Our little Entertainment Centre

'You have'nt seen a single movie in last few MONTHS?' my neighbor asked, rather shocked.

'well, no,' I answered, 'and we're not much into Television, videogames and partying.' I added, not before offering her a glass of water, you know, just in case...



'No movie, no TV, how are you guys surviving?' she asked, still in a shock.



Well, we survive on a lot of other things, but for entertainment and unwinding, both of us have an entertainment powerhouse, our little girl and her big voice - LIVE!



From the classical aalaps to opera singing, from nursery rhymes to our pop favs, we have access to unlimited music channels (just that we can neither change them at our will, nor shut it off).



A whole lot and a wide array of percussion performances, some rather energetic dance concerts, some action scenes (jumping, bouncing, paper tearing etc etc) we are blessed to have our dose of laughter, fulfillment, joy, surprises and of course drama, through our little 'multi talented' (ha ha, I'm her mom afterall:)) stand-up performer.



There's no reason to miss our dose of

1. romace - showered with her hugs and kisses, complete with dialogues like

'I love aai' 'my cute baba, my cheeky cheeky baba' (while pulling dads chubby cheeks)

2. drama - with her voice modulated, accompanied with pouting lips phrases that melt your heart.
'no! I want to wear the full pants, I got a boo-boo knee' 'I missed you' (and a hug)

3. Style - with her sense of style, color co-odinations, preferences in dressing and accessorising.
'this is a ..' dad adds (white). 'hmm, white' 'so where are my white shoes?' well, she doesnt have any. You can wear red (I suggest). 'does red go well with white.'

4. adventure - well everything now is an adventure (some fun, some challenging)
.. like visiting a doc for her vaccinations, starting school, going for a walk. and not to mention, every moment at home.

5. comedy - well, this is her forte'. may i say that we have a budding stand up comedian at home. her talks, her dances (especially the one on way to school), her mis-pronunciations on purpose, her mischiefs, role plays.
'i'm aai and you are TV, come let me drop you to school'

6. Action - this one is not her natural talent, so no major violence and action for us - maybe it's a girl thing, mabe it's just TV!(all action is verbal)
but we love her bouncing on pillows, trying to climb wierd things - dad's packed suitcases, her play tent.

7. News - our daughter can talk, she can comprehend, grasp, remember and communicate.
So we get all the news from school, her expeditions alone, at the playground, her baby sitter, who has taught her what. The news is also trasmitted via skype or telephone to her grandparents and aunt, equally efficiently in their language.

And then there's a dash of suspense (how will she react to this?) and horror (those sleepless nights, days when she's sick).

But not a moment of boredom:)

Tare zamin par

Thanks aunt K for bringing this up.
Last week when aunt M was visiting us, a hilarious episode happened.

TV was at her dinner table, almost done with eating and now on sipping water from her cup.
It seemed like she sipped in a bit too much and that made her cough. I could see the teary eyed TV, barely managing to stop coughing, while aunt M was subbing her back to soothe.
The moment the cough stopped, TV - still tears in her eyes, and water in her nose and mouth - looked up, just over her head, and asked, 'hey konte ae? (her current favorite question, to the effect - what is this?)

Looking at her condition and then looking above her, where she was pointing (there was nothing visible to me), there was only one thing I thought she could be refering to - din ke tare (seeing stars in vision).

'Are you refering to these stars around your head?' I asked, rather mischieviously.

TV nodded. A pause later, she looked up and said, quite animatedly with hands in the air (a typical TV), 'GONE'

'Sure'. and we all laughed. Sometimes it really helps to keep your sense of humor intact.

Little artist/storyteller

While we were enjoying our morning tea, TV was busy with her crayons doodling - stripes, spots, swirls - on her new 'expression art wall'.

'I make a beach' - TV
'Oh, you make a beach', her aunt who's visiting us.
'Yes, and I make a table' - TV again
'Oh, so there's table on the beach' - her dad
'Yeah' - TV
'What do you want to put on the table' I ask, intrigued by my little one's ability to spin a yarn
'mumm, mumm,' pat came the reply, 'food'
'Oh so there's food on the table on the beach,' aunt summarizes. 'who's going to eat the food?'
'tai and dada (big sister and big brother)'
'that's romantic,' dad
'is it day or night', I ask, 'is there a sun or a moon?'
'moon,' TV replies, looking up in the sky
'oh, so its moonlight dinner on the beach,' dad. 'but where's this beach?'
'on the waterfront,' TV

all three of us - mom, dad and aunt, were zapped by TV's ability to imagine, articulate and respond to the series of questions we posed, and in the process create a picturesque setting that may soon translate into a pictuer by our little artist or it may be a setting for a story, that may soon come from our little storyteller.

Recipe - Whole Wheat Donuts

This can well be a pre-schooler's kitchen project. My 22-month-old, loved being an active part of cooking and then enjoyed eating it more.

Ingredients;
1. Whole Wheat Flour
2. Water
3. Salt
4. Sugar
6. Ghee/Oil

Appliances:
1. A flat plate for rolling and creating shapes
2. A bowl to mix into dough
3. a small pan with lid to shallow fry
4. Spatula
5. 1 pair each of big and little clean hands

How to go about it:
1. Mix the flour, water and some salt into a dough - just right to roll a chapati
2.brush it with some ghee/oil and knead once. Cover and keep aside for 2-4 min
3. dust the flat plate and your hands with flour
4, take a small ball of dough (I took the size of an almond), roll it with your hands (and your lil ones) and create shapes you like.
Possiblities are endless for the shapes and fillings/flavoring.
5. Shapes - I did spirals, conventional donut with a hole in the centre, a tiny soupstick, a twirled around stick. My lil one made a moon - a poked-cirle, a ring around her finger - donut.
6. For flavors, we added - sugar, herbs (oregano, marjoram, fennel, mint), cheese, garlic, salt+sugar+lemon juice, jam, cream and sugar.
7. Shallow fry in ghee/oil- covered on oneside and then flip and shallow fry uncovered on the other. You can deep fry if you like

Creative Thinking

As a professional creative thinker and trainer, I always swore by the powerhouse of creativity that young children are. But I had never ventured below 8 year-olds.

Last few days my still under-2-year-old, is giving me a few aha moments as a witness to the creative brilliance of the very young.

1. Put to other use

e.g. Head band as head phone/mic, necklace, and

Computer head phone and mic as vacuum cleaner


Last sunday, we were getting ready for dinner with friends at a restaurant. Dad was ready. TV was all ready and as usual, digging her drawer while I was still confused on what to wear. By the time I was dressed, TV had entered the room with the soft ends of her head band in her ears.

I asked her what she was upto (holding back myself from instantly taking off the head band - for safety reasons). TV still looking at the band, hanging down from her ears unto her neck said 'MIC'.

She'd seen me recently with the headphone and mic and I instantly knew what she was using her head band as.

Just yesterday, another such 'creative moment' made my day. This time, again with the headset and mic. The difference was that, TV was playing with actual headset and mic (she'd picked it up from my table - a sign that she's growing taller)

She held the dangling wires in her had and moved around, with the headset trailing her. I asked her if that was her dog and if she was walking the dog. As she is quite fascinated with people walking their pets in the parks.

'NO', was her answer.

I let her be, and continued reading. A few minutes later, she held the plug-in of the wire and began to rub a mat while saying, 'wipe'. That's when it hit me. VACUUM CLEANER. (Another fascinating subject for TV)

'I know, that's your vacuum cleaner.' I exclaimed. And TV beamed with a 'YES!' She's so loved that toy, that since last morning, she's just playing with that.

'Where's my vacuum cleaner?' her first post-nap question, following it up with the action - getting down from bed and looking around for it.

2. Lateral Thinking

e.g. Runny nose Woodpecker

A clip of a woodpecker pecking at tree caught TV's fancy.

First it was simply her curiosity to know what the bird was doing. Then knowing that the bird was named 'woodpecker', it turned into an exercise to be able to pronounce an almost tongue twister for a 2-year-old.

We then followed it up with a wood pecker song with the woodpecker action and the tick-a-tick-tick sound he makes while pecking at wood.

Since then, which has been over a month now, whenever she would hear the 'tick-tick' sound she would say 'woodpaper'. Electrician/carpenter at work, knocking at the door, the clicker-clapper musical instrument are all our 'woodpapers'.

But my tots creative genius bowled me over today. TV has caught the common cold; blame the weather, her recently started school and our trip to Bangkok. She is ok otherwise, just that sometimes her nose really annoys her. Today on one such annoying ocassion, TV couldnt find her tissue and I was cooking in the kitchen. She ran up to me and rubbed her nose on my apron, hanging down at her level, around my knees. She did it thrice in a go. But once she was done, she just looked up - at me, smiled and said - 'woodpaper'.

Who knew common cold too can bring out the creative genius in you. Kids are masters at looking at things differently. Certainly, something us adults can learn from them:)

TV's starting school tomorrow

Starting school, for the first time. Staying away from me for a couple of hours- her first time. All the words of wisdom I,ve been hearing so far echo in my mind.
'o, she'll be fine. My lil one didn't even look back once. I was waiting, expecting him to come back to me, but he was just off'. I hope this is what TV does. Just go with the flow, never look back.
'you may have a tough time, she'll manage.' well I dont think so! But nevertheless I don't know.

Then there were stories of kids crying, clinging, screaming, throwing tantrums on their First days. I wonder how I d handle if something like this comes about from TV.

Schools, educators advise to jus LET GO. You don't look back, no matter what the child's doing. I m not a sentimental, emotional mom, but I certainly can't just let go my 2 year old in a strange environment, with new people. So what do I do?

I d begun to prepare TV mentally for this day. I d tell her my stories (positive and good ones of course) of early years school and my younger sisters' who she adores completely. I d tell her about her own friends from the condo who'd started to go to school. I d take her down in the lobby to see kids going to school in their school bus.(this led to her asking, why would she not take a school bus like them?). Then we d a Pooh's first day at school book, which i d read out to her. We even played school one day. (desperate mommy?)
But juding from her comments, re actions and excitement, to an extent I seem to have been successful. But you never know until the rubber hits the road.

So here I m keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow:)

Terrible TWOs

Back to journaling after almost a month. Was there nothing to write? I'd be kidding you if I said that. It's just that I'm consumed and on my toes, trying to keep up with the demanding tot who's tasting and giving us the flavor of the 'terrible twos'.

Here's the recipe for a perfect 'terrible two'

1. Frustration due to conflict between mental independence and physical dependence -
She's trying to be independent - doing things on her own, which she some times can but many a times she still can't:(
Situations like;
- wearing her own shirt, pants (she mostly can, but sometimes she would put both her legs on one pant hole), slipons (again she does get it right almost always, but she has some problem with the velcro being tighter than she wants),
- opening her hadbag (she tends to pull the handles on the opposite sides,
- trying to slip in her bag, a big book
- pulling out the shapes from the shape sorter
- trying to keep a hard-bound big book open

2. More frustration due to confusion -
Her knowledge base has widened. At the same time she's starting to develop a mind of her own. Hence sometimes it is confusing her far too much, more than what she can handle and that's more frustration.
Opinions on what to wear, where to go, what to do, who to play with, what book to read. Same is true for what not to do.

3. Some more frustration due to physical limitations
In her mind, she wants to do a lot of things. But her body doesnt support it always.
Situations like;
- long walks
- crossing the road on her own, until the green man turns red
- climbing up stairs
- running up and down the stairs, even after being tired.
- not wanting to sit back in the stroller, even when she so tired that can't walk any further

4. Then add to all this frustrations some growing up pains and troubles
Like - the ubiquitous teething pains,
- ocassional cough and cold,
- body aches,
- some minor accidents on playground, ('TV got hurt' the phrase would pop up even months after the incident)
- bumping head on the table while trying to go under it (the one which she could easily go when she was younger, but not now without a head butt - having grown taller)

5. And top up all this with a dash of irrationality and whims
Like,
- walking in a crowded market, where no one would look at their knees/feet and walk
- wanting the tiger in his slumber at the zoo to wake up
- wanting last minute to eat broccoli, when you've made pasta with all veggies other than broccoli
- wearing home dress, when we are getting late for a birthday party.


I've still not figured out a 'one size fits all kind of a solution for such variety of situations. But at it, and also have learnt to let go at times. But that's what's keeping me occupied these days.

The 'wiser souls', the 'been there done thats' and reading this one, please advise.