A Letter To My Ten Year Old

To my dearest newly minted 10 year old S,

From a quiet and peaceful baby to a much louder "2 digit" year old, you have come a long way. I think back to when you were young, and how nearly every behaviour and milestone came as a surprise to me, even though you were my 2nd one. I didn't know until then that the same sets of genes can combine to create 2 very different individuals :).

You refused to start walking for quite a while after you turned one, and I was also pretty laid back about it as you were such a happy and healthy baby in general. And just when we were getting a wee bit worried, your doctor advised waiting until you were 1.5 to do any further tests, you decided to walk nearly exactly at 1 year and 6 months. It was almost as though you were waiting for my birthday to present me with those first steps ;).

Not walking yet, but figured out a way to explore the kitchen ;)

From the time you started talking, or probably even earlier, you figured out how to charm everyone around you. You are still considered a "quiet and calm" child, especially by your teachers, but I know that you do have a voice and quite a lot of opinions that make their presence felt, especially at home ;). When you were first starting school, I even used to worry if you could hold your own, but I soon found that you were more than capable of finding your own way. We had a party for your 10th birthday and I was so thrilled to see the wealth of friendship that you have developed in your 2+ years at school here.

May you keep conquering new heights

You have always been fond of hugs, and these also work very well as a calming mechanism for when you need to get out of trouble ;). I keep reminding you that even when you are a "big boy" and would possibly be embarrassed by my hugs, I would still continue with them. I am happy to note that as of today, nothing much has changed, and you still like to be squished up in a "chutney" hug from time to time :).

You are passionate about running, and have been showing so much commitment towards your after-school athletics class. You insist on attending it even if I sometimes feel that you might be tired after some other activity, and I am in awe of your enthusiasm and energy. Even your teachers at school have noticed your drive and started picking you for participating in events.

With an avid reader for a sibling, you didn't have a choice but to be one. I am glad though, that you are not forced into it, but instead choose it yourself as one of the activities for your free time. The library system in Singapore has been great for this, as it gives you access to such a range of books for your age group.

You also have a lot of other varied interests, from Pokemon to Beyblades to Rick Riordan, but I especially love the fact that you also like to hear about how things are made in the kitchen. I am guilty of not letting you try your hand at much yet, other than making the occasional dosai or roti, but I hope to change this soon.

Here's to you my darling boy, may you always retain your enthusiasm and curiosity and wonder. 

Lots of love,
Amma

San Francisco with Kids: The Exploratorium

The Exploratorium is a suggestion that EVERYONE makes when telling you about places to visit with kids, and when you go in, you'll realise why. It's like a Science Museum on steroids.. one day is barely enough to see it all. If you can avoid school holiday time, you might have an easier time of it, as when it's crowded you might end up waiting around a bit for popular exhibits as we did. But there's enough to experience that you can keep moving around and come back later to the ones you missed as well. The post is more of a photo tour, as I can't really do justice and describe the variety of stuff. You can find more details of the different spaces etc. at the link given on the first line.

This is an exhibit in the Colours and Light section (which is where most of my pics are from) that showed how perception makes the difference when viewing colours. I was curious to see if it would come through in photos as well:

What colour would you say that is? White?

The one on the left is the "white" one from the previous pic!

The rightmost one is the newest now.. 

The card in 2nd position is the one we saw in the first pic - dark grey if not black.
Pretty cool, especially for the kids.

Who doesn't want to make funny and colourful shadows if you get the chance. I was also part of the fun along with trying to click it ;).

This is what we looked like on a screen that detected our infrared radiation. The one with the black i.e. VERY COLD nose is me :P. Checked after a couple of hours spent inside and it was back to normal. You could also press your hands on some cold shapes and check out your "tattoos" on the screen.

On to a small room where everything was lit in monochromatic (yellow) light. It was fascinating to see how that drains out most colour. My blue jacket was dark grey, our shoes were drab, and this lovely rainbow looked absolutely washed out. Compare to the one just outside the room just below. The room also had small torches giving out white light that the kids could shine on things to see the difference that made. A box with jellybeans, a set of crayons, a painting of a landscape, were some of the examples in the room.

Monochromatic light

A similar one in normal white light

We'd seen this type of mirror before but it's always fun to go at it again. I was not going for Leonardo's Vitruvian Man symmetry, but that's what I managed to look like ;)

This one was titled Floater Theatre where we watched a BLANK WHITE SCREEN for a few minutes with a narrative playing alongside, with the floaters in our eye showing up and giving a performance based on how we moved them. Amazing use of something I always assumed was a minor irritation but otherwise never thought about.

The kids, especially D, were fascinated with this one

My post probably covers about 3-4% of the place, as most activities were hands-on and I was only clicking the occasional one. Do check it out if you are ever in San Francsisco, I am sure the kids will find it memorable.

Signing off with a lovely if slightly garbled pic of D and S with an even more shadowy me on the side..

San Francisco with Kids - Children's Creativity Museum

We've been on holiday in San Francisco, and decided that we would stick to finding places in the city to explore rather than traveling around much this time. We did the whole whirlwind tour experience in 2013 and I even later attempted an A-Z set of posts to capture it all ;).
Never actually completed the alphabet, but it was fun to write! Start reading here if you would like to check it out.

We had a lot of recommendations from friends and family on what to check out, especially with the kids, but sometimes you come across a place serendipitously - this time thanks to looking at a map (a paper one for a change ;)) and finding it marked there. It turned out that it wasn't too far from where we were so decided to give it a try and the kids had an amazing time!

The Children's Creativity Museum has something for kids of all ages, and though I was a bit concerned if D would find it too simple, both of them (12 and 9) found enough to do and had lots of fun. The ones we especially enjoyed were:

First stop: The Animation Studio. We made models out of clay, using the provided metal skeleton as a base. The first coat was with with mixed multicolour blocks (loved that they repurposed the clay for as long as possible), and the outer layer was with the colours to create the characters. Can you guess who made what from the pics?

After making the figures, the kids learnt how to make an animation video using multiple still photos of the characters, moving them a bit every time. We had a whole storyline with the princess and penguin walking along and the zombie coming out to scare them away, but managed a grand 4 second video after what seemed like a ton of clicks :)

Basic figures

And tadaah.. yes the unimaginative penguin is mine ;)
the one on the left is a Spiderman zombie ninja warrior in case you missed that.

The next stop was the Robotics Studio where the kids figured out how to write programs on the provided tablets to take the robots through a variety of tasks.. This one was to find its way out of the maze. There were also ones that drew, threw a ball into a hoop etc. The commands were simple ones, but the challenge was to find the most efficient way to complete the task. More suited for younger kids, but even my 12 year old enjoyed the novelty of it.

The kids and I had the most fun in the Music Studio where you could create your own music video :). They had a green screen background that they could use to add in one from a range of backgrounds and also provided karaoke versions for a selection of popular songs. We actually ended up going back there again later in the day to try and get more videos in ;).
Would have loved to share the videos but I have been following a policy of privacy on the kids' photos and videos, at least until they're online themselves and I have to come up with new rules ;).

There were a couple more spaces.. one based on a winter wonderland theme which had some art based activities.. but these were more catering to the younger kids so we didn't spend much time there.

Ornaments for a paper tree

I was really glad to have found this place by chance, and I hope this post helps someone who visits SF with kids in the future. All details of admission and tickets can be found here. The museum is usually closed on Mondays but was open all days for a couple of weeks thanks to the holiday season.

A Letter to My Near-Teen

My dear darling D, 

As you are on the verge of becoming a teenager, I can't help but think about

- The baby that you were, the one who cried the loudest of all the babies in the hospital, but was also the most inquisitive and active one with the loveliest smile when you quietened down. You hated the act of going to sleep, and made me hate it wholeheartedly too, but also gave me a surprise by started to sleep through the night at 7 months. Now, it's the waking up in the mornings that's the problem :).

- The little bundle that was a terror to feed, whom I sang songs to and probably even had to do a dance or two just to get a few spoonfuls into your mouth, is now a completely non-picky eater who's always interested to know what the menu is for the next meal - Not completely sure what I did right there but I'm taking the credit for it ;).

- And the young lady you are turning out to be, taking on challenges and finding some times that you might even enjoy an activity that you weren't too keen on to begin with.

You turn 12 tomorrow.. I can't quite wrap my head around it.. but then I see you in front of me and I have to believe it's happening. My cute little baby has turned into a long-legged teenager, and one with strong opinions ;). You are so different from me in some ways, yet we are also a lot alike I like to think.

- You draw, and love to create something fresh. I can copy a picture (very well, I should add with no humility whatsoever) and the occasional zentangle fascinates me, but ask me to draw a tiger or a human face, for example, and I'm stuck. You on the other hand, seem to effortlessly draw anything from a birthday card to a nature scene for a school project.

- You write.. oh can you write! With the added support of a lovely and encouraging English teacher at school last year, your creative writing has just flourished. You read like crazy, sometimes to the exclusion of things like homework.. but then so did I at your age, so I know your writing talent doesn't stem from just that ;). I am really fascinated by the ideas that come out of your mind. For a recent A-Z challenge that many bloggers took up, you decided that you wanted to give it a try, and I was amazed by the short stories you came up with. 

* Waiting for her to finish the "Z" entry, and then wondering whether I should make that blog public.

- You imagine. Ok, this is probably the part I find toughest to handle as a parent. You do or say something, sometimes impulsively, and then later think about (in great detail) the impact it might have. Or you just worry about something that might probably never happen, because "What If?". I remember similar situations when I was young, but in your case, I think the possible results are like a complete story in your head so somehow bother you more. It is sometimes tough for me to put myself in your place to try and understand, but I try my best. I tell you "Life is not made of What Ifs".. but I'm guessing this is not something that you're going to just accept because I say it, and I hope you will learn, and gently, from experience.

- You share. A LOT. With me and with your Appa.. and it surprises me when you even tell me something that you know I might not approve of. I might sometimes react angrily, but then I immediately realize that it's more important that you come to me with these things. I end every such discussion with "I'm glad you told me.".. and I hope that's the memory that stays with you.. because not having this bond, this communication, with you is just not an option.

Here's wishing you always soar high my darling..

I am super proud of you, my dear "first" baby. Stay funny, stay imaginative, stay creative, stay YOU.

With lots of love,

Amma

The Mantra for 2015 - Mindfulness

As I continued to read The Happiness Project, one of the most significant things to catch my eye was the mention of "Mindfulness". The author wrote about driving a car to a destination, and on reaching there, realizing that she had no memory of the route she took to get there. When meeting people for the first time, she didn't have a memory of most details she might have heard about them. And so on. That was my Aha moment! When I used to drive to work everyday, there were days when I would be at my workplace 8 km away with no memory of driving any part of the route. I also have an abysmal memory for names and details, and have to keep asking folks where I might know them from! Putting it down to a bad memory though didn't seem to cut it, as I could remember many other things well enough!

It struck me that this lack of mindfulness is the reason that I sometimes drop things, cut my fingers while chopping veggies, and often feel stressed when I'm doing something. That's because even for the most mundane activity, my mind is still racing on at 100 miles a second thinking of a zillion other things to be done or that I should be doing at that point of time! Do I hear a small voice saying “Get organized!” – yes yes that’s coming too but I get to choose which habit I adopt first ;). So as a small change for February, and hopefully forever after, I have picked to be mindful of whatever I am doing at that moment. I have been trying it already for the last few weeks, and it takes some doing! Especially while chopping veggies, my fingers are very thankful that I have started being more mindful ;).

Source: http://bit.ly/1ANQTaa

Parenting is a big part of my life and mindfulness is even more important where the kids are concerned. Giving them my full attention when I am with them is something I have read about in many parenting articles now, as I'm sure you have too ;). I do try very hard to do this, but some chore or deadline always looms large and it is just so easy to listen or respond with half your mind and plan or do something else at the same time. As a part of this habit, of my own Happiness Project you might say, I hereby decide that even if it is just a half hour in a day that I am spending focused time with the kids, it shall be 100% of my attention.

Note: I had heard the term "mindfulness" in the context of a type of meditation or therapy, which is a surefire indication that I might go to sleep in the middle of it. It was such a great coincidence that a friend mentioned this resource on her FB timeline, as I was in the process of writing this post. I am definitely going to check out www.headspace.com as a part of my mindfulness journey.

Birthday Conversations..

S quietly turned 6 years old yesterday, and other than a cake cutting at school and chocolate distribution at Karate, we didn't do anything much at home as hubby's traveling (Well that was my excuse and I'm sticking to it ;)).

For a whole lot of questions ranging from "When are you going to sleep on your own?" to "When are you going to keep your toys neatly?" he had been answering with "When I am 6 years old!". So I asked him that morning:

Me: Hey, now that you're 6 you can't answer with "When I am 6 years old" anymore. What are you going to do? Are you finally going to agree to do all those things?

S: (With his typical twinkle) I'll just say "When I am 7 years old!".

LOL the kid just has an answer for everything!


On the older sibling front, D is now into playing something called "Spirit Animals" on the desktop. To the extent, that she has discussed the game with her friends who play it, and came back today with information on how to complete the challenge she had been stuck at!!

Kidspeak - always entertaining :)

Conversation with S this morning:

S: I love butterflies so much. I think I like butterflies most of all, they are so colourful and pretty! What do you like best Amma?
Me: (On cue!) I like you and D the mooost my darling.
S: (Recovering quickly) And I like butterflies, Appa, you, Damita....

LOL, definitely the salesman of the family ;).

Day 28: It's time for Bye Bye 2013

It's time to say goodbye already.. the year has gone by so quickly.. these are thoughts that I seem to have at the end of nearly every year now .. :). I guess it has to do with every day going by in a flash, the kids looking taller and acting older ... I felt I should write down my thoughts on how each of us has changed in the last year.. let me start with D.

For Damita, 2013 has been the year she has started becoming a young lady. She is 8 and a half at the end of the year, and has many strong views and insights, many of which I stop to wonder they came from. It's a lot of fun to play the guessing game to try to understand where she might have got some idea from or what runs through her head. Much to my delight, she has developed an interest in food, and believe me this was a big change from the fussy eater of even 2 years ago. She plays the keyboard beautifully, when she actually puts her mind to it :). In a lot of small ways, I see her personality beginning to develop. Her self-confidence has grown since she started school and now she can hold her own more easily than I remember her doing before. At this point, she loves to fight with S, disagreeing on just about everything though he also has a hand in these situations ;).

She has always been interested in reading, but this year she has turned into a voracious reader, with everything else getting ignored when there's an interesting book in hand. The irony is that I can hardly wholeheartedly tell her not to or to prioritize her other stuff, as she reminds me of what I was like at her age ;). I must admit though, that I think she's probably a bit ahead of me at the level of reading at the same age if it comes down to a comparion :P, a happy admission for a mom to make I guess.

In my hope that she should always feel like coming and telling me what's up - the good and the bad - I try my best to listen to her whether she's talking about a storyline in the Geronimo Stilton book or a fight she had with a friend at school. I personally don't think it is possible to completely be a friend to your child, but it surely has to be part of the "parent package" :).

Welcome 2014 my lovely daughter, to a lot more learning, a lot more books, and TONS of happiness in it for you.

Day 24: Can I Earn some Money?

D's school does not allow any cash transactions for their tuck shop or canteen, and as she pretty much doesn't go anywhere else without me, pocket money has not been a much raised concern at home. We also put it off for later, thinking that we would use it more to teach the concept of money than anything else.

Much to my surprise, this was our conversation yesterday:

D: Amma, I want to earn my money. Give me something to do!
Me: Huh, but why, what happened suddenly? Do you want to buy something?
D: I don't know all that Amma! Just tell me something to do!
Me: (Thinking aloud) Hmmm.. maybe you can fill a bottle of water for 5 rupees.
D: That's too much Amma! I'll do it for Rs. 2!

LOL, that's the cutest thing I ever heard. She has "earned" her first 10 bucks by now, all of which will be aggregated to finally buy a book I'm guessing. Thinking of more monetizing schemes to keep her occupied now, and here's my chance to buy a cute piggy bank as well :).

For Day 14: Make-up 101

I have always been a low to no make-up kinda person, it took me a while to realize this though, so there has been a point when I realized I had about 10 odd shades of lipstick I hadn't used in years and finally threw out!

So when I was faced with some elaborate make-up demands for D's ballet program this weekend I decided I would start preparing a bit early :). While on our Dubai vacation, I suddenly walked into a MAC store and bought some pink blush and eyeshadow much to hubby's alarm, until I explained what it was for ;). Just this week I realized that I would need pink lipstick as well, so went and picked up a lipgloss - oh well maybe I'll try to use it occasionally so that it doesn't go completely wasted other than for a day.

Wish me luck, I have no clue how to draw an unshaky line of eyeliner both above and below her eyes !!!
Update: The eyeliner got better on the 2nd day, even got a compliment from D ;).

She had always wanted a daughter but now...

When she had gone through hours of labour with all those Lamaze techniques and finally went through a C-Section (much to her relief!), the first sound she remembered after coming back to the hospital room was this tiny little creature screaming her lungs out. And her first thoughts "They can be so loud?!" "Is something wrong?" "What should I do now?"...

Hahaha I will always have vivid memories of that first year.. the sleepless nights as my little baby for some reason seemed to not want to go to sleep.. trying to think up new and effective lullabies.. passing the breastfeeding phase to find it was going to be a challenge to get her to eat solids as well... Phew!

And just as quickly, at 8 months she started sleeping through the night (it was still a challenge to actually put her to sleep, but still 7 hours of PEACE after that!).. got her first tooth.. got toilet trained super fast.. and started walking a couple of months after her first birthday.

Oh yes, the memories of those labour pains fade and whatever craziness you go through in those early months, there are just so many "Awww" moments that it absolutely fools you into wanting to have a second one ;)...

That bawling bundle now wakes up at 6 am with hardly a fuss, gets ready to leave for school by 6:45.. does most of her homework on her own... reads at least a book a day... loves to draw.. loves to write... where did the years fly my baby?

Kidspeak and Poetry

Sometimes I tend to forget that at the age of 5.5, so many phrases still are not familiar to him. Though one would not think that when you hear him discoursing on various subjects ;).

S: Amma, this homework is tooo difficult.
I have a look, and it says "Name 5 things you come across in your bedroom"
Me: Why S, don't you know the things in your bedroom. I'm sure you can name 5 easily!
S: Bed.
Me: Ok good, write that down first.
S: Writes down "bed", and then demonstrates to me by climbing on to the bed and going "across" it - Yes, you can cross the bed! :).
Me: Doubled over with laughter for about 5 minutes. And then explain to him what "come across" means.

What fun it is to try to teach this language and nuances like how "come across" is not the same as "go across" :P.

And as for D, she is just so creative in so many little ways, it astounds me sometimes. She's been an avid reader for a few years now and I can(and do ;)) take a little bit of credit for passing on that love and encouraging it, but the other aspect is that she loves writing down stuff as well. Sometimes a diary of events, sometimes a short story, and the latest are these short poems that I was very thrilled to read :). Writing creatively is not something that comes easily to me, I only do ok with very mundane descriptions of stuff that has actually happened, so I'm pretty awed at her ability and hope to nurture it the best I can.

Here's one of the latest from her repertoire:

In other news, I still plod on with the big questions of parenting, such as the differences (or are they the same?) between chart paper, KG cardboard and my latest discovery of ivory paper?! :)

Homework! Help!!

Ever had that feeling when your kids come to ask you a question about their homework?

sidenote: Yes I am writing a parenting post at last ;).

My older one D is just in her 3rd standard, and this is already a common sight at home:

D: Amma, my Hindi homework is about Samyukt Vyanjan. What does that mean?
Me: Hmmm.. let me think.. (I actually did a lot of Hindi in school, so why can't I remember this?!)
As I'm thinking: But why can't you just bring your Hindi workbook home baby, so that you can actually see what you did in school (smart deflection ;)).
Finally: What else, turn to Google!


D: Where does Violet come on the rainbow?
Me: (Very confidently, I'm sure I know this) It's at the bottom, red is on top.
D: Oh I thought it was on the top.
Me: Hmmm.. Really? Wait let me check "just in case"..


D: I need 3 words with "ei" where it is pronounced as "ee"...
Me: Weird? But that doesn't really sound like "ee"...
Thankfully hubby came up with "conceit" at this point, but still had to browse for that final "seize" !!!


Arghhh!!! I'm quite terrified what the years are going to bring. What do you think fellow parents, does anyone else feel like we need a refresher course to keep up with our kids work at school?

Just like you!

It seems like it has been ages since I wrote anything, so I thought it was time to pull something out of my drafts :).

D was telling me about her ballet class, and suddenly the discussion shifted to how "thin" some of her teachers were. And she burst out with:
"But I don't want to be that thin when I grow up! I want to be like you!"
I jokingly said:
"Are you calling Amma fat?"
And she says:
"No no! You're juuust right!"
What a lovely phase this is when kids consider you to be perfect, I wonder how long it lasts ;)!

At Corbett National Park - Summer Holiday Part II

So it was time for Leg 2 and we were going to spend that at Corbett National Park, at the Club Mahindra Resort located close to it at a place called Garjia. I had booked a cab from a company called Incredible Routes, whom I got to know of through (where else?) Facebook :). Kripi, who runs the company, was very polite and responsive to all my queries, and we struck a deal completely online, again a first for me. The very courteous driver along with his Toyota Innova were at our doorstep in the morning, and we were off. It took us close to 6 hours for the drive, along with a stop for breakfast. We made it a point to take it a bit slow, due to the kids having a bit of a history with car-sickness, and the bad roads at many points didn't make it any easier.

Our room was at the far end of the property, but the lovely view from the window made the walk worth it :). That is the Kosi river, which apparently has a lot more water in it after the rains.

As is usually the case with us, the rest of the day after a journey was spent relaxing at the room and the surrounding areas of the resort, to be fresh for an early morning safari the next day.

I had booked the safaris a month in advance, as this was recommended when we made our booking at the resort. There was a choice of a gypsy safari, something called a canter safari that was for a longer time and in a larger 16 seater vehicle (I got a warning about this from a cousin, but had already made my booking by then!), and an elephant safari. Now the last option was a big no-no for us as the elephant rides we have taken at various destinations have been no fun, not just in terms of comfort for us, but feeling very very bad for the poor elephant.

I should mention in advance, that this was our 3rd jungle/safari destination, and we knew that hoping to see an animal like a tiger or leopard was pretty futile, but did that make me hope any less? Of course not! Looking behind every bush, rock and clump of grass is what makes it interesting, isn't it :). Unfortunately the closest we got to the tiger were some pug-marks, which we were told were "fresh".

Hmmph.. that only made me search all the more and I finally found a stone that resembled a tiger ;).


On browsing through my photos, I find this eerie similarity to my pics from Kabini. Honestly in a few weeks, I think even I won't know which were taken where! Many instances of the 3 types of deer most commonly seen in Indian jungles - the Chital or spotted deer, the bigger sambhar and less common and very small barking deer. I think the most interesting event we saw that morning was a group of wild elephants drinking water from a watering hole. The news passes from one gypsy driver to another and I am sure every group that morning must have had a glimpse of these majestic creatures :).

The afternoon was spent visiting the local Garjia temple - we didn't actually go inside as there were these long snaking lines of people waiting to go in and then at the resort with such simple joys as the trampoline. Phew, seems like this travelogue is going to have more than 3 parts, rest of the Corbett leg coming up soon :).

At the Nation's Capital

As announced on the blog a few months back, our much awaited summer vacation has come and gone.. We had a whale of a time.. divided between Delhi and the beautiful state of Uttarakhand. First some reminiscing about part I at our nation's capital..

This year, we decided it was about time we ventured to the north of our country. In previous years, we have confined holidays to the south and nearby "drivable" places as the kids were too young. But with S turning 5 in March, seemed like a good time to be a bit more adventurous. I did have a fleeting thought whether to make a long drive of it, but considering we didn't know anyone along the route that we could stay with (except Hyderabad maybe) it didn't seem like a viable option. Since adventure was the theme, I also took the plunge and booked train tickets by the Rajdhani to give the kids the experience of a long train journey that is not something we ever seem to get around to. And we were off!

The food was decent, and I also had some home made chapathis from mom to supplement it so we survived ok. Did get a bit monotonous though, I could have done with a change to the standard paranthas they gave with every meal, and the similar looking chicken curry.

Our usual place of stay is a Club Mahindra resort(have to use up those weeks!), and the later part of the trip was planned around those. But in Delhi, I went out on a limb and booked a place completely based on online reviews on tripadvisor. Point 1 in their favour was that they were amazingly responsive online too, I just had to send them messages on Facebook to clarify any doubts before making my booking. And the feeling didn't change, everything was as expected and as mentioned on the site including photos of the room. Their value triple room is a great VFM option for a family of 4, and the bunk bed is fun for the kids too! Check out the bloomrooms page on tripadvisor and their webpage here.

One of the highlights of the time spent at Delhi was the great coincidence that a good friend stayed very close to the hotel, so our families were able to spend a lot of time together. We had a lovely time catching up, and the kids hit it off as well. It's really comforting to have a home environment when you're traveling with kids, and we took full advantage :).

Hmm.. as usual this is getting longer and longer and I haven't even mentioned sightseeing ;). We didn't do too much, spent an afternoon shopping at Lajpat Nagar where I went a bit crazy. Also explored going around a bit on the Metro which is a new experience for the kids. The main bit of sightseeing we put in was at the Jama Masjid and Red Fort, along with a quick lunch at the famous Paranthewali Gali at Chandni Chowk. Some photos on my photo blog already so just repeating one of them :).

And we were ready for the next leg. To continue in Part II :)

How time flies!

From time to time I feel guilty about not writing about the kids enough, on what started out as a mommy blog after all :). So here goes:

Conversation with S this morning:

S: Amma, this t-shirt is only a few weeks new no?
Me: Hmm.. yes that's right.
S: I'll tell Aunty (his teacher) that it's new and she'll say "Very nice!"
Me: Why S, you should have told her that when it was really new, why did you wait for so long? You've already worn it 5-6 times now!
S: No no, not 5-6 times, only 4-5 times :P

And that is how the arguments begin, don't they !!

S turned 5 last Sunday, wondering if that's connected to the above :). I started out with an idea of having a party, but as in the last couple of years chickened out and did a home-party only. Tried baking a cake and icing/frosting it.. not completely perfect but it was a start!

The birthday boy was quite happy with it... here he is looking forward to blowing out the candles.

Happy Birthday my darling baby :).