Toddler's Rules of Possession..

This is sourced from the 'UC Berkeley Parents Network'. I really liked it and so sharing it here.. Hope you have a good laugh too!

Toddler's Rules of Possession

1. If I like it, it's mine.

2. If it's in my hand, it's mine.

3. If I can take it from you, it's mine.

4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.

5. If it's mine, it must NEVER appear to be yours in anyway.

6. If I'm doing or building something, all the pieces are mine.

7. If it looks just like mine, it is mine.

8. If I saw it first, it's mine.

9. If you are playing with something and you put it down, it automatically
becomes mine.

10. If it's broken, it's yours.

Pari with Mausi..

Some gems--

1. Before leaving for a wedding with Nani and Nanu..
Pari: Mausi, you will be alone here.
Mausi: No Pari, I will stay with Amma.
Pari: Hmmm... So you and Amma will be alone here!

2. Pari: Mausi, look at my new toothbrush.
Mausi: Wow Pari.. this is nice. I don't have a new toothbrush.
Pari: I will buy you a new toothbrush on you birthday..
Mausi: Thank you Pari.
Pari: ..and you buy me a Dora doll, a toy bicycle, Noddy book, big chocolates, a pink dress,....
Mausi: ??!!

And one with Nanu-
3. To amuse her, Papa is walking criss-cross across the room, making funny faces.
Mausi: Look Pari, how is Nanu walking..
Pari: He is walking like a drunk!
(Entire family is stunned into silence, I still can't believe she knows that word. I think she probably said 'Duck' and these people heard it wrong. Papa starts walking straight with a serious face, obviously!)
Pari: and now, he is 'marching'.

Pari is currently at my mom's place in Allahabad, it is 15 days since we last saw her. This is the first time that she is living without us, more importantly without me, since the husband has travelled several times since her birth, in fact he was travelling the very day she was born. She obviously misses us but is otherwise having a fun time. Whenever I call Alld, my sister puts the phone in her vicinity, and I can hear her chattering away to glory, playing, singing, bossing around. However, it is tougher for us. I usually try to stay positive, since I believe that we have sent her for a purpose. Moreover, she has 4 people at her beck and call, doing nothing but pampering her all the time, where as here, all she gets is school, daycare, and a couple of tired, stressed-out parents at the end of the day who snap at her at the slightest provocation. While sending her off, I always thought that the husband would miss her more than me, but as it turns out, it is me who is up at nights, sobbing and crying my eyes out with the husband consoling me. It is a strange feeling, missing a child is like missing a limb. I feel amputated, the feeling that something is missing never leaves me. And I am not sure if I still have a heart, there is just an aching hole at the designated place. Probably my heart just broke to make way for it.

Phew! Never thought I could be so melodramatic. My bigger concern is Pari's return. I plan to bring her back sometime around Christmas, and I fear that she will find it difficult to settle down with the routine here. I am sure the doting grandparents, greatgrandma and mausi are all busy spoiling my disciplined child to bits. How am I supposed to deal with that?

Of visiting a school after ages..

I am part of 'Yours Truly', a theater group in Bangalore. Last Saturday, we performed for children from 1st to 7th grade in a local school. I wasn't exactly a performer, rather a volunteer for backstage activities, which means once the play started, I had all the time in the world to sit back and enjoy the play, and ofcourse observe the children. I had not been to a school since I graduated from mine, and had almost forgotten what schools looked and felt like - over 500 little ones gathered at one place! And then, I suddenly realised that in a couple of years, Pari too would be a part of this crowd. It was discomforting to think that my baby, the most special person on planet Earth would be just a speck in this sea of children. But then, each of those 500 children was an individual most precious to his parents. And here they sat on the cemented ground in the summer sun. I felt a pang in my heart. When I go to pick Pari, I turn on the aircon 10 minutes before I reach her daycare so that she doesn't find the car hot when she steps in. But then, so is life. The children were remarkably unperturbed by the heat. They enjoyed the plays to the hilt and had a nice time.

The 2 plays performed followed the complete-the-story format. This means that the actors would stop the play midway, and ask the audience to suggest an ending. Now, the audience being so young, some of them looked like they still had their diapers on, I did not expect them to come up with much. And was I in for a shock! The children came up with suggestions that belied their ages. Some of them were genuinely funny, the kids had a great sense of humour and almost all their suggestions were very practical and relevant to real life. It was amazing to see the barely 7 year olds talk about stuff like plastic surgery and inner beauty. They clapped and cheered through out the performance, and waved to us when it was time to leave. The experience was overall enlightening and very gratifying.

On that note, YT has a big show scheduled for 21st Nov in Bangalore. Also running is a contest related to the show. Go for it!

Something about moms..

Pari has been going to a daycare from her montessori for the last 3 months. The school maid drops her there at 12.45 and I usually pick her in the evening around 6 pm. The moment I reach, Pari gets super happy and excited and starts running around the hall in circles. The running is mostly accompanied by dancing and singing as well. It takes almost 10 minutes for her to tire out, which is when the maids there hold her fast, put on her shoes and hand her over to me with bag and baggage. I am probably the first mom to reach, and all the other children, most younger to Pari are still there waiting for their parents to come and collect them. The babies are too young for school yet, and so they spend the entire day in the daycare. Some of them just walk/crawl to me and expect me to take them along. And that is when I feel embarrassed by Pari's mindless celebrations and cocky announcements-'My mumma has come..'. Gratifying as it may be, to see the child celebrating my arrival so much, I secretly wish that she would quietly walk out without rubbing it on the other children. But Pari being herself, does exactly the same thing every day, and the novelty of mumma coming to pick her from creche doesn't look like wearing off any time soon. If anything, her ability to run in circles without getting giddy is only improving.

Last Monday, my mom called up in the evening. I was unwell since the weekend, so she enquired about my health and then made a sudden announcement. She had got tickets booked in 'Tatkal' and was boarding a train to Bangalore on Wednesday, and that she would be here by Friday. I felt my heart do a quick running in circles, dancing and singing, the Pari way. It is still giddy with joy, and will take much more than 10minutes to tire out.

There is something about Moms.. ain't it?

By The Water Cooler

This is part of an old post, recycled to make an entry to the contest running on the incredibly witty Parul's blog. Everyone I read is competing and so am I :D

Last night, we met some of the husband's batch mates from college. One of them, AS, happens to be our ex-colleague as well. I have always found this particular person very inspiring. He has done some very unconventional things which require much more courage than I can ever hope for, but that is yet another story. Over the dinner, we recalled this little incident from the days of yore which I would like to share here. This goes back to 2005 when I was committed but not married. We were in the same team, and sat around 50 feet apart. On the messenger-

Me: I am getting engaged.
AS: Congratulations! So many people getting married these days...
Me: Is it?
AS: Oh yes. A friend got engaged just last week.
Me: Do I know him?
AS: You might. He is employed here. Would you know AJ in the XYZ team?
Me: ??
AS: Wait, let me send you the engagement pic. They make a nice pair.
Me: *Scampering off to his place despite a minor heart attack*

I reach his desk in a split second, he has the picture already open by then. It has me and the then-fiance-now-husband sitting in Pizza Hut. He grins sheepishly, too embarrassed to even apologize.

Open ended questions-
1. The entire office knew about us, why was he so blissfully unaware?
2. Even if he couldn't recognize me in the picture(though there is really no reason for it), does he expect a North Indian girl to get engaged in a Pizza joint, dressed in jeans and an almost off-shoulder red top?
3. What qualified him to comment on the pair, calling it 'nice', when he did not even look at the girl properly?
4. Why did he offer to share a picture with me in which he had, in all probability, no genuine interest? Oh I know the answer to the last one.. he was sharing the picture to help me recall who 'AJ' was!

These men can be really weird.. stay warned!!

I am worried..

.. about the Commonwealth Games. I know it is weird, I have very little to do with sports in any case, and given an opportunity, I would anytime prefer to play myself than watching other people play. Perhaps the patriot in me gets stirred everytime there are sad things in the newspaper about the games. And boy, these people do their job really well, the journalists that is. Isn't rousing people the motive behind writing such pinching headlines --'Games become India's shame'. If anything, it is a national shame. And to have people coming to your country, inspecting the games village and calling it 'filthy and uninhabitable' is downright embarrassing. I mean, how would you feel if your guests call your house a mess or your bathroom stinking? That is exactly how I feel when I read the newspaper these days.

There are shocking facts all through. For one, to think that these people had 70,000Cr rupees and 7 years to prepare, and some collapsing stadiums and an already-collapsed bridge and stinking loos are all they could come up with. Where does that place us as a nation? Ironically, this came the day following some study in the US that declared India as the third most powerful country. Wow, a powerful country that builds really weak structures, those that collapse even before they can be used. Truly wow!

As if this is not enough, there are some really highly placed idiots who make public statements without as much as a second reading.
'Westerners have different standards(of hygiene), we have different standards.'
Can't believe anyone can make a statement like this in defence of the filthy village reportedly infested with stray dogs and dogshit. Plain awesomeness.. and truly high standards of hygiene!

A couple of months back, while discussing the CWG, the husband very acridly remarked that he would be happy if all went awry and the rampant corruption in the country is exposed. It is scary to see that actually turning into reality. I so hope that somebody higher up has the decency and good sense to call off the games and salvage the nation's honour, whatever of it is left.

New member in the family :)

My little Pari is now an elder sister. 'Pari Didi'- goodness, that sounds so amazingly high-handed, but its true all the same. And the coincidence lies here - I became a Didi on Sep 20th, Pari managed to beat me by one full day and 2 hours! Unlike me, who had a brother, Pari has a beautiful little sister to love, pamper and boss around. Yes, she is gorgeous from what we have heard so far - almost like Pari(my imagination, not confirmed yet) but with a lot more hair(confirmed) on that tiny head. The pictures are on the way.. will upload them soon. Please wish the proud new parents(Chachu & Chachi) and all of us a lot of luck with the little princess.

Edited to add: *Drumrolls* Here she comes..

Now what did I say, isn't she the most lovely?