Magical Summer Evenings
There is such a magic in the air this evening that I just had to capture this moment. It was a bright sunny day and the evening is absolutely living upto the expectation of a warm summer day. From my window I can hear the elated birds pirouetting (the hashed metaphor can be pardoned) and tweeting to glory. The white cuckatoos look whiter against the new-green leaves in the trees.
And to top it all, I am listening to Symphony 40 of Mozart.
No, there is no Arunav and Aarushi this evening, this moment, in the Mama's World. It's Mama alone and her happiness.
"Think of me mummum"
When Arunav came home from school today, I gave him a hug and said,"I was missing you." He gave me a serious look and said,"You think of me when I am in school and after only a short time you will suddenly find I am knocking at the door and I am back! It is only a short time you know mummum." How the table turns - those were the words I used to tell him when he did not want to go to school :)
Arunav went into the pool in OceanPark to touch StingRays. This was his special costume to go inside. He had a ball - it is still the highlight of ALL his OP visits!
Bitter Gourd with chapati
Arunav suddenly acted very funny and just refused to go to a class. I asked him the reason, but could not get a proper answer. I was a bit upset and he could sense it. As soon as he reached home he said, "Mummum I am hungry and I want to have Ruti(chapati) with BitterGourd." I burst out laughing at his desperate attempt to please. It is rare for him to say he is hungry and he knows when he eats it really pleases me - that was the "healthiest" combination of things he could think of eating which will make me happy :)
The first R
Last week, Arunav read his first book. I had read a similar ladybird book to him before and he could recognize and read the next in the series. The other Rs are not very near though :)
Parenthood is a humbling experience
Yesterday we finally decided which school to send Arunav in. Both the schools were good but we had to choose one. After the decision, I was feeling strange making such a big decision on behalf of Arunav. I cannot tell Arunav, 'It's your life, you choose.' At this stage, I need to make that choice for his life. What he experiences in school is because of the decision we made - the whole thought of it weighed so much on me. It is only so much that we know about the schools - and it is our quality of decision that will determine his school life. Well, I just have to think, we did our best and that's all that we can do.
The response of Ms. G of Arunav's school was very interesting though. She said, "Congratulations, I knew you would make that choice- it goes with your personality." It made me think, what we are, what our personalities are, shapes our children. I always knew that, but when it was put in this perspective - the dimension of it was suddenly very clear.
We had a simple but fun picnic at the Birchwood BBQ place. Aarushi refused to be in the sun :)
A doll to play with
Arunav stuck sticker all over Aarushi and she seemed to be enjoying it too.
The Best times are always "now" and postponement of gratification
Last Friday some hot oil burnt my hand while I was cooking. Arunav's concern on what to do and what to put and his shouting at the gas stove ("dont you ever do that again" - ah he is now a typical boy who resolves everything with aggresion) brought sweet tears in my eyes....
I am glad I chose to spend these precious moments with them and not be locked in a corporate world so far away from these lovely feelings which tug at your heart every now and then. Oh I sometimes DO miss that feeling of being in control, of power, of achievement, of the applause of over-performance - it will soon be 2 yrs since I made the conscious choice. And even today I am soo glad of my decision.
When I was a student, after every exam came the gratification of a thing well done. When I moved to corporate life, the reward was at the end of a project or end of year(when things went fairly;) . With child rearing, I feel the gratification gets further postponed - will he/she grow up to be a child you are proud of rearing? Who knows, who can tell - can we link the response we give to a child's question today to how he will respond to others? Difficult - but I think as life progresses, we become mature enough to handle the postponement of gratification.
What keeps us going are these small small moments - I would never trade these lovely moments - they are, as the ads might say "priceless".
