Then And Now: Karma Is A Patient Angel
09 May 2012 1 Comment
in Kids growing up Tags: Karma, kids say the darndest things, talkative, then and now
Then:
She was barely a year and a half old. Talked in complete sentences. All she needed was a pair of willing functional ears. Didn’t matter if she knew the person or not. This child knew no strangers. A family friend nicknamed her “maathin malli” – apparently means a gabby jasmine flower in Kannada. I remember a saturday when we had someone working in our house, changing the carpet in the family room. Of course, my little chatterbox saw fresh, unmined audience and was “chatting” him up. So much so that after an hour or so, the poor guy begged us to take her away so he could finish the work.
Now:
She texts her brother about this 6 year old she is babysitting. He talks a lot, apparently. How annoying! So much that he asked her to turn off her radio so he could talk.
Ah sweet Karma. Forgive me for ever doubting you. My faith has been restored!
Then And Now
28 Mar 2012 5 Comments
in Kids growing up, Parenting Tags: andrum indrum, bragging mom, kids growing up, my daughter, parenting, responsibility, then and now
Then, she was a normal teen. Sleeping in till noon, didn’t know where anything was in the kitchen (for that matter, anywhere in the house), spirited arguments with mom. Both my kids at one point believed I was the evil incarnate, and took to referring to me as satan, and Damien (after the evil child in the Omen series). She recently told me “by the way, I still have your caller id saved as Damien in my cell”. I seriously wondered how this child would ever survive in the real world.
Well, last week proved that not only she would, but would make us proud doing so.
I’m talking about my daughter, who is a 3rd year student in college. She called my husband last week to tell him that she had just spent the entire afternoon weeding, cleaning up and planting grass and vegetables in the tiny yard she and her roommates share in the house they rent. And she didn’t stop there. She went on to tell him that she only knew how to do any of that because he had “made” her work in our yard. Oh…you should have seen Raj’s face. Bursting with pride. Speechless with emotion.
And, since she was planning on a long 5 hour car trip during the weekend to see her high school friends, she took the car to the dealer, and had them check it out. Unprompted. Without us nagging.
Small, but absolutely satiffying returns on 20 years of hard parenting.
So, parents of teens who think they would never again be on speaking terms with their children, take heart. There is light at the end of this long tunnel.
PS. I was mildly amused when she called me the next day and said “Oh I’m so glad it’s pouring here – I don’t have to water my plants.” And had the grace to laugh at herself when I said the rain was probably washing away all the seeds she had painstakingly planted.
To my baby who’s growing up.
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Happy St Patrick’s Day!
16 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in St Pat's day Tags: Irish, Luck of the Irish, Lucky, online contest, St Patrick's day
I entered the article I wrote about Raj (he would snicker – aren’t they all about me?? ) on a whim, in an online contest at MidlifeCollage.com, and holy crap, they published it! But the readers judge the winning vignette by voting. This site publishes 5 vignettes each week based on the week’s theme. This week’s theme is luck – for St. Patrick’s day. So my ardent readers, if you think this article is worth it, please do rate it and I could truly have the Irish luck! And win the Grant!
Here’s the link to my article on Midlife Collage. Voting does require you to register, but it’s free, painless and only takes a few seconds.
http://midlifecollage.com/2012/03/my-top-ten-reasons-why-i%e2%80%99m-the-luckiest-woman-on-earth/
So far I seem to be leading with the votes. Contest ends on Sunday, March 18th!
Thank you all in advance for your readership, and have a Happy St Patrick’s Day!
Florida Driving 101
05 Feb 2012 2 Comments
in Driving in Florida, Life in Florida Tags: Driving in Florida, Florida diving 101, Florida living, turn signals in Florida
Turn signals: There are two states of turn signals when driving in Florida. On or off. Mostly off. Have followed cars on the highway for miles with the turn signal indicating left, on the left lane. My son said to me recently: “So do you not believe in turn signals anymore?” after I made a few turns without indicating. Guess I’m officially a Floridian now!
It’s a race to nowhere: I need my space – personally and on the road. But it’s hard to find in Florida. I would speed to avoid being rear-ended on the highway, only to have the follower speed up to catch up with me! It’s a lost battle. So nowadays I go all passive-aggressive by driving slightly above the speed limit (to justify staying on the left lane), and my followers eventually give up or get disgusted and pass me. No shame in driving the speed limit!
Speaking of speed limits – it’s like the weather: Or as they say in Massachussets, the motto here seems to be “You don’t like our speed limit? Wait a second – it’ll change.” Seriously, I’ve driven thru 2 mile stretches where the speed limit ranged between 45 and 65. And not in any ascending or descending order either. Ah… the games they play!
Pretty much all the drivers here fall into one of these categories: old, lost, new to Florida, tourist, or all of the above. After a while, one tends to give up and just enjoy the good weather, the mild winters (73 in February? who can be in a bad mood with that kind of weather?), and the sunshine!
Watch this space for more insights into driving in Florida as we continue to assimilate!
New Year’s Ramblings
05 Jan 2012 1 Comment
in 2012, Emptynest syndrome, Endings and Beginnings, Kids home from college, Life in Florida, Random Musings Tags: 2012, endings and beginnings, new year
Here’s wishing a very happy, safe and healthy 2012 and beyond to my 5 ardent readers, 3 of whom are family – take that, Huffington Post!
My mind is right now too cluttered with all kinds of ideas, thoughts, analyses, etc that I need to clear some of it out or will explode into a 1000 pieces like Vikramaditya’s head would have if he knew the answer to Betal’s puzzler and didn’t answer.
A year-end update from our family:
After a brief, but real scare, my daughter seems to be on the mend from her concussion. She had to take an “Incomplete” on two of her finals as she was not allowed to study until completely free of symptoms. But, she rocked in her other two classes with high A’s. Michigan is a tough school to get B’s, let alone A’s! We’re very proud of her.
My son seems to have adjusted very well to college life. Brings home huge laundry loads, and unwashed dishes, found some really good friends and mentors, but still misses us when he goes back to school! That’s all a mother wants for her children right? Happiness mixed with a healthy dose of homesickness 
My husband is probably tired from taking care of all of us during December – and is back to work!
I have finally adjusted, I think, to being a well-balanced emptynester mom. I felt sad when my daughter left, and didn’t get up from the couch for 4 hours after my son left yesterday, but have bounced back. I am happy as long as I know they’re happy and safe. It took me 3 years to get to this point! Keeping my fingers crossed it sticks and is not a passing phase in my growth spurt.
The holidays were totally relaxed – no real plans and we took it one day at a time. Played some carrom, watched movies, ate a lot, just hung out. My son and I watched all 3 Godfather movies. It’s one of our favorite things to do. With my daughter, I like to watch classic chick flick (countless times of Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail, Sound of Music, Beauty and the Beast), paranormal stuff (still can’t watch Paranormal though). Started playing ‘Words with friends’ with the kids yesterday.
Raj and I were pleasantly surprised at a couple of dinners with our neighbors and friends – the kids totally enjoyed interacting with us on grown-up terms (I was going to say “adult” but I think that term has been permanently tainted for me growing up in Chennai where ‘A’ stands for ‘adult movies’.). We watched, with wonder, as they made jokes that were not based on body functions or bathroom humor, talked intelligently about all kinds of topics, and entertained our friends! Wow. When did they grow up?
Had a great new year’s party – only Indians, specifically Tamils, can pull off a NYE party where the dress code was black tie, (but we saw everything from saris, salwars to cocktail attire), the food was Chinese and Thai with Indian appetizers, the drinks were punch and Margaritas, the theme Casino Royale, and end up with a sensational party! Great job, organizers! You worked very hard. As my friend said the next day, I now feel part of this community – only 3 short months ago, I knew not a person here!
Ah…how can this end without mention of ‘kolaveri’. Let’s just leave it at that. Yes, watched it, and a few remixes. Personally thought the one with Shivaji clips was hands down the BEST. But, whoever has that kind of time to sync it so perfectly?
Happy new year, all! Mayan end of world predictions aside, let’s all have a great year!
Top 10 reasons I’m glad I married my husband
16 Dec 2011 2 Comments
in Life after kids, Top 10 Reasons, Why I love my husband Tags: in sickness and health, kidney stone, sickness, Top 10 reasons, why I love my husband
As several of you know, I recently had a nightmare of a time with the evil kidney stone and the even more evil kidney stent. This was the first time one of us had been really sick after the kids left home. This was going to kind of set the baseline of how we would handle these in the future. And I’m so glad I was the sick one. Because Raj showed me how it’s done. The whole episode confirmed my faith in our marriage and love and reminded me of why I am so lucky to have ended up with him!
Since I am always picking on Raj in my blog entries, for a change I decided to publicly embarrass him with this. Here’s to my loving husband!
(The numbering really is pointless – I just listed all the things that came to my mind. To his credit, this post only took about 30 minutes!)
Top 10 Reasons Why I’m Glad I’m Married To My Husband
10. The way he felt bad about having to spray the lizard that got inside the house.
9. During my recent kidney stone/stent-gone-bad episode when I seriously considered sleeping in the bathroom, gave up his side of the bed willingly so I could be near the bathroom. We all know what a major disruption that is – you’re all set on your side of the bed with the light, reading material, your night ritual gear, alarm clock, etc. !
8. Worked full days (albeit from home), and took care of me, and the chores at home, for a full 10 days when I was sick – he took care of me like my mother would have.
7. He is always the + to my – and keeps the juice flowing.
6. When I was too worn out from taking a shower (yes, I kid you not) made me sit down and blow-dried my hair.
5. After 21 years of marriage, still says thank you every time he eats a good home-cooked meal. That’s several nights a week.
4. Willingly gives up watching football to watch a chick flick with me if I’m feeling down.
3. Believes in me more than I do myself.
2. Never talks about his title, position, achievements or the charity he does.
1. Shares my love of music.
I hope and pray both my kids find someone as good as their father!
Things you should never do when hungry
01 Nov 2011 1 Comment
in Cooking, Life Lessons, samaiyal Tags: grocery shopping, junk food, organic spinach for enchiladas, shopping on an empty stomach
What I intended to buy:
Spinach for our enchilada dinner
What I found in my grocery bag when I came home – I have no idea how they got in there!
Bad Food!
Moral of the story: Never, ever shop on an empty stomach!
