5 minutues to half an hour

A bedtime conversation:

Me: kuttyma, go sleep on your own from today please. If you do, I will give you a present when you wake up.

LO: No daddy. Please thacham with me..only for five miniss please. then you can go!

Me: okay, but only five minutes.

LO: (all smiles, kisses her blanket) and cuddles up

Me: (after 10 minutes) Five minutes aachu(done). I will have to go eat my dinner, do some work.. and I will come back and sleep with you.

LO: Five minis innum aala (five minutes not yet over)!

Me: No. it is over.

LO: No. it is not over.

Me: okay. Five more mins and that is it..

LO: (repeat happens 3x ) and finally she sleeps after 40 minutes!

Well that was earlier this week.

here is what happened yesterday(after the first 5 minute episode)

Me: go sleep now. Five minutes is up. I have to go eat. I am really hungry. I will come back in half an hour and sleep

LO: okay. peas come back in halfnhavar okay?

Me: okay..

Five minutes later I hear her scream "daddy", "daddy" . rush in worried that she might wake up the sleeping Jr.

LO: halfnhavar aachu (half an hour is up).Come!

Me: It is only five minutes.. go sleep I will be back in half an hour

LO: No! Halfnhavar aaacchu..

and there went dinner for another 40 minutes..

The most important lesson here is that ....

Daddy is wrapped around the LO's finger!

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We don't want that!

A conversation overheard...

Jr. : Don't paduththy daddy (do not touble daddy)
LO : (nods head vigorously and says) Ok. I know, If we paduththy daddy then he will die and then we will have a new daddy and we don't want that, right ?
Jr. : RIGHT !!

Daddy is a little disturbed right now!

No, this is not aananda kanneer (happy tears) that the girls don't want another daddy or daddy to die!

This is worry that they take it for granted that they will have another daddy? They have picked a non worthy replacement already ?

That is scary!

ps. (for those of you who saw my facebook entry, you should know that this comes at a very disturbing time..).

pps. for those who do not know, a new colleage at work comes to my desk, looks at the first portrait that San and me posed for 10 years ago and says "Hi, you used to be a handsome guy once!".. she said that without any remorse, not batting an eyelid, just matter of fact!! Had no answer to that one...

ppps. for those of you who are wondering where all the hansomeness went, look no further..(one of the photos from that set is at the bottom of this post)..

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On Boots and Vadai Maalais

Last week saw us visiting the Livermore temple on our wedding day. The little one, who is now asking approximately 20 questions per conversation, started:

LO : Daddy, what ummaachi(god) is this?
Me : That is Krishna ummachi
LO : Daddy, what ummaachi is this?
Me : This is Ramar, Lakshmanar, Sita and Aanjaneyar Ummachi?
LO : This ummachi look like Boots the Monkey daddy! (and she puffed up her cheeks to make a monkey face)
Me : Yes, he is a monkey god Kuttyma. He does look like a monkey.
LO : (a few seconds later we are standing in a dedicated shrine for the Monkey god) Daddy, this Ummaachi also look a like monkey! (it was the same god, except in the previous shrine the idol was made of white marble and this idol was made of black stone!).
Me : It is the same ummaachi, kannamma!
LO : Why have they put all white stuff on him and put all cheries and nuts on him? and what is all those things?
Me : They have decorated him, to make him look nice. And he has a maalai(garland) of vadai's!
LO : Why didn't they give him a banana?
Me : He likes "vadai maalais"!
LO : Monkeys like only bananas. Not Vadais! Boots favorite food is Bananas, daddy!

I have never associated Hanuman aka aanjaneyar ummaachi exclusively as a Banana head!

Can someone tell me why a monkey god should prefer vadai maalais over bananas? Could come in handy to explain to the Little one.

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Skill

We happened to go to a Toys"R"us this morning, thanks to my brother who insisted on buying the kids some toys.

They are renovating our local store and making it into a (Toy,Baby)s"R"us! Last time we went, it was okay. This time around the entire store had sheetrock and cement dust floating around. There was a visible layer of dust on every toy!! I am surprised that they are still open.

Needless to say, within minutes after entering the store, I started sneezing and my respiratory system went into a slow shutdown. We got a little "Camera for dummies" kit for Jr. which was pretty amazing. A little 1.3MP digital camera with a pouch, software, a manual which she can read on her own for under 30 bucks!

San had to drive us back from the store. The rest of my afternoon was spent in a state of stupor with some tylenol allergy sinus tablets safely inside the system.

Then suddenly Jr. wakes me up. I try to shrug her off and sleep, but she keeps coming back.

Then after two or three tries, she puts on a real puppy face, puts her concerned hand over my forehead as though feeling my temperature and says

"Daddy, I am really sorry about your allergies. I really am! But you are soooo good with all this camera stuff. That is why I am asking you to come help me. Please come and show me how to download the photos on to the computer!"

That dialogue clinched the deal and I walked with her to the computer.

Reminds me of a girl who almost a decade ago, said "I know you are not feeling well, but you make a really nice tea. It is way better than the tea I make. Can you make us some?"

Like they say in Tamizh, pulikku pirandhadhu poonai aaguma?
(literal translation, Will a tiger cub be a kitten? along the lines of "the apple doesnt fall far from the tree"..)

Must be a genetic thing!

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Transformer

A dialogue on Mt. Shasta

Me: Get down from the van. Everyone is out
Jr: I want to stay inside the van. It is cold. I don't feel like it.
Me: Look at your sister.. she is already going towards the snow!
Jr: I dont care. I feel tired. Dont want to come
Me: How about if I carry you?
Jr: Okay. But I dont want to go near the snow.

15 minutes pass and we all walk a few hundred feet into the snow. someone starts a snow ball fight and then

Me : Are you having fun? Watch out.. it is slippery!
Jr : Daddy, this is really fun. I like it. Can you put me in "snowing class"?
Me : !!!!!!!!!!!!!

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