He knows!






The last post was kind of a teaser to my current life. 

The warm embrace of the sister and brother, well, clearly that's what I'd like my social media to think my kids are like, but in reality, let's say 90% of the time, I play the referee, and the 10% that the loving hug happens, it melts my heart so much, that I begin to believe, time and again, that these two are just the perfect pair of siblings. 

So lets start where we left off, well, at least from whereever I can recollect. 

Clearly, I make amazing babies. If DD ran the house, DS is that sensitive soul, who can play you like a fiddle. 

From the time he could express his emotions, he's been absolutely free with them. He can burst into tears over anything. I think he takes it as a challenge to prove his tear ducts are solid. 

If you get mad at him for something he said or did, he'll hug you so tight with those big round tears falling down his cheeks that you instantly feel remorse for being upset with such a wonderful little kid. 

If you've built a thicker skin and know his tricks, he'll hug you hard and say "Tell me you're not mad at me. Tell me you're wrong for getting upset. It's bad to get upset. It's not OK," between his sobs and instant waterfall. 

"Why do you cry so much?" I ask him.

"So you won't be mad." Well, fairpoint. 

"How is it that when he cries, you immediately calm down, but when I cried, you didn't?" That's DD. 

"Well, he gets tears. Your crying was more of a whining."

"What's whining?" DS asked. 

"Well, it's all that you do, minus the tears," DD said. "And at a higher pitch" I added. 

He smiled. 

"Why are you smiling?" DD asked. 

"I know how to make Mamma stop getting mad, you still don't."

"Mom, did you hear that?" DD turned around to look at me. 

"DS! Why would..."

The dams were open again! That boy has the remote to my reactions. 

It's really unfair

 

Ok, It's been an exceptionally long hiatus. I have very many reasons for not having written, nah journal-ed DD's antics, but they are all, as I have come to realize, excuses. 

DD discovered my blog recently, and asked me a lot of questions about her childhood, and how she loves that she has a memory capsule to look back and learn more about herself and her upbringing. 

She was talking about a couple posts when DS walked in. Yes, DS is now in the picture, and no, not a toddler, but an elementary school going kid. "Mamma, there's nothing about lil bro, here", DD said.

"Well I did stop writing, way before DS was born."

"What's not there about me?" DS asked.

 "Well, Mamma had written a lot of stuff about when I was growing up, and now, when I read through, I know how it was liking growing up through her eyes. But there isn't anything about you."

Thank you, Darling. 

"Why is there nothing about me, Mamma? Why didn't you write anything about me?"

A 100 excuses ran through my head, but looking at those big wide eyes, I didn't have the heart to make one up. 

"I'm sorry, babe."

"Why? All of a sudden?", I looked at DD. "How did you even discover this blog?"

 "He's my brother, and not to forget, another of your offspring!"

 Tears flowed down. "It's not fair. You can't only write about Dika... why won't you write about me?"

"Well, sweetheart, I will."



Image credit: https://clipart-library.com/clipart/big-sister-cliparts-23.htm

When you're motivated




Oh the things people do, do get what they want!
One of the things we've been worrying a lot about, is the lack of Hindi language skills in our children. 
Image result for swagatam"

They can understand but won't speak. The little one was speaking a good amount of Hindi when the grandparents were around, only to revert to English under his parents. 
In our most recent visit to India, we realized that DD cannot really communicate with her cousins in Hindi. By the end of the trip, her cousins started speaking in English, but DD wasn't really doing anything to improve her Hindi. 

Enter, the carrot. 

DD's been on us for months now, asking for a phone. We've been pretty reluctant for obvious reasons. So the husband used this as an opportunity. 

The deal is that she needs to speak in Hindi for 3 continuous months, and only in Hindi, with us and those who understand the language, and she will receive a phone!
Nothing has ever worked before, but it's been a month now and DD is still talking in Hindi, not using any English words. In fact, we've had to look up words in Hindi to be able to translate it to her. 

We've never said "Welcome" to anyone in Hindi. What is the response to "Thank you?" "Swagatam?"

We're learning with her, and it's been very insightful and fun so far.
Let's see where this takes us - onward and more fluent?


Image source: Shutterstock.com