Monday 21 May 2012

Everything nice and not so mice

It's been ages since I wrote about the kids. On the surface there is nothing much to write about them…nothing worth noting down anyway. Yeah they are growing ….too fast in my opinion and behaving like teenagers even though they have more than a couple of years to reach there.

If you ask me ‘what are they doing right now????’ I don’t have to look to see what they are upto…..I can tell you just like that. They are arguing.....most of the time they are at it……

You did.

I did not.

I saw you.

You did not.

Mamaaaaaa…….

Tell-tale.

I am notttttt.

Cry baby.

Stopppp ittttt!!!!!!!

STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!!!!!!!!

Similar phrases in varying tones can be heard throughout the day. And it continues into the night. They are at it even in their sleep. Honest I heard them.

I’m so grateful to the Great Sages who invented schools.

But most schools here wind up before 1pm.

I threaten them with boarding schools.

They suggest Malory Towers and St. Clares and look at me very hopefully. 

I know I’m rambling but thats because I desperately trying to recall some worthwhile things to write about them. 

Meanwhile posting some pictures about ‘things’ they do in the little time they are not sparring with eachother.....

Background for a science project
Nikita's class were divided in groups to make models for a science project. Her group was given the subject 'Sustainable energy' and it was Nikita's job to provide the background. We were not pleased that she had to do this when her unit tests were going on and so she did it all very quietly so as to not aggravate us further. Secretly her father & I were impressed, we hung around waiting for her to ask for help & very 'reluctantly' helped her stick it all on the board with super glue. I deliberately flattened those windmills down so that you could take a good look at it;-P.

They draw very rarely nowadays;-(
The kids got diaries with locks from their aunt. They were very thrilled and spent a lot of time decorating the first page with their names and such. I could see Nikita writing in it and keeping it away carefully. Then one day she asks.....

Nikita: What exactly is one supposed to write in a diary???
Mama: Anything you want.
Nikita: Should I write everyday??
Mama: If you want.
Nikita: Can I write about something what happened 2 years back???
Mama: What happened two yrs back????
No, nothing I’m just asking.
Yes you can write about anything……time doesn’t matter.
Can I write about sad things????
What sad things???
Nothing happened*exasperated* I’m just asking whether I should write only about the happy things which happen to me or also the sad stuff.
I told you, you can write about anything…….happy, sad, ordinary, special, feelings, anything…
Okayyyyy.
Mama[cannot help herself]: What sad things?????
Nikita: Nothing Mama, I was just asking*walking away*.
Mama[calling out anxiously]: Or you can also tell Mama about it.
Nikita*wearily*: That’s what I do…..I tell you first and then write in the Diary.
Then why do you need to lock the diary*finally voicing what was troubling me*
“To keep Naina out” says Nikita grimly.
Naina[8yrs] who was following the conversation avidly grins unrepentantly.
Mama[irritated]: Naina, its bad, BAAD manners, why don’t you write in your own diary instead of reading other peoples’???
Naina[mournfully]: I lost the lock.

Periwinkle Plant
Naina plants a plum seed in an empty pot and waters it diligently everyday.
After a few days Mama brings a small sapling of a flowering plant from the park, plants it in the same pot.
“Oh shoot, Naina planted a seed in that, she's going to make my life miserable" thinks Mama tiredly.
Naina comes back from school and “Mama, Chechi LOOOOOK………my plum seed has sprouted….YAAAAAYAYAAY”.
Mama gets a few months reprieve.

Fridge magnets made by them & an old poloroid picture
[Last night at the dining table]
Naina: what is the meaning of ‘seer’????

Mama: Sear means like burn or scorch.

Naina: No not tht sear, s-e-e-r seer???

Mama: Ah ok, that seer is a person who can prophecy, who can tell what's going to happen in the future.

After a minute….

Naina:  I think I have got all the makings of a true seer.*

Nikita[under her breath]: Ohhhh puh-leeese.

Mama[looking impressed]: Really!!!!

"Yes, I can tell the future" Naina waves her fork grandly.

Father: Can you forsee the punishment you’ll get if you don’t finish what’s on your plate in 5 minutes????

Nikita guffaws.

Mama looks reproachfully at Papa.

Naina who took a few seconds to understand the nuances of that statement, prudently decides to use the fork to finish her spaghetti.

Click & enlarge to read a newspaper report
Please ignore all grammatical & spelling mistakes.....Nikita is not usually so careless, the only explanation I can offer here is that I think she wrote it very fast. Now one word…..one particular word on the board, referred to Naina in a manner she found offending. She pleaded with her sister to remove it but Nikita didnt budge. Finally Naina resorted to sneaking into the room when Nikita wasn’t there, rubbed out the offending word and substituted it with princess/ beautiful girl/ intelligent human being and such-like, then tiptoed away. When she went back into the room later, it would have magically reverted back to the original word. Then she would repeat the process all over again. This went on till the father came back from his trip & put Naina out of her misery;-D. 

Book-mice:-)
Book-mouse. Ever heard of this word??? I heard it for the first time last week. Nikita showed me a "How to make a Book-Mouse" article in a Tom & Jerry comic book and talked excitedly about making them. She launched into a loooong explanation which I listened with half a ear smiling at her enthusiasm. Book-mouse is a mouse made of clay with a long tail which served as a book-mark and....*didnt hear*.....and.you have to give me a string.....and...*didnt hear*...I'm going to make them. Is that alright with you Mama????

Sure, I'm okay.

Yippeeeee......you are the best Mama in the whole world!!!!

Children, I shake my head. It takes so little to make them happy. I hunt for a string for the tail. 

She comes back in no time with a book-mouse in hand.

"It's nice" I make all the right noises, very carefully not touching the mouse.

"Isn't it??? Now let's bake it." says Nikita.

"Whaat" I look up confused.

"Haven't you been listening to anything I said????" demands Nikita.

I fidget guiltily.

"We have to bake this mouse to harden it. I told you."

Realisation dawns. 

"No baking mice in my oven." I say firmly.

"Mammaaa" wails Nikita.

"I'm not going to waste energy for a little thing like that. Why don't you dry it in the sun. It may take longer but it will have the same effect."

"Okay then I'll make some more of them, I have to make some for my friends anyway. If I make say, 10 of them will you bake it then"

I stare in horror. I couldn't get myself to imagine baking 1 mouse let alone a dozen of them.

I know they are fake. But Urrrrgghhhh.......No Way.

After 1/2 an hour of pleading Nikita goes away in a huff & places them on the balcony. After she leaves, I go there and quickly click a picture. 

I may shrink at the idea of baking mice in my oven but have no qualms about serving it on the blog;-D


p.s: Some of the pictures and the incidents written below it have no connection with eachother. 


* I knew there was something fishy about that sentence. It came to me after a couple of hours.....it is lifted out of a Harry Potter book;-/.

58 comments:

  1. Oh I so love this post- I always love posts about your girls- they are highly entertaining and very creative!! Loved the science project...had to smile at the mention of Malory Towers and St. Clares- are your girls Enid Blyton fans? I teethed on every single one of her books & subsequently went to boarding school because of them- hah- it was NOTHING like her books though and I must say- I was a bit perturbed! ha ha!! ;)

    Loved the conversation with you and Nikita regarding the diary- I would have been the same, "why sad? what sad thing???" ha ha!

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    1. Oh Connie they love those series so much tht they keep reading & rereading them;-/. At one point Naina's favourite activity was to find similarities between the characters in these books and her classmates and I was her sounding board. Luckily for me she got tired of it after sometime;-P.
      Hmmm.....I'm still in 2 minds about diaries with locks;-).

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  2. You do not blog enough
    Yes I do
    No you don't
    Yes I do, I post once a week
    No you do not
    Yes I do - I posted 52 times last year
    You did not ; you can't count
    Of course I can
    I think you posted only 12 times last year
    Why do you care anyway how much I post
    Because I can't pull your leg otherwise
    MAMMAAAAAAAAAA
    No actually I care because I get to read such lovely posts as today's
    Really... you said that (accompanied by fluttering eyelids)

    Btw, Plizzz to supply photo of "pretty mother looking beautiful in her blue and dark blue salwar" !!

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    1. No arguments Ramesh...I agree with you.

      Hah....shocked ya didn't I;-D!!!!

      All compliments even back-handed ones gratefully received;-D.

      And yep with fluttering eyelids*blink, blink, blinkity-blink*;-D

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  3. geez... there is so much to record and so much fun are the girls !!! :D Awesome ! :D Loved this article... read it a few years down the lane and I bet you will have moist eyes :D

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    1. Hitchwriter bhai, mere mann ki baat padh li aapne;-o.
      Precisely why I wrote the post, the big stuff we'll anyway remember, its the little things I have reminisce about. Thank U:-))!!!!!

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  4. I love the newspaper. I hope it's a daily edition or at least weekly.. :-)

    Book mice ...hahaha. Very nice though even I prefer my bookmark thank yous!

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    1. Hahahaaaa tell me about it, I was wondering/am still wondering how anybody is going to walk around with a mouse hanging down from a book. Besides it fall off and break immediately;-).
      By the looks of it, it is bi[or is it tri]-monthly edition;-D

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  5. At first read, I am too smitten to even comment anything. Will re-read and re-read and then comment, ok??

    By the way, with such lovely creative daughters, you got to talk about their quarrels at the first place?? Mothers,sigh!!!

    //I know I’m rambling but thats because I desperately trying to recall some worthwhile things to write about them. //

    This is just TOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!

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    1. Dear Nikita, you school project on sustainable energy is super awesome. I wish more cities were built this way. And your newspaper is so good that I would anyday read yours to TOI. If your mice are not baked yet, you can come down here and I can bake it for you. About the diaries, I am sure your everyday entries will be such a treasure when you grow up.

      Dear Naina, I am sure you will be surprised to see periwinkle flowers on plum plants. It is going to be such fun. Since you are going-to-be-a-seer, you can predict your mama's moods and get things done accordingly ;)

      Dear Nancy, I know you must be proud of your lovely daughters. I am sure you will be maha bored if they don't bring up issues once in a while. You are going to miss these in a few years now. So will we, your readers.

      Loved this post, as always N. One thing I admire about your blog is how consistently its origniality has preserved over the years, how your writing skills have not got adulterated with increased readership and fans. God bless!!

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    2. Dear Savitha,
      Thank you for such a lovely comment. There is this HUGE lump in my throat & potatoes for fingers that is making me fumble while writing. Just want to say every single word is savoured. Your warmth overwhelms me.
      I don't let the kids anywhere near my blog but someday I will and you can be sure I'll show them this beautiful comment.
      Love,
      Nancy

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  6. haha.. no hahaha.** muffled noises.. and more hehehe..
    lets just say : if i type a ha for every time I giggled sitting at work reading this, i d fill up a lot of space & spend hours doing it.. :D
    especially the 'seer' episode too much!!reminded me of rusell Peter's " someone s gonna get hurt real bad" hehehehehe.. . it seems to me that all in your family seems to have a wonderful sense of humour .. and your narration is just too good!!

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    1. The seer incident was too much, I keep grinning to myself whenever I remember;-D. U see Naina has this habit of playing with her food and almost always is the last one off the table which irritates us to no end. It is her way of leaving the food she doesn't like to eat & escape undetected. Now we've caught on to her distraction tactics;-).

      Thanks girl;-D!!!!!

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  7. hehehe i wish i could leave u a more sensible comment other than lol-ing all the time, but your posts are just so cute and the girls so creative! it's really nice to know that they channel all their energies into creating things instead of watching tv, etc. and i loved the science project -- can't believe kids still make these things! just.too.good :D

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    1. My dear snow....we have no tv in our house;-(. I'll edit that...we have a tv but no channels which means the kids[and us] get to watch only DVDs and tht too only on weekends.
      It was a mutual decision but sometimes just sometimes I wonder if we are doing the right thing;-P.

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  8. Luv luv luv this post :D
    Hugs to the sweet darlings ... how oh how cn u say r thinking of worthwhile things to write abt them ;)

    And ya, I wanna see a pic of that pretty lady in the blue salwar too ;)

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    1. Swaram u can say all these nice things because u are not at the receiving end;-/. But yeah it's never boring;-D.
      My Nikita looks at me thru rose-tinted glasses and has only kind words for me....but just ask Naina she'll give u the true picture;-P

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  9. I am a regular reader of your blog from a lonnggg time!

    Today I thought I shud drop a comment! ;)

    The bloglet s awesome and so are ur kids!!!
    'How cute!!!' s what I felt! :)
    nice school project work! and the clay mouse! wow!

    I have my 2 year old son and am waiting for him to start painting and do project stuffs! coz I love doing them! ;)

    anyways, luv reading ur blog!
    keep posting!

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    1. Ur son is one lucky kid....why...bcoz his parents are going to be totally involved in his activities...unlike some of us who threaten the kids with dire consequences if they bring one more project home*shamefaced*.

      One of the highs of blogging is when a silent reader delurks, I'm so glad u decided to comment Hunter:-)).

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  10. I love your kids !!! They are so curious and imaginative ! Oh and those refridgerator magnets ! Can i buy them???

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    1. Hahahaaaa.....I'll tell u why I'm laughing....4-5 months back I got the kids a book on 'bracelets' and lots of different colored thread. Nikita took to it and was soon making friendship bands for her friends all the time. Soon enquiries were pouring in and she was not able to meet the demand. I jokingly suggested charging Dhs 1 for each band[I thought if she said that the other kids will back off & Nikita will get some peace].
      The next thing I knew Nikita made a lot of bracelets and was discussing with Naina what to do with the money they were going to earn.
      Luckily their father heard the convo & put a firm stop to it;-D.
      And do u knw what was the worst bit...when he questioned Nikita she pointed at me and said 'Mama gave me the idea'. If looks could kill I wd have been fried on the spot;-(

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  11. My, my...it's quite the same with mothers, and between siblings, heh? Love the title and of course enjoyed the wonderful goings-on that make such a great read, something that I can relate to very well being mother of 2 girls myself! The book-mice are still alive?

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    1. Aha you have lil girls too...then u also must be hearing 2 voices always picking on eachother but as soon as one is away, the other is wandering around aimlessly and saying "It's soooo boring" every 2 minutes;-P.
      The book-mice are thriving, thank U for asking;-D

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  12. I just love the posts about your daughters. I love others too, btw.:-)
    Can't pick out the best of all the snippets. Am sure you'll love reading them a few years later.
    And, I agree with one of the commentors above that how your style of writing is so consistent. Always manage to bring a smile on the reader's face. Reading your blog can make any one feel better even when they are down in the dumps.

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    1. Thanks Uma but I beg to differ; I personally feel it's all ur comments which make me feel better when I'm down in the dumps;-D.
      U knw Uma sometimes I want to post but have nothing to say, then somebody will comment oh so nicely and it immediately makes me want to pen something, anything. And voila before I knw it, a post;-o.

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  13. tell them to pick chalet school... they have triplets, and fresh honey and chocolate for a snack, and located in the alps...faraway from mums with unlocking thoughts

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    1. Gosh I had forgotten......my school library had a whole lot of them which I used to borrow;-o.
      As for unlocking thoughts....didnt cross my mind honest*pinching throat*. I'm patiently waiting tho coz I know she'll come to me with it sooner or later;-D

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  14. Your daughters are so much fun, and so is your writing. You are lucky to have two daughters, i grew up in such a home and had the time of my life playing and mostly fighting with my sis, who is today my closest pal.

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    1. U said it......there was a point in time when we were always arguing, today we sing cheesy songs like 'phoolon ka taaron ka sab ka kehna hai....' when we skype & my kids go yuck, yuck;-D

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  15. Ahh, pretty mother in the blue and dark blue salwar, I so love this post. The mix of pride and exasperation and the love that runs through it is such a familiar feeling.
    You make me feel so happy - another mother who hates these projects :D
    Nikita's sustainable energy project is super awesome, please do tell her so.

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    1. I tell u these activities & projects are the pits....I feel guilty when I instruct my kids not to put their hands up for any extra work[other than the compulsary stuff where they get marks;-P].
      And nowadays I've gotten very clever.....I keep Nikita's work away very carefully, u see sooner or later Naina will come home with the same topic & voila the project is already ready;-D

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  16. science project picture is so beautiful..

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  17. Hahaha, trust you to turn the most random moments and conversations of life into the most hilarious and engaging ones, Nance! Enjoyed the read thoroughly :)

    And thats a fantastic work of art by Nikita for her science project! Also those fridge magnets! And the book-mouse too! All are so lovely!

    And you, cheater mama, you are so lucky to have got away from naina's earful so easily after planting the sapling in the same pot which had the plum-seeds!

    "Father: Can you forsee the punishment you’ll get if you don’t finish what’s on your plate in 5 minutes????" ROFL..this was the best!

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    1. @plum seed, she found out;-(
      How???
      Her elder sister planted a few doubts inside her head;-P
      I was treated to two days of continuous complaints;-/
      I then convinced her that there was space enough for both her seed and my plant to grow.
      I bought myself a few more days before it starts all over again;-P

      And heyyyy.....thanks Deeps;-D!!!!

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  18. When I was younger, I too planted some seeds and waited for them to sprout. No luck. The Times of UAE is a good idea. I am sure that she will be blogging sooner than you expect. At that time, we can match the two versions and know which is the truth :)

    I created a secret folder in my fathers computer (in DOS) and wrote a diary entry which was kept securely hidden within many sub-directories. But a simple DIR command was placing that file at last, which was pretty much visible to everyone. Then I stopped writing the (digital) diary!

    Destination Infinity

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    1. LOL @ur secret folder in public domain;-D. And u havent stopped writing...ur blog is proof enough;-D
      Errr...those seeds u planted, did u remember to water them???

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    2. Actually, I put watermelon seeds inside the pot. Does one need to water a watermelon plant :O !! :)

      Destination Infinity

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    3. If one wants the plant to grow then one must water it;-D

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  19. beautiful narration with pics

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  20. :) loved reading the post. It is totally fun to have sisters.
    Reading your post Brought a big smile to my face :)

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  21. i love their color choices! beautiful. good to know that bickering is not just a brother sister thing:-) making a full paper? go nikita! reminds me of something similar i did around that time. the plum is so sweet and hilarious. loved hearing about it:-)) had much fun reading it all nance. did you get around to finally bake the mice or they had to dry it out the natural way?

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    1. No ofcourse not.....why waste electricity when the desert is so unforgivably hot. It just took longer[like 2-3 days to harden] but the final product is the same;-D.

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  22. ROFL!!! Your girls are as deadly as ever! And kudos to Nikita for doing that project background by herself, that's seriously impressive. Those fridge magnets are adorable btw, what are they made out of?

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    1. We chanced on the kit in 'Toys r Us'...its called Mould & Paint Fridge Magnets. There is a packet of fine white powder[clay], a dozen moulds, a paint box & magnets. Mix powder in water & pour them in moulds to harden. Then paint, glue the magnets & there r ready to be used. They love it. Almost all kids who visit our home go back with magnets which they made. And I love it coz it keeps them all occupied, atleast for sometime;-P

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  23. I am in love with your daughters. They are creative, cute and funny.I was ROFL though out the post,

    Hmmm Ok I love you too for writing this.

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    1. And I love ur comment, good to see u girl:-))!!!!

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  24. Conversation with a kid is always interesting (and to pen it down is very important for posterity)

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    1. Hahahaaa thats wht we'd like to believe[@posterity bit];-D

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  25. hahaha interesting and well narrated

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  26. Replies
    1. Right here and updated too!!!
      Can u claim the same huh, huh, huh????

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  27. I hope someday I will have children as adorable as yours! That is all.

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    1. LOL Vidhya all I can say is be careful what u wish for;-D

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