, I've been given the new nokia 5800, recently. And my son's drooling over it. It has a touch screen and i quite dislike seeing thumbprints all over my screen. (*cue for rolling eyes! that's what happens at home everytime i say that).

I'm still treating it like its a grenade, but other than that, it's pretty good.

So today while showing me some feature, 11 yrold enviously muttered "You are soo lucky! i wonder what you did to get it" (in other words, why i deserved it?)

sigh! Perhaps I should say "Sit down boy, this could take the whole day"!!!!

PS...his is an innocent question, but of course you, my imaginative readers, can interpret it in any way you want...:D

Q and A!

If you were that lizard/spider on my wall, chances are you would have heard these gems from my pre-teen...

Amma, i can't kneel down, my patella hurts!

My eye is red, it itches too, i think i have hindivitis! (after 30 minutes of studying Hindi)

It's that time of the month yet again. Time for glares, suspicious headaches, frequent parched throats and wrist pain. The too informed preteen helpfully tells me that he suffers from the carpal tunnel syndrome!!!! or that his pivot joints hurt.

Yes, the final assessments are upon us! and my cerebrum hurts too!

Since i'm so in the exam mood, I might as well do abha's tag.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
no.... just after myself!

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
you mean...the tears of frustration? sigh..yesterday

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
When i manage to read it, yes..(*am I glad that the question wasn't "can you read your handwriting?")

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
what's that?

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Yes!

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
Hmmmm, what if i don't want to be friends with this other person i'm supposed to be...

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
i practice it on the hubby now and then, but kuch asar hi nahi hota!

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?

Yes, i think so

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Not unless someone pushes me off the bridge! *gulp

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL
Meusli cereal

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
No

12. IF YOU WERE TO PICK YOU OWN FIRST NAME, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
I like my name, It is short and sweet...though many seem to think its an abbreviated form of a longer name. You really can't please everyone, can you?

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
not very fond of icecream, but perhaps, vanilla with hot chocolate sauce,

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
the warmth of their Smile,

15. RED OR PINK?
just because everyone's saying red! i say pink in roses and nailpaint

16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF
high on temper and low on patience...

17. WHOM DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
everyone at some point of time..it could be kids, my granpa, my parents, my sisters...

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?
they better, varna ___________

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
blue jeans

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
pitter patter of raindrops

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
green? blue? sigh... multicolored...my son has those crayons...:)

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
wet mud, shampooed hair, perfume

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
a friend

25. HOW DO YOU KNOW THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU
as the owner of a warm smile and the mother of the cuddable 'cubby'r. A virtual hug to you, abha.

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
when not being forced to watch soccer or cricket, then tennis.

27. HAIR COLOR?
brown? black? grey!

28. EYE COLOR?
light Brown. (*sigh...only 28 questions answered, now i know how my son feels...)

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?

No.

30. FAVORITE FOODS?
chocolate cake, quesadillas, grilled sandwiches, Chaat...slurp

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
comedies.

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Wednesday...that too on DVD, sigh

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
a red tee.

34.SUMMER OR WINTER
I'm spoilt...can i have a bit of both?

35. HUGS OR KISSES
warm smiles, keep them coming

36. DESCRIBE YOUR PENCIL CUP
if you mean those things in which i hoard my pens, a small carved pot, and funny mugs

38. FAVORITE ARTIST(s)?

a whole range of them

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
plodding through "snow by orhan pamuk", and also reading "Jigs and reels' by Joanne Harris

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
Gotcha! I don't have one

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?

Quarter part of the movie, "Namaste London'

42. FAVORITE SOUND(S).
currently, the whirr of the fan, the creaking chair, the click clack of the keys on the keyboard, the water fall in the pool below, the bus from far beyond, the rattle of the mrt train nearby...its amazing how many things you hear when you are alone...after the lungpower displayed during the weekend, i love this quiet time....

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?

A R Rahman!

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?

Home is where the heart! Physically? Sydney

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?

Of a wandering mind, which lands me in trouble when someone's talking to me...

46. WHERE WERE U BORN?

Bangalore.

47. FAVORITE PIECE OF JEWELRY?

earrings to dangle and a bracelet for a bangle

48. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE/SIGNIFICANT OTHER?

At my sister's wedding!

49. FAVORITE SONG?

so many of them... one for each mood...

50.Favorite Musical?

My fair lady and Mamma Mia, the movie

____________________________________

yay! I've done it! Now for the great reward...

The first five to comment, you are tagged...(*okay, okay...only if you want to)

:D