I AM 11 YRS OLD !!! RESPECT ME

Took Kids to an art exhibition on Sunday, 14th october 2018. I was not sure what to expect from kids, since it was their first visit to an art exhibition, so i laid down some rules & some instructions to be strictly followed by them: No giggling ( since there were some nude paintings ), no laughing or criticizing ( that's an insult to the artist, who have put in hours & days of efforts behind each painting). Be generous in praises & ask questions & request for pictures, if they wanted to take any & show appreciation. I was still full of doubts, but my anxiety & skepticism was wronged by the kids & i couldn't be more happy about it. We spent almost 2 hours( anticipated max 1/2 hour) going through each display & admiring them, in awe & happy to see such wonderful creations that opens up your imagination & fills your heart with joy, seeing various art forms, how imagination was brought to life on canvas. They learned so much & take away was a wonderful experience, they are waiting for another trip to the world of art & i cannot be more happier than this.

Today, E woke up with surprise that she was  allowed to sleep until 9 am & was not woken up at 7 for school. I haven't seen that smile from ear to ear in a while now. The happiness of staying at home, rather skipping school was great. The reason, since they are not doing anything besides concert practice ( & both kids don't have significant roles to play), the classroom is all noisy, they can't even read their books, so its better to stay back at home, was their contention. We spent half of the day, yesterday, arguing, throwing tantrums, counter arguments, threats, crying & what not, for not going to school. So the joy of missing school today was immense. The reason of not letting them know yesterday was to let them finish the school work on time, arranging the books & going to bed on time( LOL). Yes, i need to trick them sometimes & got to see that beautiful smiling face full of surprise in the morning.

So we burst into laughter yesterday, when V said out of the blue:
you can talk to me sternly, but you cannot talk loudly or shout at me, because i am almost 11 yrs old now, You got to respect the Man !!!
Truly the babies  have outgrown our arms & laps, hoping we stay forever in their hearts.

What does our Mind look like, Mummy?!!!

We have small chats everyday, and loads of questions to answer to the growing, inquisitive and intelligent little beings in our house. So yesterday evening V had some questions when I  gave him a small pep talk about  paying attention while we study.

Me: V, please concentrate & pay attention.

V: But my mind keeps thinking a lot of things.

Me: Thats nice, it must... but we have a time for everything, don't we? So right now pay attention to your dictation words.

V: How do I do that?

A big question !!! Wondering what to do and how to tell him.

V loves pets ( No, we don't have any !!). I ask for some time out and came up with this.

Me: Ok, think your mind is like your pet dog, it keeps going everywhere, you want it to stay with you, so you are going to tell it, (dramatical performance, lol) come here mind, you need to stay with me. come on, no going anywhere.

V, is very excited and that seems to work for him, and guess what, we are done with 10 dictation words in less than 10 minutes. Awesome !!!

Later :

V: How does our mind look like?

Me: Okay !! (wondering)

Me: Do you know how does your heart look like?

V: Yes !!! Like this ( making a heart shape with his two tiny hands & showing the size on the back of his palm)

Me: Very good !! So, do you know, what it means when we say a heart is full of love?

V: Yeah.

Me: Great !! Have you seen love?

V: No!!

Me: But you know it, right?!! You can feel it !!

V: Yes.

Me: You know, how your brains look like?

V: It looks like a walnut from inside.

Me: Exactly! So, the mind in the brain is just like the love in a heart.

V: Wow!! Just like our souls, mummy.

Me: Yes very much. ( I was wondering which other question is going to pop, and it came right out there)

V: What does our soul look like? They show in the movies, it looks like us. Is it true??

Me: Have you seen the wind?

V: No

Me: But you see in the movies, how they show wind in so many different ways. That is what we call their imagination. So, some people imagine our souls look like us, and they show their imagination so beautifully on the TV.

Just like wind, we do not know how it looks like, but we know it is there. You can use your imagination to give it what ever face you want. That's the beauty of imagination.

Fearing, another question is on its way, E comes to my rescue…” V, come on. Let's play.”

And off they go !!!

What a growing Mind !!!!

Give me the Options !!

Like every evening, I asked E on Sunday :  “What would you like to take for snacks and lunch tomorrow to school”. We have a small list of foods for our tiffin box which is very standard to be taken to school everyday from Monday to Friday. So not expecting her to name anything other than the already select few items that kids carry, I was surprised by what she told me.

E: Give me all the options you have for spicy food !!!!

I laughed out loud, for the cuteness of this 7½ year old girl, asking me for options. That was really cute I told her.

Me: How about aloo paratha tomorrow?

E: That's not spicy enough !!

Me: Ok, I will make it spicy for you

E: Oh! That should be good! (She is smiling now from ear to ear)

That settled it for Monday's lunch.

Kids are growing... fast !!!