The Logical Princess

My daughter suffers from the ‘princess syndrome’! A desire to look, act and dress up like a princess all the time. I am sure it is the same case with many other parents who too have daughters at home and unintentionally must have inflicted this upon themselves. Even I am guilty of this, it all happened quite suddenly though for me. What had started with reading fairy tales, promoted to watching movies then further moved on to pretend playing and now has reached new levels – personification!

With Smera’s birthday around the corner, we decided to go for her birthday shopping yesterday and she would just not settle for anything less than a princess dress, sparkling shoes and a matching tiara to go with. I am told that it’s not just her, girls her, girls are age are naturally bitten by the princess bug. Last year it was the Frozen craze and this time it’s the Cinderella mania!

After we came back home from the not so productive shopping trip we all sat down to eat lunch, just then she goes back to the Cinderella conversation:

Smera: Mamma you know Cinderella’s mom tells her to have courage and be kind, when she is about to die.  

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Me: Yes, that’s how real princesses are supposed to be.

Smera: Let’s play after lunch you can be the step mother.

Me: Why? I am so nice to you!

Smera: But you are always asking me to tidy up and do all the work. Daddy can be the Prince, I will be fairy godmother with this magic wand and Abdu Haq uncle (my houseboy) can be the Cinderella!

Me: (Looking flabbergasted) How come Abdu Haq gets to be Cinderella and me the wicked stepmother?

Smera: Because you always ask him to do the dishes and mop the floor just like the stepmother in the story!

Now with that logic I couldn’t come up with something smart to answer back, so I decided to use my ultimate weapon, the puppy face. She instantly changed me to fairy godmother and she took upon the Cinderella part. Daddy continued to be Prince, which is always constant and so we played happily ever after.

Moral of the story is that if you cannot beat the child’s logic then play along, because their reasoning is really nothing but giving their intelligence a form! After all imagination is the spark to the endless possibilities in our thoughts.

Win some, lose some

Just as I was thinking of my next post, little Smera walks in with a grumpy face back from school. The expression was self-explanatory that her day at school was not very exciting. So I got started my interrogation, to better understand why her mood was off.

Me: How was your day?                              

Smera: Not good!

Me: Why not?

Smera: I was not the super reader in the class today.

Me: That’s alright, you were super reader yesterday and you will have chance to try again tomorrow.

Smera: But Hannan was the super reader and I did not like that. The whole class clapped for her, even I did but very slowly.

Me: Hmm and why is that?

Smera: Just because I was feeling angry in my heart!

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I was glad that I got the little one to talk about it. By the end of the day Smera felt a lot better after talking it out, but this incident really was meant to be a good lesson in her learning curve. These little incidents teach children that they aren’t always just meant to win. They would have to put it their best effort and the best effort would eventually get to shine. 

While Hannan got to taste success, Smera got to taste competition and which in my understanding was also a good lesson to learn. Every lesson that Smera learns, gives us also a revision in old lessons learnt and which is why something that I read a while ago made perfect sense to me today. Let our children know that is absolutely alright to come second or even fail for that matter, but what is more important is that we are there to help them when they do fall.

“It may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” - Maya Angelou 

Parenting is such a wonderful experience, lets you re-learn, re-inspire yourself almost everyday. I guess this is how we become more experienced and hopefully wiser in life!! 

Good ideas gone bad

Every child loves their mother for the food she cooks! Food is an irreplaceable connection between the mother and child that starts right from the womb. I am not planning a philosophical post on motherhood. Rather this post is all about challenges that mums like me face everyday with our mediocre cooking skills. By the end of this post I will be able to unload the heaviness on my heart, which I have been carrying around for the last few days. Beware this is post is going to take a melodramatic twist, so prepare yourself!

To start with I am not a great cook but I like try new things for my little one. I want her to eat healthy and nourishing food. Not just for her, I believe every child deserves it. I try to incorporate all elements of balanced food into her meal everyday.  Most mornings and nights are spent thinking what to make for the little one. And on a recent afternoon I made some rice along with her favourite chicken curry and carrot pachadi, a bit of carbs, proteins and good old veggies all packed in one meal.

Now who in the right mind would like a spicy chicken curry with a sweet and sour carrot pachadi? Carrot pachadi is wonderful of combination of freshly grated carrot, gently mixed with beaten yogurt that is tempered with mustard, onions, curry leaves and green chilies. At least that is what I was thinking until Smera took one bite and declared it “YUCK”! I was heart broken. This was the first time ever in 4.5 years that the little one had called something that I made for her as – yuck. I mean there have things that she has not appreciated before, particularly when it involves veggies but her reaction had never been so harsh. So I chucked away the entire thing and spent the rest of the day brooding over it!

After a day or two, a great idea popped in my head. To make something yet again with carrot that would win her heart this time and heal my wounded heart. So it was going to be carrot and it had to be something sweet. So I decided to pull out the trump card – Carrot halwa also known as Gajar ka halwa! So I spent Thursday afternoon, preparing carrot halwa while she was at school. I put in all the best ingredients and an extra dose of love too. To be honest the halwa’s idea initially came up for hubby’s cousin but then it seemed perfect for the both of them.

So in the evening after dinner when I gave her carrot halwa, she took first bite and thankfully didn't say “yuck” however she did go on to make the dirtiest face ever.  If that wasn't enough the hubby gave her the permission to spit it out too. 

Mommy's guide to happy mornings

Have people ever doubted your parenting capabilities? I get it all the time and honestly I don’t mind it at all. I usually get tons of advice on how to raise my child, while I do listen to them, I do not guarantee to follow them. While I cannot claim to be best at the task, but I do try to give my best shot at it.

Just recently my interaction with another newbie parents got me some eye rolling and this made me wonder if I was really being tough on Smera. I mostly get in trouble for being a bit too strict with my daughter. But I believe toddlerhood is just the best time to learn all about discipline.

The newbie parents were appalled to hear that Smera’s sleep time on school days is 7pm. They felt it was an absolute injustice to the little one. I was asked questions like then when does she get time to play? My response to them was – “She perfectly manages to do everything a child needs to do before 7pm”. I might have sounded a little rude but this was the truth!

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Smera is a morning person, loves to get up at 6am (even on holidays). Her biological clock is tuned to it waking up early in the morning. Nothing is more special than seeing her get up with a smile every morning. The reason being she had a good night’s sleep – just a  simple logic. Morning’s are never a struggle with Smera and on most days she is extremely happy to be going to school. I never have to scold her to get out of bed.

As an infant too Smera had this habit of waking up real early, though I did have to put her into an early sleeping habit but that too wasn't a big task with her. And this good habit has helped her to settle into school routine. 

Smera leaves for school at 7am and unfortunately her school finishes at 3pm – a real long day. After school the little one loves to come back and unwind at home, colour a bit, play with her friends, dawdle around the kitchen to find her snack, have a bath, eat dinner and listen to stories just like any 4 year old child. The only difference might be that she skips her afternoon nap.

There is another reason why I chose early to bed routine for her that is because I have never been a morning person for most part of my life. My dad has had some real tough days to get me out of bed. Most days I have spent my time in classroom dreaming of sleep. And that is the reason why I want to put in good habits right from the beginning for her.

I have learnt from confirmed sources the ultimate mommy fact – most children are the happiest when they have slept well and their tummies are full.  As they grow up with they would need to focus more on studies and that’s when sleep will become even more crucial. Then why not practice good sleeping habits from the beginning itself.

Parenting trap #1 - Perfection

What is with parents wanting nothing but the best for their children? Is good not good enough anymore? Why suddenly there is a desire for everything to be perfect? Either it’s the best school, best pediatrician, best tutor to even best prospective life partner. Does good not satiate our desires? The world around me is split into two the one with that have the best and the other striving for the best.

Competition is great and in any form would be healthy not only for the mind but also for the soul. But the question that has been going on in my head is if excellence too has the same effect? The idea of perfection is not frightening, while the idea of desiring perfection for others is asking a bit too much I guess.

We as parents want to give our children the best school, but are they worthy of it? Why not let the child prove his or her caliber in academics. We would buy the best of the branded clothes, take them best vacations or dine in the at best restaurants. But are telling them how much it costs to afford this best lifestyle?

I grew up in an environment where my parents tried their best to give me a good opportunity in everything and expected me to excel in studies. This I felt was reasonable, but somewhere from then to now things have changed and the reason being our aspirations.

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This new age parenting is a bit scary for me, we are training our children to be the best. But what are not teaching is how to get there and also understand the value of ones failures, that too many positives.  How else would the youngsters understand what it takes to be best at something, if we don’t guide them towards the right path.

I don't know why are putting ourselves and our loved ones through this pressure. We parents love to celebrate the A grades. If the child didn't win, then we wouldn't tell that child had even competed to save ourselves of the embarrassment of acknowledging that someone else was better. It is as if we are telling our children, there is no point participating if you cannot win it.

Now more than ever the youngsters must understand the concept of discipline, dedication, practice, punctuality, consistency and teach them to find positives from a failure. It is important to help them understand that we are not perfect. Even if we make mistakes, we have a share in everything that's happens to us, good and bad.

The journey of our life may not be perfect, but we will eventually reach where we want to be. We have to be careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence is what we should aim for and teach our children, perfection will follow us with persistence, patience, and by prioritising our passion.

Suffering the Questionitis Syndrome

Do you get questioned often? I am bombarded by them everyday and most of my days, start and end with a question. Mostly asked to make me go crazy, but there are some real smart ones too I have to confess. There are some that put me in a tough spot, if I should answer the truth or cook up a story to support. Nonetheless I know it is good to encourage Smera and her is curiosity.

A few years back I read somewhere that it is scientifically proven that children who are naturally curious fare better at school, in relationships, at work, and end up being intelligent, creative and satisfied people. Right so this means no matter how tough it is going to find answers for her questions, I must persuade her to be a flexible thinker! However this responsive style of parenting, where we help the child to cultivate the habit of questioning has its own flip sides too.

And today I plan to write about the question that has been disturbing my little munchkin a lot, she has tried different ways find the truth but answer is still evading her.  The question was –“Why was I not there at you wedding?”. “Didn't you love me then?” she asked me once and I always tell her that she was with god watching the ceremony happen from the heavens above. Then the next question she would come up with is, “Really how come I don’t remember and why am I not there in the picture?”

Over a period of time, she has come to terms that she was not invited to the actual party and that she omnipresent from the heavens above. But the matter does not end there for me, just when I was thinking that the problems have solved, the little child asked me another bouncer of question. “Can you get married again? This time you can invite me too!”

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So as I am writing this post the little one is busy checking her wardrobe for a white dress that she plans to wear and along with her princess wings and tiara. Looking at her enthusiasm over getting us married again, I am wondering maybe it isn't really a bad idea and probably this time I could get married in jeans and t-shirt. 

Sweet November !!

I love this month! Got god’s best blessing – my Ma, met my hubby for the very first time 11 years ago and also got the most precious gift of my life – my daughter Smera! They all celebrate their birthdays in November. All the scorpions in my life have been the best bunch of crazy rock-stars that make my life electrifying!  

Little Smera celebrates her birthday today as she turned all of 4 years! This year had been tough for her especially with us shifting countries, making new friends, to new schools, but she managed all of it with her charming smile and few tears too alongside. With each passing year, she is becoming crazier like me. I never thought I would say it this early but, “Smera your questions are way too smart for mamma to give you all the answers”.

You are my best friend and my partner in crime. We laugh n cry n tickle n dance sometimes all in the same hour! With you I am getting to re-live me childhood and that is surely the best part of having you! I love it when you give me your lap to sleep and scold your daddy when he troubles me. God bless you girl and here is just as I promised the Princess Elsa cake for your birthday.

You are also becoming naughtier by the day, however I will confess, I love it when you giggle after you have done something mischievous. While I have to confess I am not a perfect mum by any means but you have always made feel proud by just being yourself. However I am little worried about your future plans of wanting to become a fashion show girl, super-heroine girl and Barbie, I hope this year you would find something reasonable real soon. 

Here’s a little piece of advice for this year – be tough, don’t shy but never let anyone make you cry, spread smiles and always remember Mamma and Daddy will always stand by your side!

School is Cool!!

I love to see the little children smile as they go off to school. My daughter started her big school this September. Going to school has always been an enjoyable experience for her. Be it back in Dubai at Blossoms or at Kids World here! Just as I expected her initial first week was great, I would take her to her class leave her in with a big hug and she would happily proceed . By second week we started sending her with cousin sister and our driver aka Salim Uncle. 

This transition wasn't so smooth, Smera was not quite happy about going with Salim. She being mamma’s girl found it difficult to let go, by the end of the 2^nd week slowly as she started getting used to it, the poor child fell sick with terrible viral and bout of wheezing. While it’s common for kids to fall sick when they initially start school, but in Smera’s case falling sick was not a big hitch, re-starting the routine was most complicated part.

As a mother it was really tough for me to send teary little one away, to school. I would spend my day restlessly waiting for her to come back and see smile on her face. This is one of the challenges I wanted her to overcome. Smera loves listening to stories and I would tell her about kids who are less fortunate, who want to go school but can’t make it as they don’t have the means to go to school. I would tell how I didn't realise as a child how important school was. As each day passed her anxiety was reducing but the tears still didn't go away!

Just then 17 year old Malala Yousafzai won Noble Peace prize, and this gave me a perfect story to tell Smera. I pulled “I am Malala” book and read the excerpts to little one, where she was shot on her way back from school. This story really moved little Smera, she asked me a lot of questions, “why did the bad men shot her?”. She had a lot of questions in her head, why girls can’t study? Why the bad men killed children who wanted to go to school. After satisfying her curiosity, I explained to Smera education helps us understand between right or wrong. Those bad men didn't want kids to understand that difference. I explained to her, how Malala’s parents stood as strength for her and encouraged her to study and live the life she wanted to.

Image courtesy:  www.malalafund.org

I am not sure how much of the story she understood, but there were two things that she took away from it, firstly education is a greatest gift that god has given her. Secondly, good education will help her become a good ballerina and super heroine girl! My child had such an impact that the next school, she was all smiles and it made extremely proud! 

Thank you Malala you have in many ways have inspired our lives and may god bless you girl! I wish more power to you girl and let there more girls who show the same courage and the determination as you to study. The great part of girls getting educated is that they would ensure the next generation of children would also study.

A frozen quagmire !!

Our lives have been changed completely ever since the day Disney released its movie Frozen. This has been by far her most favourite movie after Cinderalla and Mary Poppins. The love for the movie has turned into a craze and little girl has been heavily negotiating for a Frozen dress, shoes, doll and anything and everything related to it. Phew!! Now we managed to postpone all this for almost 11 months saying “we’ll get it for your birthday” and now the birthday is round the corner and I have a feeling we’re going to be in a soup!

She loves anything and everything related Queen Else and Princess Anna. Infact it is also her current ambition to become the Queen of Arendelle and make a snow man with her magical powers. What has been adding up to my problems is the fact, that she watches all the toy reviews too on the Ipad and has been keeping herself updated to all the new things that are available in the toy market.

Now birthday just 2 weeks away, our child has not forgotten our promises, that we had been making to her and I have a feeling that if didn’t do something about it we are going to have a mammoth confrontation. To save ourselves from a prospective ugly situation, I started scouting all shops in the city that could possibly have the Blue Queen Elsa dress, but soon I realised that I had bitten off more than I could chew. Now that not it, at this instant my task is to how convince the little child to change her mind on the dress. Being her father’s daughter that she, this too is no small challenge as she’s – a tough negotiator!

So lovely Friday evening, I summoned the little child and on sanguine note, I started the conversation talking about ballerinas and how wonderful they look, their costume is so pretty. Slowly Smera started looking a bit interested in the conversation entire conversation. Then I also confessed to in my most apologetic voice saying, “Darling, I have not been able to find the Blue Elsa Dress you have been wanting for your birthday. I am sorry can we please change your party theme to ballerina theme?” Smera was most understanding and said, “don’t worry Mamma, I know you can get it from Walmart, I am sure you will get it there, they say it on the Ipad!

Right to make sure she has her desired birthday dress, I will have a take trip to the US and visit the Walmart store! Thank you Walmart for giving me a new headache!

Perks of Parenting: Awesomeness decoded!

The past week has been extremely thrilling as my daughter started her trial classes at the big school. And as I would go back to pick her up after an hour of the trial run, I am flooded with compliments on how wonderful Smera is at practice sessions.

Motherhood is not at all an easy project, as it usually doesn't come with an end date or instruction manual and I have a lot of reasons to tell you why you should not have a child. But not today! Today I am going to blabber all about why you should have kids and not miss out on a prospective source of exuberance in your lives.

1. It’s amazing when someone says “OMG is that your daughter/son?” It some how suddenly makes you feel light years younger. Forget the age defying face creams, the hair colors and other expensive spa treatments. This one line works better than all of those.

2. You can get away with the long queues at the doctors, immigration, passport office, you name it and voila it’s done. I recently skipped a line of 50 odd people at the immigration counter, all thanks to my little munchkin.  

3. For once you can be colour coordinated and not look silly.

4. You don’t need a travel buddy anymore, your child automatically upgrades to the best travel mate ever and the spouses can go for a hike! I mean not literally, then that would more fun!

5. Chances are as your child grows they might look an updated version of you! If they take on the spouse’s looks then you can take all the credit for the good parts of their character. 

6. Personal achievements mean nothing in front of your off-springs success. A parent really experiences their hearts being pumped in with pride into every chamber and ventricle of the heart.

7. Moreover your parents suddenly love you more, as you give them the best gift of their lives – the joy of being grandparents. Guess that is what showers of blessings are.

8. You are up to date with the latest on games, movies, music and the works. Definitely helps boost a parent’s confidence immensely when you can understand what the younger generation is talking about! Makes you feel in vogue.

9.  You get to make more friends and most importantly we somehow end up finding useful/VIP contacts, thanks to their friends list.

10. You get to re-learn about life in general – finding happiness in small things, thinking out of the box and the joy of giggling for no reason.

Echoes of my Grandma

Long back I lost my grandparents and there is nothing in this world that could replace that special bond. I have missed them for years but of late I feel can feel their presence around me. This is post is not about a mind, body and spirit connection, it is just that Smera sometimes reminds me of my grandmothers in her daily discourse.

Problem is that we both are currently at the receiving end of our very own Smera the granny. Our problem probably stems from the daily dose of lecture that she gets from me.  Whatever sermon she receives particularly from me has been coming back to us in some form of the other. The simple explanation to all this is the fact that she is only child at home. Her thought is process is more or less like ours I guess!

I am sure the grandparents in the heavens above might having a ball of a time seeing me getting tortured with the miniature sized dictator at home.

Just recently I was combing her and she was complaining about the knots in her hair to which I responded saying, “Don’t worry mamma is working on it!”. To this she adds, “you know there is something else you should be working on your yelling and shouting!” I was a little taken aback by her ability to blabber and just as I was going to scold her, the father walks and adds fuel to fire, “very well said angel, you got it spot on!”

What the very supportive father does not know is that the he will not be served dinner till he makes up for the not so necessary comment.

This was just a starter! She uses a variety of tools to achieve her objectives - threatening, sweet-talk, emotional blackmailing and if nothing works, the she resorts to crying and get her things done. She can negotiate just like a full-grown adult would. Every now and then when I scold her, I get chided for being rude!

If the above weren't enough, I've got more for you. But before that it’s important to mention that Smera is not a fan aerated drink as we don’t encourage it. Even we don’t drink, barring very rare occasions like pizza nights. Smera has been made to understand the bad aspects of drinking aerated drinks, as they are high on sugar and not good for health in the long run.

Getting back to the story, a few days back we were having a pizza party and of course along with the pizzas there were some aerated drink to go with. Little Smera sees her parents, uncle, aunt and her cousin sisters sipping on the drink. She gives us a big nasty look and says “You all are going to die!”.  For a moment I really felt like as my granny back from the heavens above to stop me from committing a heinous crime!

Right or wrong, she has an opinion, which in a way makes me a proud. She isn't afraid to stand up to what is right. One can occasionally hear her Smera in either mine or hubby’s defense, “Now that’s not nice of you!” or “I think you should be saying sorry now”. Sigh!

Times like these, I wonder if I should stop her to talk like an adult. But then I am left to wonder what’s wrong if she can systematically channelise her thoughts and create an opinion about different situations? Right or wrong is far away from the debate but at least she is not following the herd and has a mind of her own.

So with a little pinch of salt, I have decided to let her be for now and get entertained for the time being, until it starts bordering on getting-on-my-nerves mode.

Thumbs-up to thumb-sucking? Now no more !!

About a year and half ago I wrote a post on how I was worried about Smera’s thumb-sucking habit. Well, now I am not! It’s been over 6 months that she kicked this habit, even more appreciative is the fact that she did it herself.  It’s true no medicine, no threatening, no time-outs, all it needed was some pep talk. Now one may wonder does pep talk with 3 something year old work? Without blinking an eyelid I would say yes and Smera is my proof! We all know, that kids these days are very intelligent and as parents it is upto us to use this intelligence wisely.

Ever since my last post on her thumb-sucking habit, I decided that I would not try anything drastic to get rid of the habit. I didn’t want to leave the little child with a scar for the rest of her life.  Instead what I did was, I kept telling her that sucking thumb is not nice thing to do. I kept on feeding this information whenever she would be at it or was thinking of doing it. Slowly I would start asking her to take it out. And each time she did, she was rewarded with words like “Good Girl!” or “Bravo”! She would smile and get back to playing.

She gradually reduced her habit during the day thanks to my constant pep-talk. But she still needed her comforting thumb to sleep at night. So one night I asked her if she was ready to sleep without her thumb. She agreed but it was not quite easy for her, the poor child tossed and turned the whole night, however with great effort managed to sleep at night.

The next morning as she got up we celebrated her big victory, got her a little cake, called up her grandparents back to make her feel great about her achievement. From that day on Smera has not gone to back sucking thumb at all. All said and done, thumb sucking is muscle memory for little Smera and at times at night she unknowingly puts it her mouth but once asked to remove even in deep sleep, she would pull it off.

In all of this I was reminded, what might seem like a small issues for us might be real big deal for a toddler and if we just try to put ourselves in their shoes, we might be able to understand them a bit.  What’s more important is the fact, if an approach has worked like miracles for most people, it would do the same for you too!

In my journey of motherhood I learnt that, a lot of our parenting challenges can be solved with just a smile and it works even better with a hug. 

Sometimes even love hurts

Motherhood has it’s own ups and downs. Mostly will be ups, when you see your little one smiles in the morning. God blessed us with a little chatter-box, and I am sure she can give any President a run for their money.  We are best of friends, when daddy works long hours, we joke, play and fight also.

Yesterday we had a little fight, we went out for dinner, an excited Smera was a little too loud. So I kept telling her “be quite”, as I didn’t want her to disturb others enjoying their food, hearing a yelling child.  Just as soon as we reached home, I wanted to wash her legs, hands, face before going off to sleep. But the sleepy Smera was in no mood to wash up.

“I Hate you” came out of her innocent mouth. Even though I know she did not mean it, but the words really did hurt me. So after all the rituals were done, that she really didn’t want to do, I took her to bed. And I softly asked her, “don’t you love mamma?” and she said “No, because you kept telling to be quite, when we went out for dinner”. After that she added “I love daddy” turned to the other side to sleep.

I know none of this was said from her heart but she must felt insulted as I scolded her in front of everyone. That must have pricked the little one’s heart. So to hurt me she must have said “I hate you”. But I couldn't sleep at night, my heart felt so heavy.

However this morning there was a U-turn in the situation, she hugged me and I said sorry too and told her how I felt. After a hearty conversation with the three and half year old over breakfast all our problems were solved.

There will be more days likes these to come but I hope my Smera knows that her mamma LOVES her the most in life.  If ever mamma says something that hurts you, in advance I am saying SORRY! Nonetheless you will be duly compensated too.

When you become big you too shall understand our parenting style is just a hit and trial method. Sometimes even Google helps but not that too is not always right! Sometimes it works and sometimes errors happen, however thou too shall pass! 

Crazy May or Mee

I have been feeling de-motivated for the last few months. Blame on the weather, missing family, being unwell or having troublesome three year old toddler at home or even the fact this new place is yet to feel like home.  Every from 6am till 8pm feels like being on the the 9 o'clock newshour with Arnab Gosawmi adding a little diva twist getting bombarded with questions.  

Finally I have reached a stage, I feel desperate need for a break where there no sun, no extreme winters, beach, rain n NO FAMILY... does such place exist? Somebody suggested to go off to Utopia. Wonder where this place is?

Sometimes it feels, I am not good enough as a mum, wife and the career has gone for a complete toss. Laziness is slowly gripping me like a warm blanket. And the lets not forget about our peculiar gender problems PMSing. Apart from the normal womanly abnormalities, I also came down with UTI. The problem is not a big issue apart from the pain. But what is most irritating is everyone asking me to drink water and cranberry juice. If I seriously took everyone’s advice we might run short of drinking water in Muscat.

Leaving all that aside my parents we here for 10 days. Felt like a bliss! I have been away from home for little over 10 years now and I crave for them to stay with us. Credit really goes to my mother for making me fat, thanks to all moong dal halwa, namak paare, not to forget the other scrumptious food that I had been gobbling down. 

But then I thought to myself - we all have are fat days ... and  days like these I think about eating only salads.... There's another perspective on salad..

Eventually the moral of the story as my husband would conclude – “There are no solutions to my problems.” Actually there is Ice-cream but it goes straight to the BUM and then fat days will be back all over again.  

Silly Saturdays: Weighed down by veggie logic

Getting your child to eat right is a very tough task! Sigh! I try really hard to make sure she drinks milk, eat fruits and veggies along with chicken and fish. Good thing is she likes milk, lentils, fish and chicken and few fruits too. The problem is really to get her to eat veggies. I have constantly come up with new ways to get her to eat veggies. 

After good 3-4 days of eating veggies, she asked me to make chicken for her yesterday. And I couldn’t refuse her for obvious reasons, so I decided to make her favourite chappati and chicken curry. Just as I started prepping for the curry, I took out the chicken curry masala packet. It’s an fragrant blend of all the spices that are traditionally used in a authentic Kerala chicken curry. Looking at the pack my little curious diva had a sudden urge to interrogate me.

Smera: Mamma what is this on the chicken’s tail? Hmm! maybe some beans and carrots. Do chicken eat vegetable?

Mamma: Yes they do and that’s they are so yummy in your tummy. So even you should eat them.

Smera: But I don’t want to be yummy, I want to be Smera only!

Mamma: Looking stumped, continues with the work!!

The point is kids these days are so observant and will not settle down for answer that does not satiate their curiosity. The only way out I guess is to learn to tap these qualities – attention to detail and the ability to think creatively without feeling silly.

 I have been looking at this packet for quite a few years but never really bothered about the packaging so much, until this day and that happened to be green and orange chillies on the chicken’s tail.

This time score is:  Smera- 1, Mamma- 0

Silly Saturdays: Mr and Miss Zen and the yelling monster !

It’s been long since I wrote on of these and this time I have just the right one to brag Smera’s witticism.

While we were unpacking, the curious Smera would sneak up and find all those that she is specifically not suppose to touch. After numerous warnings from morning, I ultimately lost my cool and I started screaming. I know that’s not nice but I am human and humans make mistakes.

Unfortunately the hubby was home to bail out Smera.  In his composed voice he said, “Calm Down!” to me. That exasperated me even more and so I burst out on him for taking her side. Mr. Zen was in no mood to bow down to monstrous me and repeated once again in his even more tranquil voice, “Calm Down!”.

With that I decided to shut up completely refused to say another word.

To add the final touches little Smera says, “ Look Mamma daddy said, not once but two time calm down, calm down but you never listen. See now he has gone to office.”

I was left in such state of confusion whether to shout again or laugh out loud, eventually ended up with a poker straight face.

Moral of the story is – I can never win an argument with Smera, thanks to the dad on her side! 

Cheers to new beginnings !!

Sangrywords is now reporting live from destination Muscat.

I confess the first few weeks were really frustrating, the usual that happens to most people when they shift bases. Thankfully for us we had my brother-in-laws and his family to beleaguer and it was just not a pile on, rather a luxurious inconvenience.

Source: Getty Images 

Coming from Dubai, one would think that Muscat city is a little laid back, but that in many ways is a blessing. To be honest the city has everything that one could ask coming from Dubai, except for my Sarvana Bhojan Shala and Ikea.

After a month into the new city, we have finally settled into the city wonderfully. Hubby is already working extra long hours, for now I would blame it on the business that needs his attention more than me. Little Smera too has started her nursery school this week and wonderful bit is she just beautifully settled in the new school.

We were mentally prepared for the move, but one thing that we really undermined  Smera’s reaction in all of this. The child was not only upset and but felt out of place for the first few days. Tantrums, refusal to eat and being rude to everyone. We forgot in all of this that little child too missed her friends, her school, her nanny and her old house. Guilty as charged as a mother I completely missed the signs. Then as we were unpacking I found one of Smera’s artwork from school and this is what it read. 

Suddenly it all starting making sense. I have put it on her door for us to constantly remind ourselves that she will grow out of this phase too. 

At first I must confess day 2, I was thinking I have to go back home. Then it struck to me this is place we are going to be calling home for the next few years and that depressed me a bit.  From being an absolute independent, suddenly I found myself stuck and needing help of all sorts. With tempers flaring and mood swings, god bless to all those who patiently tolerated me.

Finally the boxes have gone, the bags have been stowed away into the storeroom, I can manage to come back home even if I go astray.  In all of this shifting exercise I have realise that change is not easy to accept and that is probably the reason why many of try to resist it. Especially for someone like me who loves everything planned.

Thankfully to the lovely relatives and new found friends, Muscat is too slowly but surely more like home. 

Du-bye

Something is different as I write today. It’s not weather or the mood but it’s the backdrop, towering mountains have replaced the skyscrapers.

Change as they say is inevitable, and so it was time for us to move from Dubai to Muscat. We are all set for new challenges, goals, happiness, frustrations and learning’s here in Muscat.

Dubai has been really kind to us. We continue to be great fans of Dubai, of course every place has its own challenges but the city with each passing day tends to grow on you.  For many it might be the city with biggest and tallest, for me it has been the city of firsts!

It was almost 7 years ago I got married and came to Dubai join my hubby. To be honest, at first I didn’t like place very much but in a matter of few months I started calling it home. We set our first house together, done it up to call it our home, bought our first car, and mastered the art of DIY thanks to frequent trips to IKEA among many other things.  But nothing beats the pleasure of being first-time parents.

Little Smera was born here in Dubai and she filled our lives with immense joy. Staying away from family, it was difficult to raise an infant all by ourselves with no prior experience, but it got us closer to each other as partners.

We have been extremely fortunate on our career front and especially my husband who has been part of an outstanding company for the last 10 years. RSA has been extremely generous and supportive of him and his ambitions. In fact Smera is truly a RSA baby with pink and purple being favourite colours, true to the brand colours of the company.

Taking a sabbatical from work to enjoy motherhood, it was here I first tried my hands at blogging and I must admit I am addicted to it (thanks you for supporting my addiction !).

 There are numerous memories tied with this city and I am really going to miss it. The friends we made, our house (no, home), our favourite food joints and so many other things. However I am sure we are going to make many more new memories and I would love to share it with you all too here on Sangrywords!

To Muscat it is, here we come, with a little prayer in our heart, smile on our faces and hope in our minds to start a new chapter!

Silly Saturdays: Of opportunities and prospects

I keep thinking of writing Silly Saturdays without having Smera on my mind. But guess it’s tough when that’s the only thing I do, being a stay at home mom!

This week while getting out of school I saw Smera trying to catch hold of the magnetic door before it would close. The motherly instinct was absolutely sure that her fingers would be clasped between and I dashed to save her fingers. I couldn't save it, but in the process I dropped my phone. Forget the phone, I had a crying child to pacify, and thankfully she didn't get that badly hurt.

On reaching home I realised that my precious phone’s screen had broken. Devastated to realise that, I felt all the more bad, as I couldn't save her getting hurt and moreover the phone was broken. My Samsung Galaxy Note II, a gift from hubby was wrecked. I started crying, and I can cry even for no reason, but my little one felt really sad looking at me.

She put her little warm hands on my teary face and wiping them and saying in her gentlest voice, “Mamma don’t cry, it’s ok and you read a book and daddy will come soon!”. I was taken back by her maturity at the age of just 3, pacifying her silly mother. This was also the very first time I heard that gentle voice, I am by and large tuned to a lot of screaming and no’s in our usual conversations. Just kidding!

Feeling a little better, we got on with our usual stuff and then the door bell rings. It was hubby on the door, just as I opened the door and even before he put a step inside, she blurts out, “Daddy, mamma broke her phone, can you please scold her?”.

Call it being an opportunist or unscrupulous to get me into trouble, simultaneously trying to score some brownie points in her dad’s good books. Though I have to confess, it did lighten my mood a bit more.

That evening as me and the hubby sat down talking, we ended up discussing Smera’s career options. We mutually concluded that she could really have a good shot at Indian politics and maybe could even start a toddler’s wing of some political party! And for starters I have a name for her political party too SDP or Smera Dalbadlu Party! For those who do not understand Dalbadlu means one who deceives by double dealing! 

P.S. – The phone is fixed and was done in flat one hour thanks to the Samsung’s one-hour express service!