Too Many Girls!!

DD had a Saturday practice at school. DS had a long day too, with a lot of playtime at home, Amma is here, so he'd been playing with her and Lina Aunty. 

"Ma, can we have dinner outside?" DD messaged me. 

That seemed like a good idea. Amma, DS and I decided to meet DD half way in her favorite restaurant. 

It was a good meal, good ambiance, good company. 

There were a bunch of men behind us, laughing and joking boisterously. 

Suddenly, DS declares to us, "There are too many girls. I am done. I want to be around some boys!"

"What?" All of us were shocked.

"Papa is traveling, and there are no boys. It's only girls, girls, girls"

One of the guys behind us heard and looked over. Clearly he wanted to talk to DS. 

"I don't really want to be around girls anymore. I am going." DS continued, standing up, and trying to walk away from us. 

"Hey, babe", I called after him. "There's a bunch of boys right here, you can talk to."

"Hey, yeah" said the guy who was following our conversation. "You know, I have 2 boys myself."

That seemed to calm DS down, who at this point was struggling to set himself free from his sisters' grasps, to - walk away. 

"Why aren't your sons here?" He asked. 

"They're at home." He said, showing some pics of his kids. 

"Do you play any sports?" He asked DS. 

DS couldn't understand his Kiwi accent. "He's asking if you play any sports, babe" I said. 

"Basketball."

"Ooh, I love playing basketball. My kids play too!"

"Mamma, can you take his number, and we can have a play date with his sons?"

And after a good conversation, there was no need to walk away from the girls in the house anymore, or so I thought. 

I also set a 

Ady returned last morning. DS woke up as soon as he heard his dad's voice. 

"Papa, I am glad there's a boy in the house," he ran to hug his dad. 

"What?... I..." and am still finishing that sentence. 

Image Source: https://www.needpix.com/photo/1299933/flower-girl-power-woman-power-florist-female-woman-girl-sign-female-sign

Rules of turning 7

This was possibly the first birthday for DS that he knew and was aware, that it was organized just for him, outside the home.

He wanted to have a laser tag event, and made his own list of friends he wanted to invite.

This was actually a birthday of mixed feelings for the little guy. He was turning 7.

Turning 7 in Singapore meant that you need to sleep by yourself, and you cannot sleep with your parents anymore. (That’s the rule, don’t look it up. You’ll just have to take my word for it.)

So while he was excited that there’s a day dedicated for him and all his wishes, a big part of him was also worried that he no longer gets to sleep with Mamma. (Mamma was equally unhappy by the way, it was Papa’s idea to enforce the rule, so he doesn’t get kicked in the shins every night.)

He woke up in the morning excited to turn 7, but he wanted to cuddle some more, because technically, he turned 7, and should not be sleeping with the parents.

“Today is my birthday” he declared coming down the stairs, to all of us – “so whatever I want gets done.”

He said he wanted to eat donuts for breakfast, and we readily obliged.

Everything about the day was great.

After an exhausting but wonderful birthday, DS was ready to retire.

“I am not going to send him to his room” I remarked to Ady. “It’s your idea, you deal with it.”

“Alright. I will.”

Ady was out of DS’s room in 10 minutes.

“What happened?” I asked.

“What? He’s fine. He’s following the rules.” He chuckled.

“My baby…”

“He’s a big boy”

It’s now been almost a week, and my rule-following baby boy came up to me to snuggle in the morning – “Mamma, can you write to the government that I can sleep with you?”

“Stay strong!” Ady urged me.

We shall see how this night goes.

Long Term Commitment

We were in India for the past few weeks to celebrate the 50th anniversary milestone of my in-laws. 

DD and DS got to meet a whole set of their paternal cousins, aunts and uncles, grandaunts and grand uncles. Within the first week, his grandma became DS's favorite person in the whole world.

The entire family was there. Dances by the bonfire, steaming hot paranthas, fresh from the farm salads, and wonderful cackles of excited children were all the elements that made our trip so memorable. 

On the day of the big event, it was amazing to see mom-in-law and dad-in-law all decked up, happy, nervous, shy! They were re-living the day from 50 years ago and it was just the most adorable scene ever. 

On the way to the venue, DS was riding with his grand aunt, grand parents and I. The grand aunt was teasing him, saying she wanted to marry him. "Will you marry me?" she asked. DS looked up at me. 

"Mamma" he said. "I can't marry her." 

"Why?" she asked. "Why won't you marry me?"

"You need to be married for a long time. But if I marry you, I have to marry very soon. "

Everybody burst out laughing. 

"Mamma, she is very old. I can't be married only for a short time. I need to be married a long time." he whispered in my ear. 

"She already has a husband, babe" I tried to calm the anxious child. "She's just kidding."

"I will tell your husband" he threatened her. 

"He'll happily give me away" she laughed. 

And he did. DS did tell his granduncle what his wife did, who promptly did offer her to him. "She may be your favorite person soon."

"No. Daadi is my favorite person in the whole world."