Stop! Stop Now!

Every time we're on foot, I try and see if the coast is clear and there aren't any interesting personalities around. By coast, I mean the sidewalk and by interesting personalities I mean the police. No, nothing to hide here, just that the little girl who accompanies me gets so fascinated by them that she makes a dash toward them as soon as she see's one leaving me behind. 

The other day we were trying to negotiate a very difficult turn in heavy traffic, (it would have been a normal day back in India, but by Seattle standards, this was huge - 4 cars blocking the alley in front of the parking lot!) I was concentrating completely on selecting the next song to play on the iPod while DH was trying to navigate through the 'mess' without honking.  And DD... well, DD was surprisingly silent. She startled us, when all of a sudden she started screaming... "Stop, Stop!" 

"Are you OK?" I screamed looking back to her from the navigator seat. "Stop! Stop!" she kept screaming. 
"Can you pull over at the next turn?" I asked DH, just as the car in front of us made way.
"This is not India" he reprimanded me. "I can't stop just because your daughter feels like it."

"What's the matter, DD?" I asked ignoring the driver. 
"There's a police guy!" she yelled back. 
"See, she's warning you to be careful" I tried justifying.
"No" she immediately corrected me. "I want a badge from him."

You see, every time we see a cop or a fire man, DD makes it a point to ask him for a badge and they always oblige her with a 'Junior Officer' sticker badge. 

"This way, Sir" the officer pointed as he was clearing us to leave. 
"Put my window down! Put my window down!" DD screamed. 
"Put her window down!" I screamed too. 
And DH put all our windows down as he struggled turning around.
"Can I get a sticker?" DD screamed out, to beat the noise of moving cars outside. 
"Hun?" the cop was confused. 
"Sticker please?" DD smiled. Now, who can ignore such a plea? And she knows it. 
He looked at the traffic, at us, at DD and just said "I can't now, honey. It's in my jacket pocket, which is in my car. But the next officer you meet, ask him to give you two. Tell him I said so."
"Ok. Thank you" DD sighed and we finally did take the turn. 

"You were saying..." DH said. "How important was your daughter's scream?"
"Hey, she's practicing..."
"To stop the traffic?"
"To be a cop. She needs her badge."
He didn't argue. He knows better than that now. 

And yesterday, as we were walking down the street... this is what happened.

And I Now Pronounce You...

DD is growing up. As difficult as it is to come to terms with it, the truth of the matter is that she will and there's nothing I can do about it. No amount of cuddles and kisses can slow down the process. 

But there's still some time before she flies out of the nest, finds her passion, gets a mate and starts a family of her own. And logically, this conclusion does make sense, since she is only 5. 

Alas, she brought me to a new reality yesterday. She had officiated her friend's wedding, and had also tied the knot with some dude - in her school. 

"What?" I correctly over reacted. "What do you mean you got married?"

"Yes, Mamma, I also offi-f-fi-ciated Stella* and Leo's* marriage. We made music with our mouths ( hums  'Here comes the Bride' )and were dressed up and everything"

And I also got married to Kenny*. 

(Photo Credit: Tracy Hunter/Flickr)

"How? Were your teachers there?"

"Yes. My teacher helped me dress up in this shiny fabric and they kept rushing me to come out..."

"Who's they?"

"The wedding people, they said 'come soon, come soon'. . But I was not ready and  my teacher asked everybody to wait. Then when I was ready, they all did (hums 'Here comes the Bride') and I walked in. Johnny* offi-f-fi-ciated our wedding...and we - Kenny and I could either kiss each other on the cheek, or hold hands or stare at each other. We stared and it was very weird."

"Yeah, it is weird isn't it? But how did Johnny officiate?"

"Same like I did. "Do you Stella ting-tong-ting-tong Leo as your awfully husband, and do you Leo ting-tong-ting-tong Stella as your awfully wife"

And I could not contain my self. Awful husband and wife??

"But it was just for pretend" she said, thinking something was wrong, or I wouldn't laugh like a maniac. 

"Oh are you sure?" I tried wiping away the tears from all the laughter. 

"Yes Mamma. I don't even like Kenny, he only keeps sitting and does not do anything."

"Ha. She's learning fast" I thought. (About general husbands, not like my super helpful husband. Hi, dear!)

"So you are now Kenny's awful wife?" 

"Yeah, why do they say that, Mamma? Why do they say awful?"

"All in good time darling, all in good time. Till then, let's just say ting-tong-ting-tong. That sounds nice right?" 

"And funny! Ting-tong-ting-tong!!"

*Not their real name.