The Mother’s Day Brouhaha

Posted on May 8, 2022May 8, 2022 Posted in Blast from the past, contentment, family, funny ha-ha, good times, happiness, home, images, Indulgence, kids at play, Life, life's lessons, looped, Love, matter of fact, me-time, musing, parenting, people, raising kids, relationships, SAHM, self-awareness, telling stories, the human mind, the writer in me, what kids want, what women wantTagged 1989, according to kids, artwork, bringing up kids, curious kids, gifts for mom, kids do the darndest things, love, mother's day, nostalgia, nostalgicLeave a comment

My family lived in the US briefly, many years ago. Prior to that life was smaller in many ways. There were no 75 channels on tv and there certainly was no Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Presidents Day and what have you.

We had Children’s Day where we most certainly did not get to escape from school; were “nudged” into elocution or essay competitions eulogizing the first Prime Minister of India. We had Teacher’s Day where the teachers got a break..sort of. The place I did my middle school from, had the 10th graders dress up in sarees or salwar kameez and the younger classes were allocated to us to manage while the teachers had a break for a day. Lunch was organized for them and there were no classes on that day for anyone. Good times all around. But the concept of Mother’s Day being a thing and a big one at that is something I got to know when I was in 3rd grade. Still a newbie of sorts to American life.

Our teacher who had an unfortunate way of looking strict while she wasn’t too bad in real life had us make little accessories for our mothers. Small pieces of what looks like particle wood to me now were available for us to color on and then a pin would be glued on the back and it would make a lovely brooch for our moms.

In theory so many things sound good. Doable even, but give a bunch of kids glue and craft products especially a goggle-eyed one from India who is new to the concept of pipe cleaners and googly eyes and you get something like this-

My mother in her infinite wisdom *never* wore this except for the time I gave it to her. Given that she had nothing which would offset this and she never went trick or treating either, this brooch was consigned to her drawer of special things, displayed prominently but sensibly not worn.

She preserved this, possibly as a reminder to herself that Art and her daughter were not intended to be friends. Over the years I’ve got a laugh out of jiggling the brooch so the eyes jump up and down but for the most part this work of art remains misunderstood and has more depth than anyone has possibly gauge.

Happy Mother’s Day all!

Switching Things Around

Posted on May 5, 2022 Posted in contentment, current events, entertainment, fresh hits, good times, happiness, home, how in the world, images, in this day and age, Indulgence, Learning, Life, life's lessons, looped, matter of fact, me-time, musing, people, photoblog, SAHM, self-awareness, self-improvement, telling stories, the human mind, the writer in me, what women want, yeah baby!Tagged creativity, doing new things, doing things differently, expectation vs. reality, fun, imagination, me time, mental engagement, moms during summer break, new ideas, newness, SAHM, summer break 2022, unboredLeave a comment

As comforting sameness is; it’s also well…same. A bit of difference in doing things or even contemplating it can give your brain a boost of sorts.

A friend who’s a horror movie afficianado and I decided to watch a movie last night; midweek movies have a fun factor that weekend ones don’t. Our fun was more because it was really comfortable in her house with the squishy couch, big screen tv and the glass of wine. The movie…eh…not so much.

Anyhoo, instead of running down the movie in my usual verbose manner, I decided to try and be a bit more tongue-in-cheek and still get my point across. I pulled out a “scary” template on Canvas and found a font I thought would go well and voila! the first movie review poster was born.

Expect more, many, many more of these Rev-Pos since the idea’s running amok in my head and I’m hiding out from my kid (it’s his holidays…)

Eye Roll Blog Post#1

Posted on May 3, 2022 Posted in blurt outs, contentment, current events, education, family, fresh hits, good times, happiness, home, how in the world, in this day and age, Indulgence, kids at play, Learning, Life, looped, Love, matter of fact, MLM, modern families, mother and child, musing, parenting, people, raising kids, relationships, SAHM, telling stories, the human mind, the writer in me, what kids want, what women wantTagged according to kids, according to moms, couch potato, happy kids, holidays, kids on a break, netflix and chill, summer break 2022Leave a comment

My kid’s school suddenly announced an earlier closure to the school year due to rising temperatures yesterday. When TO found out about it, the joyous whoop he let out probably was audible a few blocks over.

So this is Day One of summer break 2022 and Mr.Zombie-During-School-Days got up on his own before 6 am, bathed, brushed, wore clean clothes, combed his hair, had his chocolate milk and is languidly spread out on the bed catching up on his Netflix To-Do list. He has an almost beatific look on his face and very graciously informed me I needn’t keep the morning alarm on for the next two months since he’ll be getting up when he wants to…Watch this space for more of his shenanigans and my frequent eyerolls…

Let’s Catch Up

Posted on April 9, 2022 Posted in challenges, changing society, cognitive dissonance, current events, death, family, good times, happiness, health, home, in this day and age, Learning, Life, life's lessons, looped, Love, matter of fact, men&women, MLM, modern families, mother and child, musing, parenting, people, raising kids, Red, relationships, self-awareness, self-improvement, telling stories, the human mind, the writer in me, turbulence, what kids want, what women wantTagged 2022, acceptance, friendship, growing older, growing pains, growing up, life and death, life's lessons, life's tough questions, raising kids, realizations, Red, TOLeave a comment

It has been a while since I wrote. Been a while since I even thought of writing, to be honest. In the words of John Lennon, “Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans” and it it holds true even now, decades after he said it.

I turned a year older recently. Had my peeps around for a bite of birthday cake while TO manned or should I say preteened a live sundae counter. Kids were happy, dentists will be made happier still somewhere down the line.

The year started off well enough but came with a few hard knocks rather soon into the first week of January with us losing a loved family member and in March me losing someone very dear to me. My process of grieving is usually to write about my feelings or the person who has gone and pay them a tribute in some way but this time around it’s been rather hard and the words don’t want to come forth.

Apart from giving it time, I suppose there’s not much one can do but not everyone’s life is one we can celebrate in toto once they pass. Some lives you look back at and hope for all the turmoil they were in or caused, they gained a modicum of peace somewhere and didn’t feel agony or fear in their last moments. I find it a crushing thought to even imagine anyone I’ve cared about experiencing pain in their final moments. But one must try to accept what life throws their way, however jarring to the senses and move forward. I read an article sometime back about moving on vs moving forward; found it made sense. Posting it here for those who don’t mind a bit of gyaan but not an avalanche of it.

This morning when I started off with my morning routine of Wordle and a quick crossword, I realized how much TO’s influenced my life. The child isn’t a Ross Geller in the making from what I have understood. He can love dinosaurs and other buried prehistoric creatures without wanting to devote time in academia to truly enjoy it. The reptiles he loves have become integrated into our lives and our minds. One of the clues this morning in the New York Times Quick Crossword was Spitting _________ (a five lettter word) and I automatically filled in cobra. Once the crossword was filled, I found it was a different word entirely. Once upon a time I’d have been able to lead with the other word more easily but now life has a place which is dedicated to animal quizzes on road trips and amorphous plans around the world to see dangerous creatures or the slithering ones.

With summer break on the horizon along with exams, our days are busy and minds busier still. Hopefully the writing bug bites me again and I reenter the blogosphere properly and soon!

Ciao.

Reunited…

Posted on March 27, 2022 Posted in Blast from the past, contentment, current events, family, good times, happiness, home, how in the world, kids at play, Life, life's lessons, looped, Love, matter of fact, MLM, modern families, mother and child, musing, parenting, people, raising kids, SAHM, telling stories, the human mind, the writer in me, what kids want, what women wantTagged 2022, Blast from the past, bringing up kids, colors, necklace, nostalgia, serendipity, teaching kidsLeave a comment

Once there was a little necklace. It was very happy and bright. It had rounded beads and was liked by everyone who saw it. It was a very happy little necklace indeed!

One day came the Little Grabby Fingered Imp. The Imp grabbed and pulled the necklace towards himself but the necklace didn’t want to go with an Imp. It wanted to stay with the girl whose neck he had made his home.

But the Imp kept grabbing and pulling and grabbing some more till the necklace broke and the beads danced away into the shadows. The Imp didn’t want the it anymore because it was broken now. The necklace was sad. The girl was sadder still.

After many, many years the girl was getting her toes painted and without knowing it, she chose the colors of the necklace…it was time again to make the necklace whole. She would do it very soon indeed!

Coorg Au Naturalé

Posted on March 15, 2022 Posted in contentment, current events, good times, happiness, images, in this day and age, Indulgence, Learning, Life, life's lessons, me-time, nature, photoblog, telling stories, the writer in me, Touristy Tales, travel, trips, what women wantTagged beautiful india, Coorg diaries, flora, making memories, spring break 2022, travel diaries, traveling in Karnataka, verdantLeave a comment

A long winding road that always leads somewhere interesting…

It’s a jungle out there…isn’t that fantastic!

Serpentine and yet completely harmless..

Star and moon gazing through a Dobsonian telescope.

Road Trip: Day Three

Posted on March 14, 2022 Posted in contentment, current events, family, fresh hits, good times, happiness, images, in this day and age, Indulgence, kids at play, Learning, Life, looped, Love, matter of fact, me-time, MLM, modern families, mother and child, musing, parenting, people, photoblog, raising kids, Red, relationships, SAHM, self-awareness, self-improvement, telling stories, the writer in me, Touristy Tales, travel, trips, what kids want, what women wantTagged family time, making memories, spring break 2022, traveling in India, traveling in KarnatakaLeave a comment

We took in the sights around Mysore a bit and then drove to Madikeri in Coorg. Less pictures from the drive this time around since TO was in a *major* snit from being denied a Choco Shot at a place we stopped to refuel ourselves and get some caffeine. Apparently if you deny a child his chocolate, the world explodes in lava and misery and there’s no kernel of joy and hope left anywhere. *rolls eyes*

Take a look at the grandeur of the Mysuru Royal Palace.

Road Trip: Day Two

Posted on March 13, 2022 Posted in contentment, current events, family, fresh hits, good times, happiness, images, Indulgence, Learning, Life, matter of fact, people, SAHM, telling stories, the writer in me, Touristy Tales, travel, tripsTagged 2022, family time, growth, infrastructure, making memories, Mysore, N.H 75, pride, progress, road trips, spring break, traveling, traveling in India, traveling in KarnatakaLeave a comment

After spending a fairly cozy night in Bangalore ( I have to remind myself to say Bengaluru; it doesn’t come easy) we started out for Mysore this morning and the road was fantastic! While Google was showing us a shorter option, Red did his due diligence and found a route that was slightly longer but the roads were FAB!

Most of us, me included, usually talk about corruption in governments or wonder where our tax payer monies are going but once you start traveling by road you’ll see how beautifully the infrastructure has and is coming along across the country.

With plenty of good clean places to eat in along the way, this route is one that has fairly heavy traffic even for a Sunday but given the wide lanes, it’s no difficulty to drive here.

Road Trip: Day One

Posted on March 12, 2022March 12, 2022 Posted in contentment, current events, family, fresh hits, good times, happiness, images, Indulgence, Life, looped, matter of fact, men&women, modern families, nature, people, photoblog, Red, self-awareness, telling stories, the human mind, the writer in me, Touristy Tales, travel, trips, what kids want, what women wantTagged dry lands, family time, flat lands, hills and mountains, landscape, making memories, spring break 2022, travel diaries, traveling in A.P, traveling in India, traveling in TelanganaLeave a comment

Red loves to drive. The longer the distance, the better. TO luckily has his spring break starting today…and yes while it *is* a funny concept in Hyderabad where we have Hot, Wet and Cold as the primary seasons; it’s a good opportunity for us to plan getaways.

TO diving into the bag of snacks within minutes of starting from home.

Our destination this time around isn’t Goa. Not yet anyhow, although with us you never know. We just might get a hankering for the pristine beaches of Varca and end up driving there impromptu. Anyhoo…Coorg is where we’re headed in a few days with pitstops at Bangalore and Mysore. Or Bengaluru and Mysuru to be more precise.

We drove leisurely enough, packed to the gills with snacks, comfy clothes and just took in the scenery of hills and undulating plains which merged into flat ones within the blink of an eye.

With stops at good, clean places for breakfast and lunch and being pleasantly surprised at the quality of service, food and overall lack of rusticness, the first leg of the trip’s been just dandy so far. Stay tuned for more from the travel diaries. Ta!