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…