Now I Know My ABC's !!!

Ohhhhh....!!!! He will do it when he is ready for it ...!!! , My mamma and Papa tell me that everytime I complain that the kids have not done something they are supposed to do.

It's been a while that I have been trying to get Ish to sit and write his ABCs... But he had refused to even hold the pen so far ...If I used some severe coercing techniques the most I would get was an "O". His argument was I only like "O". "O" is my favorite mamma was an indication to me to leave him alone ...I have heard my mum say that "you can take a donkey to the river, but you cannot force him to drink the water". I guess that's always been my experience with Ishaan...!!! Like I've said it before ..."I can't hold him in my hands.. the more I do he slips out like sand".

On the other hand ..Mr. Ray is a peculiar little toddler. I sometimes thnk he is a little man trapped in a baby's body ... He loves scribbling and doing stuff his brother is supposed to do. So last week when we went shopping I bought him a little doodle board... and he doodles like his life depends on it or something. The doodle board was not Mr. Ish's favorite toy so far but ofcourse when his little brother got his own doodleboard our man needed to emphasize his authority and superiority... All of a sudden he wanted to write. I thought I would capitalise on this competitive spirit that got kindled out of the blue. So I decided to challenge him to write an A ... and Lo .. behold an "A" sprang out of nowhere. Then I tried to push my luck a bit and he was able to imitate almost every letter I wrote. It was a pleasant surprise ...and a long awaited one..!!! So we spent the day yesterday just trying to spell random words and I bribed him with blue Icecream if he learnt to spell and write his name. To say the least .. I went to bed last night extremely pleased and satisfied.

Today he was playing a game on the computer and normally he calls me to help him spell out his name while he types it. But today was different.... he typed his own name... the letters were all jumbled up and looked somethng like this "IHAASN" ... I was thrilled .. because that meant he atleast remembered all the alphabets in his name. This evening when he came back from school .. we were playing some random train game with an old cardboard box. Both the brotheres decided to decorate it with some colored paper ... and I was just playing along. Suddenly I asked him if he would like to autograph the back of the box by writing his name... And hallelujah ...!!! he spelt and wrote his name all by himself :) ...Time for "Blue Cotton Candy Icecream from Coldstone"...Yippee!!!

Waiting for Tomorrow!!

Leftover Chicken Korma tastes great with spaghetti...!!! So ... I was squealing that I didn't have to cook much because hubby was out of town. Fed some pasta with garlic and olive oil and eggs for the kids and didn't bother about my dinner ... Come Dinner time and I was in no mood for some bland spaghetti … I dug in the refrigerator and there was a bowl of some chicken korma with like three teeny weenie pieces of chicken in it… I warmed it up and thought I would eat it with some bread … but that didn’t appeal to my taste buds at all. I craved some meatballs to go with the spaghetti… but this was my day off … I didn’t want to cook … I groaned in my thoughts… Finally Eureka happened and I decided that I’d just dump the chicken korma over the spaghetti, the result was yummilicious.

When hubby left for his business trip I thought it was perfect time to take a good break from the umpteen household chores that adorn my day. I am sure his work agenda was not as well planned out as mine. My plan was simple… Be a sluggish slob!!

The first day was just fine … I did nothing … cooked simple (read EASY) stuff for the kids … let them enjoy their mess making process and just let lethargy rule my life. I ignored my hunger pangs and made do with milk and bread while the boys gorged down some mac n cheese. By evening I was already bored of my lackluster plan. However, I tried to motivate myself to get over it and do some girl stuff even though I had only two little boys to share my girl stuff with … After watching a series of Oprah and Project Runway with me, the result it had on my boys was just disastrous… This morning I heard him announcing “I love my body!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”, obviously he had paid close attention to the Victoria’s Secret AD that made its rounds. Ughhhh!!!!!!!

The second day I decided that I would make the day more interesting by doing some fun stuff with the boys. I think we did more activities that one day than we normally would do an entire week. We went to the park , ate “BLUE” icecream at Coldstone, went shopping for toys, came home and ripped open all the toys, blew bubbles till our mouths hurt and till Rayaan had ingested enough soap to have potty outbursts, played chutes and ladders. We did all this and more and still there were 4 more hours to kill before sleep time. So they watched TV and I spent my time on Facebook. Dinner time finally made me yell in pain because I really wanted to eat some adult food. Thankfully the chicken korma spaghetti saved the day and I didn’t have to starve.

The third day I got the food part covered by carrying out some scrumptious food for the next 2 days. (No, I was not bored enough to toil it out in the kitchen – spaghetti, mac n cheese and pizzas were all I was ready to sign up to make). Nonetheless the day seemed long and endless and the nights were just as terrifying, my over-stimulated, over-worked senses could detect the slightest sounds.

The truth is I really missed my hubby dear. It’s funny how dependent you get on each other without even realizing it. After several years of being married you don’t even appreciate all the little things you do together. It’s not like we sit and talk or spend any obvious quality time together anymore. Infact most of our together times are spent just squabbling over division of labour or playing with the kids or just watching something on TV. Nevertheless, those times of companionship constitute the bulk of any relationship. It is those everyday matters that matter... and go to form the substance that binds you together. I have learnt that the fact that you can tolerate each other inspite of the differences and still want to lie down on the same side of the bed after the day is done with, just with some comfort in your heart from an unseen envelope of love and support, is itself something to be grateful about.

I know I have just become ungrateful and I fail to appreciate the little joys that make my life infact pretty darned blissful. However times like this most indubitably reinforce that belief back in my mind and make me less of an ingrate.

Happy Birthday Mami

Happy Birthday Samta ...

I asked Ish.. what would he like to paint for Mami... He asked me.. Maami is a girl? So I would like to paint a castle. When I asked Rayaan what he wanted me to draw... He said dog at first .. I figured it would be extremely difficult for me to draw a little puppy on my primitive MsPaint tool :) So I renegotiated ...he said boat this time... I think the reason might have been that he was holding a little toy boat in his hand. I jumped at it .. I can do that!!!!

So this is what we came up with after some real tussle over color choices.

Ishaan did most of the painting ... even though I had to fight about some of his gaudy color choices ... Rayaan added the snow on the snow capped mountains ... (ofcourse it was not easy ... if he had his way ..it would have been a snow filled painting...lol!!)

A little Photocollage of your memories with Ish and Ray... Sorry I don't have all the pictures .. but this is whatever I had ...:)

And a few words from me....

You've always been a wonderful support to me darling and I am just so glad to have you in my life as my sister. You don't have loud ways of proclaiming your love but all your quiet ways never go unnoticed...Thanks for always motivating and encouraging me to do stuff and Thanks for listening to me even when I don't say the pleasantest things !! :)

Love ya babes!!!

Happy Birthday Sufyan ....!!!

Here's is a card that Ishaan made for you on Nick Jr. The little grey spots and blue splash is Rayaan's contribution

Anecdote of the Week: "Two "wuvving" boys"

The boys were playing team games, ofcourse they are part of this fraternity that I am not invited to. It was just before noon on sunday and it was time to go out to eat. We had planned to go out to a restaurant. The boys went for their community shower and came out all happy and gleeful. Ish, saw me sprawled out on the floor looking a bit tired and sad (or so he thought)

He came up to me:

"Mamma why are you sad?"

I said nothing yet.

He orders me ..

" Come on now, take a shower, wear your clothes and lets go to Reesraunt"

I looked up with a sad face

" Mamma why are you sad mamma?" , this time leaning down and touching my hair like his grandpa...

I replied,

"No body is playing with me"

Soon with a cheerful smile and an encouraging look, he gives me a hug .. and says

"Mamma .. don't worry .. everybody loves you!!"

and he left ..!!! :)

the little one who was watching all this action .. makes his entry now .. and hugs me and says

" I wuuvvv ooo mamma"

and leaves just like his leader brother :)

Cute, huh?

Mommy Tip of the Week: Ball point PEN marks on my Leather Couch ...Ohhhh nooo.. UhhhOOOHH

We didn't think much when we bought two exquisite,elegant , EXPENSIVE and light colored couches from Natuzzi. I remember walking into the store and thinking I might have to pay the salesperson to talk to us poor-looking tramps!!

We found our first dream home and the next logical step was to decorate the home. Hubby and I would venture out every single evening after work to find the perfect piece of furniture for every room. We had made a pact that nothing would enter our home until it had consensus from both of us. It was easy making the pact but difficult honoring it. BUT, we did not violate it!! That ofcourse meant sleeping facing opposite walls several times a week ( just like in the cute, romantic movies ...:). It was cute but not funny!!! We bickered and argued at every evening shopping trip but honestly neither of us were far sighted enough to realise that we might have two terribly troublesome toddlers who would raise havoc and upheave our "thoughtfully???!!!???" designed home. But Ofcourse we thought our kids would be PERFECT!! Why should they have been anything else right?? But then we had them and they discovered every loophole in our childproofing methods. That meant that "carefully??!!??" stashed away crayons or "BALLPOINT" pens found their way into their devious hands...

Who thought about the "Pen is mightier than a Sword" idiom in this context while shopping for light colored couches?... Oh no!! Not even in the horizon of my thoughts!!

My friend was mentioning about how she would feel like someone was treading on her heart when a kid was jumping on her expensive couch during the initial few times. I replied .."How about the pain from someone scribbling mercilessly on your heart?" It's true!!! the first time it happened, I was almost heartbroken!! I know its so materialistic but ..believe me when it happens the for the first time you forget all about being above material joys even if it's your own child.

However, I now have the bandage for my broken heart...!!! It does not mend completely but leaves very few traces of breakage.

So here is my Tip of the Week for ball point PEN marks on my Leather Couch

If your leather couch has been ruthlessly written on, don't let your heart shatter itself to pieces, the remedy is simple but a bit time consuming ...

All you need is

• PERFUME - so don't throw away those gifted perfumes that you absolutely detest

The oil + alcohol in the perfume offers the right combination for cleaning leather ... the harshness of alcohol combined with the softness of oil

• A soft yet rough cloth (lol!!.. a bounty sheet will do or the mother of all baby poos - baby wipes:)

Spray perfume on the ball point stain and leave it for a few seconds ... you will see the stain dissolving ... slowly, but firmly using your "soft yet rough" cloth to wipe away the stain. you might have to do two iterations for stubborn stains ... BUT VOILA!!!

your stain

will be washed away ...

so will your pain!!!

One whole year later ...!!!

Feb 28^th 2009, I had been dreading this day for months and finally it was time to bid adieu to Dallas and move to Seattle. The only things I associated Seattle with till then was … Microsoft and Sleepless in Seattle. The place my husband had spent a whole year travelling back and forth every week, a place where one of my best friends had moved to a few years ago. We moved and finally arrived in Seattle with our hearts still hooked on Dallas. It was a sunny day and the ride from the airport to our temporary corporate housing was long. Everybody had said that I would love Seattle at first sight but that really didn’t happen. I was just anxious to see a familiar face and I was happy when our cousins received us.

I had heard about the cloudy skies of Seattle but it didn’t strike me that it would be cloudy all the time and it was not until I saw a really nice and sunny day that I realized how much I missed my sunny, bright Dallas sky that I took for granted and even cribbed about. But when the sun shines … I have to agree that there is no place like Seattle (read my earlier post). So we learnt to enjoy the weather and make hay while the sun shines. However, the sun spells didn’t last too long and I was stuck in my world in Dallas. I missed our friends and our gorgeous home in Dallas. Finding friends was beyond a herculean effort. The only support was family from my husband’s side, Thank God for small graces. They had become our lifelines here without whom I would have pretty much ended up just running back all the way to Texas.

Living at the temporary furnished housing was tricky. I learnt to make do with very basic stuff and it made me realize that I didn’t need the umpteen pots and pans that hid inside my huge kitchen cabinets in Dallas. The other good consequence was I started baking / grilling a lot since I didn’t want our 2 month furnished house to smell like a curry pot when we move out. So healthy food habits also meant some weight loss and healthy living. We spent all our free times searching for a place to live and finally after a huge combing operation we found a tiny little townhome that satisfied most of our criteria … except one major one … SPACE!!!

This whole last year was brimming with events inspite of the almost complete lack of social life. The kids kept me busy. Ishaan started school and that brought a tremendous change in him. He finally has learnt to sit quietly in one place and make a conversation. Rayaan had to learn to cope with his brother being away for half the day and the coping technique he adopted was to sleep it off J. We celebrated the kids birthdays. Ishaan turned THREE …which was awesome because it signaled the end of the terrible twos. And our dear Rayaan celebrated his FIRST ever birthday. We postponed his birthday celebration hoping someone who fly in to attend it … but being almost at the opposite end of the world, it was not easy convincing anyone to fly half way across the country. So we celebrated it in a quiet and special way with just close family. Rayaan went from crawling to walking to running around. He metamorphosed into quite a cute li’l devil after being tired of being labeled an angel who did nothing but stare and smile at people. He has had several vocabulary explosions and its heartwarming to hear him talk.

Summer in Seattle was exciting and definitely worth waiting for, even though it felt like it came and just passed before you could climax. But while it lasted, it was the most beautiful summer of my life. I have never been at such an exciting place during the summer. There were tons of activities to do and countless events to go to. Ishaan started soccer classes and swimming classes and enjoyed hopping to the numerous parks all around town. Rayaan on the other hand watched his brother participate in all the activities and vicariously enjoyed it through his brother’s thrills. Meanwhile he figured out how to start running around and after that there was no stopping or turning back.

The end of summer also sorted of ended all the good stuff. Ishaan changed schools and had to learn to adapt to new friends and teachers. I went through a tumultuous time personally. With not many friends to turn to or nowhere to go I was left holding all my heavy emotional baggage all by myself. I slipped off the weight loss wagon when I most needed to be on it. I owe it to a few friends who kept me afloat just through phone conversations. I also have to thank Salman’s cousins who have become my best friends here. I learnt one important lesson to never take your friends and social life for granted. We were so accustomed to having more friends than we ever needed all our lives and for the first time in our lives I was confined to just the four walls of our home. It’s funny how I have all the time in the world to socialize (now that I didn’t have a day job) but I didn’t know enough people and I didn’t have the freedom to go anywhere because I didn’t have a car anymore and I had two kids to lug around if I had to take public transportation. For the first time in my life … I was desperate to find a friend.

Such was this long year, a mixed one filled with pleasant sights but very few people to share your joys with. Eventually the kids now have a few play mates and their mothers and I try to socialize a bit. We love hanging out with our cousins and enjoying awesome food. I also finally have two girls I can call to hang out with if I ever need to. We also ended up having a few visitors who flew up here half way across the country to meet us and it was so nice to see familiar faces again. I thank everyone who came here this last year from the bottom of our hearts – My parents, My Sister and her friends,My brothers in law Shahan and Sufyan, Kunal, Gaya, Dhiraj and Madhavi and Ashu,Tvesha and Mohan ... (sorry I missed them earlier on)...

That which does not kill you makes you stronger!! It’s true, we all have finally learnt to weather this storm and reconcile to living in a new place. We still don’t have too many acquaintances but we have learnt to live and appreciate each other a lot more.