Dear MsAn,

You turned 6 on the 23rd of July. Mumma is very late in writing this Birthday letter to you. But you see, you and your sister don’t leave me alone, at all. The only time I am alone is when I am at work. But, anyway.. this is not about me, its about you.

My baby girl, you are so clever – you amaze me with your ability to understand and empathise with everyone around you , especially with your sister. You love your sister, truly, madly, deeply and NO! you don’t have to marry her!! Lately, you have been equating love to marriage and I have been explaining to you that you DON’T have to marry everyone you love. I love it that you are so smitten with me – still! When I get annoyed, you tell me, ‘ I am your shadow.’ How can I argue with that cute logic?

At home, you are the hothead, getting upset at the drop of a hat, throwing a tantrum and acting like a spoiled brat. But we are not allowed to call you a spoiled brat, because that ‘hurts your feelings’. Sometimes, when you are mad at your dad or sister you tell me, ‘ No more Daddys/ Aadyas allowed in this house.’ I ask you, what do you mean and you tell me, ‘ We can’t name anyone else Daddy/ Aadya.’ You clever, sneaky munchkin.

Ana, I can’t believe it that you are in school and that you have completed more than half of your first official school year. And you, my cheeky monkey are so different in school. I asked your teacher once, if you were naughty and she told me, that you in fact help other kids stay in line 🙂 You are the responsible one there, not my little baby.

You have an important job at school. You told us that you are the only that Ms B trusts to answer the phone. You take your job so seriously too. You take your academic goals seriously and work so hard on them. You love dancing and kept asking us to sign you up for the dance classes at school.This is really new for us – watching you blossom into a little person, that has her own likes and dislikes, independent of her sister or family. You and MsA couldn’t be any more different. She is the shy one, you, on the other hand, want to be in the limelight and be the star of the show.

You love – helping mumma cook, watching papa play his  game, training and playing with Mowgli and generally following your big sister around. Your favourite job is making salad. I only wish you’d eat some. You are so funny. If you don’t want to eat something, you claim to be allergic to it or that you are not allowed to eat it. When we ask you,’ who said that you are not allowed?’ You tell us, ‘ I did!’ Yes, you set your own rules.

There is so much more that I want to say, but nothing describes you as these words that I wrote for you on your birthday :

And just like that our little baby turned 6! What can I say about my Nanya.. she is crazy – she comes up with the most bizarre ideas and when I ask her why, she tells me her mind told her to do it!
She is as wild as her wild curls – untamed, a free spirit,and a brave one too. She has a big hot head and the largest most caring heart. She smothers us with kisses and doesn’t stop hugging, even hugs strangers!
I think she is a little wonder – a manager, an event manager, life planner, director and an actor, all rolled in one.
She may not be perfect, but for us, she is the perfect little, most important piece that we needed to complete our family! Happy Birthday, birthday girl!We Love you!

❤️❤️

Mumma

If you are a parent/ carer that does school drop offs, you must have seen the frazzled mum at school drop-offs – you know the one that’s running around like a mad chicken, dragging her child behind her.  Since MsAn started school, I am that mum!

It doesn’t matter what time I wake up or how much I organize everything the previous night OR how early I wake her up, I am always running  from the car park to her classroom – Her school bag on my left shoulder, her little hand holding my right hand and her chatting nineteen to a dozen.

We greet other parents we pass on our way, with a cheery  ‘Morning and she continues her chatter, without missing a beat. Then the other day, out of the blue, she started nagging me that I let her walk alone to her classroom, because she is a big kid. I said No. She tried again, the next day, and the day after. I, finally relented on the 4th day, but I told her that I would watch her go. She was so happy!

She put her backpack on her little shoulders, and kissed me goodbye, and started walking. I followed her  and she kept turning around to tell me, ” You can go now, I am a big kid.” And I kept repeating, ” Yes, I know, I am just watching”.  As I stood there watching her walk away, fondly, my eyes smarting from the tears, a mum passing by, smiled at me and asked, ” Is that your little girl?” I nodded. “She is so cute, she is greeting all the people she passes, with a Cheery ‘Morning !!”  I had to laugh. That’s my girl!

As frustrating as it is to walk sprint to her classroom each day, as I watched her walk away alone, a little voice in my heart told me that I am not ready to let go. I wonder if I will ever be ready to let go. You can only imagine, how excited I was the next day, when she asked me to walk her to her class.

Every now and again, I let her walk alone while I watch from my vantage spot but I am planning to hang on to the Frazzled mum look for as long as I can :p

 

My mind is full of all these random thoughts.. I need them to spill out and turn into words. But when I try to type, my mind draws a blank.

Last Sunday I went to drop MsA for drama rehearsals at school . I saw a few older kids sitting outside the school, cross-legged on the floor. Instinctively, the Mumma Bear in me reared her head up and asked her, who they were, if she knew them and if I should wait with her in the car.

Almost as if on cue, every single one of them turned to look at us. I spotted two teachers sitting cross-legged with the kids. MsA, said to me, ‘ yes, Mumma! I know them. They are from the show. Can you just go now?’ At that moment, I realized that my baby had grown up and she might even be embarrassed about being seen with her mum.

I asked her later and she said, ‘ yes!  because they were all watching us. And we must have looked so crazy, you with a confused look on your face and me, making weird hand gestures telling you to go.’ And then we had big laugh about the whole thing.

As she is getting older, our relationship is changing.. some days we are BFFs, other days, she seems to get out of bed only to argue with me and annoy the crap out of me. She gets angry saying that I ‘baby’ MsAn a lot and that its not fair; I tell her I did the same with her and that’s probably why she can freely tell me how she feels. And she agrees begrudgingly. She is my style consultant and the first one to compliment me, on the way I dress up, my hair, and weight loss 🙂 She is also the first one to tell me when my outfits are not so cool.

The thing is that despite the fact that we argue (and BOY! can she argue…. she has to always have the last word! ALWAYS) and don’t always agree, we are still very close. And more importantly, the lines of communication are always open. I am the first one she comes to whether she is happy or upset. Just the other day, she was upset about MsAn getting to spend more time with me. Ms An and I were at Basketball training, she messaged me on Hangouts and expressed very clearly how angry she was. We came up with a plan as to how we ( she and I) can spend more time together.You see Ms.An is my shadow.She does not leave me alone, when we are together. So we had to come up with a plan. Hopefully it works.

Recently,MsA found herself in a very uncomfortable and confronting position and she called the wrong doer on it and stood her grounds, bravely, despite them being older than her. I couldn’t have been prouder of her, if I tried. While I give her full credit for standing up against wrong and telling me right away, I am slowly coming to understand that some credit is due my way too.  I am proud of my relationship with her and that I have kept the communication channels open. I couldn’t stress more about talking to your kids about anything and everything and giving them the confidence that they can come to you with anything and you will not judge them. My heart broke into a million pieces, when she told me, “Thank you for believing me, Mumma’.  At her age, or for that matter at any age, your parents’  approval matters so much and I am glad, I didn’t let her down.

Please know that I know that I am not a perfect mum.. God knows, I am far from being perfect. But I am trying my best and that incident proved to me that I must be doing something right to be able to raise a beautiful, smart, confident and resilient daughter. I love her self-righteousness and courage for going against the crowd, even if it means,standing alone.  I hope that only grows, as she does..

Have a great weekend, Y’all.

♥

Trish

Sometimes all you need is just a little sunshine,some fresh air and family time, to get through the cold months 🙂

And if you are a puppy, feasting on some Kangaroo Poo ( Ewww) in the park is just the cherry on top!

In case anyone is still reading this blog, this is my feeble attempt at trying to revive the blog .

♥ Trish

 

On 2nd April, 2017, our world just grew by 4 furry paws, as brought our fur-baby Mowgli home.

This soft fluff-ball is all of 9 weeks now and has us all wrapped around his little paw.

Now that a week has passed, he is getting braver and is starting to explore the yard freely.  But his favorite spot is still next to me..

Please excuse the Pjs and chipped nail-polish, I am a new mum all over again 😛

 

It was a no-plans Saturday – all we were going to do that day was – coffee at the local cafe, quick trip to the mall, trip to the Indian store and  back home.

Well, we ran into some friends at the mall and almost in an unsaid agreement,spent the afternoon with them. The kids love each other, the men enjoy each other’s company & my friend R & I were only too glad to hang out together.  MsA & MsAn told my friend R, that Li’l S is like a sibling to them – and watching them today confirmed that – they tease each other, fight and then cuddle only to start again.

So we were all having a good time. MsAn & Li’l S wanted to go on the merry-go-round – you know those $2 rides in the malls. So I put a coin in but nothing happened.  So SP went to check with customer service,R& I were talking,while we waited.

I felt a little hand tap my back, I turned around to MsAn. I automatically gave her a Thumbs Up, coz she always calls me to show whatever she is doing. But her face was pale. “what’s wrong?”I asked her. “Mummy,I am stuck!”  OMG! She was really stuck..her knees locked in under the dashboard of the little car.

We tried to get her out, one way or the other- called security. By now it was nearly 30 mins that she was stuck in there. She was so calm though, talking to us, singing.I could hug her little body from the back.I was ready to cry.A passerby stopped and suggested a slight maneuver – R’s hubby asked MsAn to try it, so we could go watch a movie.The idea of the movie motivated her to try and she came free. It took 4 adults & a passing teen to finally free my little girl!

Gosh! I swear, this is the child that will give me my greys!!!

We watched the movie Moana, last week.  I am happy to see this new set of current day movies , that depict Princess/ heroine as a strong character and not a damsel in distress . Both MsA & MsAn loved the movie and can’t stop talking about Moana – Brave, smart, determined Moana. 

I love the fact that both MsA & MsAn are quite unaffected by what the rest of the world is doing. For example – MsAn prefers animals and superheroes over dolls & fairies and will go blue in the face defending her choices even if someone she absolutely loves tries to convince her that boys like those things. 

When unicorns were still a rage in her friend circle, MsA announced one day that she ‘preferred the PowerPuff Girls, because they fight crime.’ She wasn’t worried that the other girls didn’t share the same interests. She loved them and didn’t give in to peer pressure.  

I  hope this trend continues…I know this might change as she gets older, but as long as she/ they know that its ok to be different, as long as you believe in yourself, that’s all I can wish for. 

When you have had a headache for 2 days and everything is making you sad – you need something to cheer you up or you just ‘ fake it till you make it ‘ . 

So I chose my brightest slingbag, for a trip to the Doctors – this is a gift from a very dear friend and it is handmade too…☺ Whether it cheered me up or if I faked it is debatable…

Speaking of doctors, the good news is I am not allergic to pollen..but the bad news is I am allergic to house dust-mites, but atleast this one is easy to control. 

Atleast I have managed to shake the headache off..now I can sleep .  

more later 💕

The girls wanted to help cook. I had a headache and wanted a simple meal. So Sausages and mash it was. The girls helped make the mash ☺ I asked MsAn to throw the rubbish in the bin , n MsA was mixing something. MsAn shook her head indignantly- “Don’t ask me to throw rubbish..I want an equal job” – meaning real job! She was given the task of cubing the butter then . Happiness all around. 

This year, I want to cut out takeaways – mostly because I am tired of wasting money on over-priced sub-standard meals. My game plan will be- quick, easy flavorful meals. 

What was the first meal that you cooked in the new year?