Pesum Porchithiramae ! - #1

This is my first blog post. Before even I start, I should thank my husband for coming up with this whole idea of blogging precious moments and conversations with our little ones.  This will help us keep these moments ever green in our hearts..My husband has been asking me to do this for long, but I never found the bandwidth for blogging.  But now our second 'bundle of joy' is also growing up fast and I felt I should start contributing my two cents!

My husband and me have a special liking to Bharathiyar songs.  Now that our little one has started exploring her new world of vocabulary , we thought this would be an apt title for her share of this blog.
Maanasi is now a little over 2 years.  Just like her brother she loves talking and provides endless amusement to her listeners.  When she can't communicate in words, she does so with her very cute expressions.

The Besan flour scare!

So, this happened in one of our routine grocery trip to the Indian store.  Our little one was in very good mood that evening, as we had just got back from a fun filled day at Legoland.  Maanasi was all smiling and singing until she saw me place a packet of Besan flour into the cart. Suddenly the smile faded away and she started saying in a terrified tone ' no maa, no, no maa,no'
We had no clue as to what might have caused her the sudden distress.  I started asking some usual questions and then finally she pointed out to the Besan flour packet saying 'amma, no champoo', meaning she doesn't want a shampoo bath.  So now everything fell in place.  I occasionally give my kids oil bath with payatham maavu followed by shampoo. My little one dreads it. She thinks that is the worst thing that can happen to a baby or any person for that matter! Because both Besan flour and moong dal flour look similar to her, She had gotten mixed up and hence the panic!

Whose Line Is It Anyway ? - #20

Right on the Penny -

• Coming from India, when it comes to money, I have this habit of using the term Rupees in place of Dollar - particularly at home or with family members. Recently I had to borrow a few dollars from my son's collection (oh yes, he has some dollars and rupees) as I was short on cash to pay the plumber. Next day I wanted to return what I borrowed. Hence I put $20 in his collection myself while he was watching TV. On my way out, I asked him, "How much do I owe you ?". "Fourteen" came the answer, without taking his eyes off the screen. In my usual way of using Rupees to mean dollars, I said, "Ok. I have put back Twenty Rupees in your wallet". Without missing a beat, he swerved around and with utmost seriousness asked "You mean  Twenty dollars right ?".  In God he trusts, everybody else pay cash in the same units - even if its Dad.
• The families in my son's music class pitched in to present a gift card and a weddings greetings card to their music teacher. All the kids signed it duly and presented the envelope (with the gift card and greeting card inside) to the teacher during the class. The teacher felt happy and said thank you. My son suddenly felt the need to make sure the teacher knew that all they have given her is not just the greeting card. In his matter-of-fact tone, he said - "We also gave Money". Everyone blurted out laughing. For a while, I had to hide my face.

From the Oval Office ...

My son's interest in presidents and the like have been evident for a few months now. In line with that, he handed me a letter a few months ago meant to be mailed to none other than the US president himself. It was a neat handwritten note, addressing Mr. President, and mentioning his current status as a first grader and making no secret of his aspirations for the top job in the country. He also gave a list of his math skills and a sample of one of them.("I know how to do 5x5 + 5x3 + 5 = 25").Yup, the answer.. I know.. :-) The letter was duly addressed to 1600 "Pencilvenia" avenue. I put the letter as is in a fresh envelope and mailed it to the white house.

This Friday, a courier came to our door step. It was a neat yeallow envelope addressed to my son's name and the sender was listed as  "THE WHITE HOUSE, WASHINGTON,  D.C". I leave it to your imagination how the POTUS-wannabe felt on seeing the contents.

Here's is what he got -

Pixel Poems #11

"Historical" Obsession(s)

Between MLK Jr Day in Mid-January and President's Day in Mid-February, my son's first grade class had been taught about MLK, Civil rights movement, Presidents etc. Little did we realize how much our son was engrossed with these aspects of history until one day when I refused to let him drink a "full" glass of some frozen juice citing he was a just kid and that adults can have a full glass. With all seriousness in his face, he retorted back " This is unfair. You are "segregating" me...". My wife and I couldn't control our laughter. 

That obsession with history continued to Presidents and apparently they seemed to have an even greater impact than MLK. My wife grew so sick of hearing about Lincoln day-in and day-out,  that one day at dinner table, when our son checked my wife's history knowledge by asking who killed Lincoln, my wife replied - "I would have.....if he were alive today".  

That did not deter the young American citizen from cherishing his dreams further - yes, to become the President. He even expressed regret and felt sorry that me and my wife could not become presidents as we are not born in USA. His ambitious agenda had very clear goals - for his two terms of Presidency. Oh yeah, he won re-election folks. First term to focus on banning smoking and second term to focus on increasing recycling. To make me even more proud with his liberal agenda, he also added complete gun control - only police can carry arms. I wish I were alive when that day comes. By the way, since 35 is the minimum age for qualifying for Presidency, he has also decided that he will be the 61st President of USA. And, we as parents of the President, might visit the White House occasionally but cannot live there, as grown-up kids do not live with parents apparently even though the said kid happens to be the US President.

Hold on, it does not end there. Take a look at the future White House with his name on top. The other great presidents of past still get to keep the rooms in their names as it stands today. We have some snaps of American revolution and civil war too. Take a look.

On this day ...

Pixel Poems #10

Using my cell phone camera taken from inside my parked car. Found the slanting picture interesting. Not sure why it came out that way.