Not that kinda mother...

So tonight we were eating this yum dessert my mum made... Crumbled plum cake with orange jelly, fresh strawberries and cream...

This was his first real taste of jelly.. He's had it as a baby but I think the whole yumminess of it just registered... So that's all he had... 

He combed thru all the cake and strawberries and cream and only ate the jelly.. 

Once it was over in his bowl he asked for more..

Laughing, I removed some from the main bowl and gave him more..

Then some more...

And some more...

Till it was over in the bowl...

But mister still wanted jelly...

I tried convincing him to have some cake and then I would find him some jelly.. 

No...

Only jelly Mumma...

Point is the only jelly remaining was in my bowl... And I wasn't ready to share. 

Nope. 

Not going to do it.. 

Yes he's three and I'm.. Well a bit more than three... But I'm not sharing my jelly.. Or cookie ... Or cake .. Or chips ... Or juice... Or anything that I am enjoying... 

I remember as a kid, as most people my age will, my mum not taking that extra bit of chicken or telling us how she loves the neck piece... Or the end slice of the bread... Or some other non sensical sacrificing thing like that...

And I was and am pretty sure that that's not the mother I'm going to be. Not that there is anything wrong with that... but you know what i'm saying....

Yes I will make him and get him yum things to eat... Yes I will give a good helping of it too...but no I will not let go of my piece for him... Hell, not for anyone... Atleast not unless I really want to..

There are days I have done that.. Not just with bumling but with the hubby too... 

But I only do it if I want to.. Like really really want to... Not because I feel like I should.. 

I'm sure he'll grow up loving me just as much if I don't give into his every wish.. If I don't give him my last bite... as much as i know that he will learn to be happy with what he gets like in life... its a lesson learning thing people!

Three years and counting!

Three years old..

He's finally turned three...

It's incredible, that means I have had this adorable lovable goofball in my life for three freaking years... ! 

It's a very unreal feeling.. He looks like a baby talks like a grown up .. And yet somedays he looks like a grown up but curls up in my arms like a baby... 

His hands are still tiny but he's learnt to cycle.. His lips are still super small but he jumps off the sofa with no fear... 

I know I know it's super senti and super cliche to go back to the day he was born but oh my god.. The day he was born he was a little ET...! Tiny scrawny tied up tightly in his swaddle... 

All he knew was me.. ( and his dad) but you know essentially me... Since he was drinking off me sleeping on me... Stuck to me! 

Helpless little thing.. ! 

And today he's this super confident kid with a great vocabulary, quite independent too..he loves being fed and put to sleep.. But wants to now pick his clothes and has very strong opinions on a lot of things! He loves to play alone and never really gets bored....

It's been amazing to watch him grow... To see his personality develop and to see him become his own person... 

And he's grown up a good kid.. He's polite and well behaved and yet he has this naughty streak to him which, while it drives me nuts, it's quite adorable..

We have our moments of sheer madness... Which is basically me getting rather mad at him..!! At such a young age he knows my buttons and doesn't fear pushing them... Clicking my keyboard, shifting my tv channels, saying potty or sleepy right when I sit down with my food... Oh he knows how much these things bug me.. But will he stop? Hell no! 

And then post my screaming either he will become all cute and adorable and 'I'm so sweet how can you hate on me?' Or he will get all pouty and teary eyed and will crawl into my lap only!! 

In both situations he gets his way!!!

The best part is, he has seriously taught me to have a lot of patience.. I know I know... People who know me will be like.. Really? This is you being patient?

You should have met me three years ago...! 

I also have tamed my temper... Very very much tamed it! 

And I have learnt to work thru anything... Noise, chaos sickness,day night afternoon .. In breaks of half and hour to ten minutes... Everything... And anything... 

There is nothing I can't do.. And that's something I have learnt about myself post my little kiddo.. I can juggle everything and everyone and maybe I'll be exhausted and tired and finished.. But I can still do it!!! 

All in all its been great fun having him around... He's been my reason to laugh and cry and push my self and laze around all in one!

My little Superhero!!!

The Pizza Party!

This is an old post thats been catching dust in my drafts folder....

Tonight we had a pizza party!

And who's idea was this? 

My two and a half year olds!! 

What did I know at two and a half? Certainly not that I could ask for and get a pizza party.. Heck.. I doubt I knew anything about the existence of pizzas!!! 

Randomly once or twice in the week he has mentioned wanting a pizza.. Like one day the grocer rang the bell and he went " pizza is here pizza is here" Another time he just straight up asked for it... 

So come Saturday night we decide to call for some...

He was so excited when we told him we were having pizza for dinner... 

When it came I cut a slice into little pieces and gave him a glass of juice to go with it... It was over in minutes! 

No fuss... No pushing shoving bribing... The plate was spotless... !!! He even asked for more! 

Why can't all meals be like this?

Story telling

The boy got into the dinki car and he went in the forest. He asked the lion to come for a drive with him. 

They drove... Vroom .. To the market... They bought the apples. And the little boy opened the dicky and put the apples in it. Then he shut the dicky... And he opened the car and the lion and he went for a drive to the forest.

Confidence!

Confidence is not something you can teach... Especially not to a three year old... So it's kinda awesome when you're three year old displays some kick ass confidence... 

At a building Christmas party there was a guy wearing a Santa cap... Siddy saw siddy wants! He asked me first.. And because I didn't know the guy I told him I can't ask for it.. Then I said " but if you want it you ask him for it" he thinks for a second walks up to Santa guy and straight up asks him for his cap... 

Out of sheer shock at having a random three year old kid asking him and the fact that random three year old is super adorable and the fact that the super cute girl he was with was watching, he handed over his Santa cap to siddy with a big smile!

Another time, we were visiting a new doctor.. While waiting out he was looking at the three nurses sitting and making cotton balls out of a big cotton roll... 

Again siddy see siddy wants to do! Again he asked me to ask them first.. I told him the same thing.. " you want to do you go ask them" 

Thinks for a second (he always does) jumps off the bench and goes and says "can I help you?!" 

Those poor Kerala nurses didn't know how to react!!! They looked at me unsure., and I said in Hindi " he wants to make the cotton balls with you" 

They laughed all thru at this tiny kid rolling up the cotton balls!!! 

Then we go in and meet the doctor... The  check up is done and we are sitting listening to the doctor give us instructions... When siddy goes 

"what's your name?" He has a fascination for names.. 

The doctor equally surprised as the nurses.. Says "my name is Deepak"!!! 

And siddy smiled! And the doctor smiled and the mommy beamed with pride! 

I love that he can go upto anyone and talk to them.. Kids have no fear.. No thought of " what will they think?" No sense of rejection... Just bam... Out there.. 

I wonder what it would be like for us all to have that kind of no fear confidence...?!!! 

Little Stories-2

Little story 1:

He over heard his teacher talking to her fiancé and while hanging up she says " bye baby" 

So he goes to her and says " teacher you have a baby? Is it a small baby or a big baby?!!!!!!" 

Little story 2: 

Incredible memory! 

Over the year we have tried so many Peds for him.. There was this one we went to maybe twice... Long back that too... 

The other day we drove by the clinic, and this little thing points to the building and says

" Mumma when you were little I used to get you here to see the doctor na?" 

He's 2 and a half! (Correction he's almost three !) but where does he get this memory from? 

Little story 3:

So we were heading out one of these nights, and I told Aadi to book us a cab..

Till now siddy was following us around while we changed and I did my hair and make up and he wasn't saying anything... 

But as soon as he heard the words book and cab he went,

" Why are you booking a cab? Where are you going? " 

I love how he has started putting things together... Understanding them... It's amazing!! 

School admissions..

School admissions are like the most stressful time in a parents life... 

Or so it's supposed to be. 

As soon as siddy turned 2 and a few months everyone we met only asked us what schools we were looking at... In the June of the year before he would join and I'm thinking... It's still a while... Forms don't even come out till dec. 

But you have to go visit all the schools before that and you have to sit in the lobby of and meet the office people of the school you are most keen to join at least 16 times before the forms come out and 25 times once the forms do come out..

Then it's a question of pulling out your contacts, your fathers contacts , your mothers contacts, your neighbours contacts, your neighbour's mothers contacts... Basically any kind of 'pull ' must be used..

Then you must have kept away a decent amount of dosh just to pay off all the above mentioned contacts.. Barring your own parents of course! And some dosh for the school people... Yes a bribe better known as admission fees... Which can range anywhere from 50000 to a few lakhs. 

So we started at step one.. I made a list of all the school in the vicinity.. Because no way on earth I'm making my kid travel at 3 more than he absolutely has to... 

A friend of mine and I went around checking out the schools.. We did three I think and then we sat down at a coffee shop and asked each other what we really wanted for our kids...

A good education system that focuses on the kids and let's them learn thru zero pressure, has good teachers and really cares for the kids... 

Currently he's doing his nursery at kangaroo kids and he's loving it.. The school environment is fantastic and he has learnt so much here I can't begin to tell you... So I wanted something similar...

I also feel, and I may be wrong, but I feel like all these big schools focus a lot more on the kids post the 5th grade... Because that's when they can train them for the 10th grade, the results of which determine  school standing. 

And because of this, I feel the younger batches get left behind with average attention. Decent, I'm not saying they don't care at all, but i feel the degree of attention is just much lesser than I would like. 

So we settled on Besant Montessori. 

We read a lot about the Montessori form of education, really liked it... Visited the school.. It's so old school and simple, the teachers remind me of my teachers, the infra structure is very basic but I think, also after speaking to a few people who's kids are there, their teaching systems are great and very up to date. 

They have big gardens for the kids to run around in, they go to the beach get sand in their feet... What more can a mum ask for really! 

So for all you wonderful people following up on siddy... Besant it is... From next June! 

He's a big boy now!