2013 – Year of action

Ten years down the lane, when I look back at my life, I am sure I will be proud of the way I conducted myself in 2013. I found ways to shut negativity out of my life. The focus was on action rather than speaking. I did not mind anyone commenting on me or my son. I might have cried at the end of the day, but did not respond the next minute. I kept telling myself that there is no need for any explanations to anyone. Of course, part of the credit should also go to my husband, who was patient with me, whenever I lost control and was ready to listen to my rubbish and more importantly was ready to forget it the next minute. So, rather than discussing negative things, we moved on to the job at hand and I hope we continue to do so for the rest of our lives. As a team, we kept our focus all through the year.

2014 is going to be another crucial year and I hope we find ways to overcome our challenges and be happy.

May you turn dreams to achievements,

May you turn follies to feathers in your cap,

May you turn misfortunes to blessings,

May you make this New Year special,

Wishing you all a very happy new year.

Journey so far – Part II

There is no success without hardwork. The last post discussed the results with no mention of the efforts. This post will give you a feeling of “oh-this-lady-is-blowing-her-own-trumpet”, but that is what it is. So, feel free to skip this.

From saying “paa”,”maa”,”tha”,”na”,”va” thousand times a day, to designing flashcards in various styles to challenge you, to reading you books to improve your vocabulary, to designing worksheets to teach you “What”, “Where” and “Who”, I have done it all. I don’t remember the last time when I challenged my brain creatively. I had to be creative if I had to get answers for a series of questions from a 3-year old for close to 45 minutes. Because my son’s IQ is very good, all these efforts brought fruitful results.

From getting my son to throw a ball 100 times a day by holding his hands (which also includes I had to pick the ball 100 times) so that he could get that movement correct, holding his legs and making him kick a ball 100 times, to pushing the cycle for an hour so that he could pedal the cycle (I had to push the cycle really fast to get his interest in riding a cycle), to making him crawl under the cot to give his body workout, to taking him to the park, the list is endless.

I also had to teach him the basic things such as colors, shapes, vegetables, fruits, animals, birds, body parts, opposites, puzzles, rhymes, alphabets, numbers and all other things that children of his age know. I am still working on coloring and writing.

In the last post, I had mentioned that “I have not thought of anything apart from my son during the first 10 months of the year”. This is because there is no television in my home to distract me. (I saw Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell speech three days late. :() I knew nothing of the outside world. And during the last two months of the year, all this took a toll on me. My body was giving up. The doctor gave the verdict a few weeks back “I had become stressed and had to take sleeping pills.” So, the last two months, I took my feet off the accelerator, trying to give my body enough rest and relax. Now that I am in Chennai for a few days, all that I am doing is eating and sleeping. This is a marathon that I am running and I have to save every ounce of energy if I want to finish the marathon.

2014 is going to be yet another tough year and the journey continues…

Journey so far - Part I

Year 2013 is coming to a close and as I look back at the year, there is just one thing that comes to my mind – HARDWORK. I don’t remember any year that I have worked so hard. I don’t think I have thought of anything apart from my son during the first 10 months of the year. I was single minded, threw everything out of my life, gave my best efforts to the boy who is truly the best. And I am happy to see the progress he has made.

He has truly come a long way this year. From saying “aa oo ee” at the start of the year to saying “Close the door”, “open the door”, “Give phone”, “Wear chappal”, he has started putting words together. He has started expressing his needs in words. His vocabulary is very good and he has started answering “What” and “Where” questions. Way to go!!!

And that’s not all. He has discovered the pleasure of riding the tricycle and playing with the ball. Gross motor skills are improving and I assume he is getting confident of his body too. Playing in park has become synonymous with playing on swing.

I am in Chennai the last few days and to see my son bonding with his thatha, patti, mama and mami gives me immense pleasure. In earlier visits, he had taken a few days to warm up and by the time he started playing with them, we would leave. That was not the case this time. My dad had come to Bangalore to pick us and the first time my son saw him, he came to my dad and said thatha and took him around the house. My son has officially become thatha’s tail. To see my dad become a child again and cajole my son makes me laugh from the heart. This is the man who always had a military look when we were young. Grandparents are best.

One day, my dad was getting ready to office. He had worn his office clothes and was about to have breakfast, when my son went to him and said “swing”. And what did thatha do? Took the grandson to the park, made him play swing for half an hour, came back, had breakfast and went to office late.

My son’s favorite game these days is asking someone to lift him and drop. His mama is more than happy to do it. Once my brother comes from office, he goes to him and says “mama, thooki, thooki” (meaning lift me) and then says “dhopakateel” (meaning drop me), and my brother does the same until either of them become tired. :)

What can I say!!! May the love last forever…

Happy Birthday My Love!

Happy happy birthday kutti!

May you grow into a BIG boy showing your likes and dislikes, making friends and not-so-friends and learning to enjoy the world outside home.

May you also remain the baby, who hugs and kisses me hundred times a day, asks me to say the same rhymes fifty times a day, hits me and asks me to cry, laughs when I laugh and kisses me every night before closing your eyes.

Wishing you a very happy birthday. The dark days are over. May the light come in.

And I am uploading this image to let you know that your grandparents came from Chennai and did this! Let me also tell you they did nothing like this for your mom. Truly, grandparents are the best!

 

I am feeling younger by ten years!

It has been more than a month since I connected to the Internet.  And surprisingly, except for blogging I did not miss it. So, I went back to the traditional way of note and pen and wrote this post a month ago. 

“This is what Walt Disney would have wanted people to experience when he dreamt of Disney Land.” This was my thought when I came out of Wonderla last month. Yes, we went to Wonderla and had an awesome time. The day before the trip, I was as nervous as I can possibly be. Though the day was hectic, with a visit to the Bannerghatta National Park in the morning, I was very nervous. The reason being I was not sure how my son will react at Wonderla. This was the first time I was taking him to an amusement park. Will he get scared? Will he cry? Will he stick to me and refuse to enjoy? Will he be cranky? Will he miss home food and sleep timings? You get the drift. I had many questions and I had to wait for the answers.

The next day, my son woke up at 4: 30 a.m. Though I was upset, I thought he would sleep while travelling and would be fresh when we reach Wonderla. Exactly the same thing happened and to say my son enjoyed is like saying the sun is a star. He had a whale of a time in water, trying to imitate people who were swimming. Without any apprehension, he went for all the rides and enjoyed it. I think once he understood that all he has to do is just hold tight, he just followed it and happily sat on all rides. This also meant, I could enjoy myself in the water and in general RELAX.

It was a wonderful day and a day in which my age reduced by ten and my resolution to take him more often to such places increased ten times.

If you think all was well, let me just add that my son should have beaten me approximately 100 times in the day, simply because he refused to come down from any ride and I had to force him to get down. Hmpf.

I am tired of being strong.

Life throws you unexpected things. Today, my plan was to send my son to the school and clean the kitchen. I usually feel good after cleaning the house. It is as if I have thrown all the unwanted things out of my life. Crazy, I know. But that is how I feel.  As I was getting my son ready to school, the power went off. I waited till 11 o clock for the power to return and then decided there was no use sitting in the house. I had to collect medicines for my son, so decided to take my scooter and finish the same. As I was waiting for the signal to turn green, I realized I would actually be driving past my old organization, the one where I started my career. I then thought of P, my friend. I thought it would be nice to meet him. So while returning I called him and decided to meet.

It has been more than two years since we had met. But we started from where we had left. The time made no difference. He asked the usual question, “How are you?” If not for him, I would have answered, “I am fine / ok / good.” But with him I just open my heart. I do not have to think twice before answering anything. I guess it comes from the confidence that even without answering he would actually understand how I feel. I thought for a split second and answered “I am living somehow”. And really that is the truth.

I am actually tired of my life; tired of being strong; tired of being mature. I do not want to take any decisions, neither for me nor for anyone else. I do not want to smile at people and say I am good and I can take care of everything, when the truth is I would appreciate some help. Simple, I do not want to drive my life for some time. I wish I could find the driver whom I can trust and follow. I want to be passive. I do not even know if this is a good sign.

We spoke for 15 minutes and then I left because I had to pick my son from school. I came back home and realized this is what I am missing from life. A friend to whom I can open my heart without any mask. I need to be strong at home for my husband and son. I need to be strong before my parents and in-laws else it disturbs their health. With P, I have nothing to hide. I felt lighter after speaking to him.

And nothing beats face-to-face communication. The gentle smile, the touch, and eye contact cannot be replaced by phone, facebook, or any other messenger. I am glad I could actually find some time to meet him.

Long live P and friends like him.

Hello Tello

Hello All,

How are you? This is Aravind blogging. I had waited enough for my mom to update this blog. I think it is time I take matters in my own hand. The big news is that I am going to school for almost a month. It is so bad on my mom that she failed to update this on the blog. The school is a small Montessori school near my home and I am starting to love it. My mom was scared about sending me to school and got me books on how other kids go to school and what happens in school. But the truth is that she needed those books more for herself than me. She kept telling everyone that I will cry for a minimum of a month. But I proved her wrong. I cried for a week because I was scared about the new place. But once I realized everyone was happy to give me things that I wanted, I started playing.

Now that I have told you the main news, let me go and sleep. Will have to go to school tomorrow. Hopefully mom will start blogging again. :)
 

Good night.