Mother's day gift

We (me, Jr. and the Little One) were all obviously aware of this Sunday being Mother's day. The kids get reminders from school, get to make their little ceramic things with their bare hands as a token of affection and have the surprise planned out.

Daddy is out in the open and unless he has a secret stash of cash he cannot buy anything without Mom knowing it. Actually it is a crying shame that daddy doesn't go to the bank anymore, does not know his bank balance, credit card balance or mortgage balance these years..

San will scream every now and then if I talk about a lens or camera accessory or some long trip somewhere and as long as I refrain at the right times, things are okay.

On Friday we had to get groceries on my way back from work with a detour to Jr.'s dance class. We happened to see a Mother's day sign outside a Nursery and they had a nice Japanese Maple tree for 20 $ .. Knowing that we have been looking for a shade tree for the last few months and they were always around 50 $ thought this would be a great surprise.

Bought the tree, dug a big hole after fighting allergies and planted it...

to get a lukewarm response!

LO : I thought you bought the tree for yourself appa! How can a tree be a gift to Amma?

Me : Every mothers day she can go see how beautiful the tree has grown and you can all go water it. Didn't we buy this tree on a mother's day sale?! It is for mom!

Jr.: If we water it only once a year, that tree will die!

Me : Un vaila nalla vaarthaye varaadha di? (won't any good word ever come out of your mouth?)

San: I was going to spend 20$ on a pedicure. Now me pedicure is planted in the backyard! Don't have a problem with the tree. . just have a problem with it being a mother's day gift!

All said and done, the mother's day gift stands tall and will hopefully outlast all of us. Someday we can sit in its shade and open future mother's day gifts..

Time will tell....

Happy Mother's day to all mother's out there!

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Truth be told

The little one has been given a project for first grade. It is to make a Diorama of one of the "Frog and Toad" stories.

When I got back from Austin Thursday night , the first thing she told me was "Finally, I also have a project!"

What that translated to is "Daddy, you have a project for me!"

After hearing her go on and on about this I asked Jr. "Didn't we do the exact same project three years ago when you were in first grade?! Remember buying silly putty in different colors and making frog and toad and you made a table, bed etc. with it and painted the whole shoe box"

Jr. says "yes and it is probably still in the garage!"

In a fit of laziness blurted out "why can't we just reuse that diorama?" and left it at that.

Friday evening comes and the little one tells me "I asked my teacher today if I can bring the same diorama my sister did three years ago and guess what?"

He said "NO!"

That was embarrassing.. Now I have to go face her teacher who probably is appalled by my "reuse" concept!

Daddy Narayanan is growing too old for Dioramas and is kind of getting bored of going through same projects with a 3 year deja vu cycle.

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Kids can be unintentionally cruel

Last week Jr. went to perform an Alto Sax Solo at an old age home as part of a voluntary program. After they were back from it she said "Daddy, half the people there were not realizing what was going on but they shook their head from side to side as though in a trance."

San : They are very old people and have dementia or Alzheimers! That happens to all people who eventually live long enough.. so you should be sensitive to that. You will also get to be like that someday.

LO : But you will get there first before us!

Today mom decided to try Yoga. It was a much awaited event in the house as we were not sure if she would actually go. After she left, we had a conversation about mom's previous one time Yoga attempt with grandma.

Jr.: She went but did not sweat. That means she probably did it wrong?

Me : No. It means she didn't push herself enough or her pores have not opened out yet because she is not used to exercise. If she went a few days in a row she will also sweat like crazy

LO : Or maybe she was too fat that time to do the poses right!

Me : No. She (was not/is not/will not be/will never be)fat.

The little one is suffering a cold and is at her brutal best!

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Beyond words..

Came home yesterday and started eating dinner..

The sambar was smelling sooo good. Tasted very good too..

Told San that she was really working hard to impress the kids!

Me to Jr. : The sambar is really awesome!

Jr to Me : Wait till you taste the Rasam. It is awesomer!

Guess the Rasam is outside the bounds of the dictionary...

ps. This actually happened. This is not an attempt to get out of the dog house either..

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Too much Lollu (mischief?) . . .

The kids have now discovered email.

Jr. always had an email account. Now that the little one has an email account they are way too into communicating by email.

This has led to some ridiculousness in the house with the ipad (with keyboard) being taken over by the kids to check email every 5 minutes!

Apparently the keyboard is easier for email typing than the swipe on screen keyboard.

There are also some funny conversations like this one..

Jr. : Why did you spill your food on the carpet?

LO : I will let you know by email!!!

Me and San : WTH !!!

This takes the cake..

Jr. from Computer room : I have sent you an email ! have you received it yet?

LO from living room (literally 6 feet away) : I am checking it right now. I will send you a reply soon..

Or this one :

LO : Daddy, I have no new emails. Can you send me one please?! (she is sitting 5 feet away!)
On the bright side the house is quieter with the kids on the computer but at this rate their social skills will take a nosedive in record time.

It is also truly amazing to watch a girl who has just turned 6 figure out email, use the features, ask inquisitive questions which would give some valuable feedback to email providers and get totally engrossed in it to the point that she checks email every 10 minutes!

Tomorrows technologists in action !

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