School summer vacation!

Yesterday was Abhay’s last day of school before the unbelievably long summer vacation. School summer vacations or a summer break in between school years is probably a tradition as old as schooling itself! Although most educational institutions close down during summer, a vacation of two long months is typical only to schools. A tradition that I was all gung-ho about as kid  but not so much as a parent!  In my defense, I must say that those were the days when life was much simpler with less distractions for kids and a lot less hectic for us parents! At the same time, life is expected to turn a lot more competitive for our kids than it was for us!  So whether it’s  from mid-March to June in South India or mid-May to August in Northern India or mid- June to mid-September in the west or from December to February in Australia, its time for our  little ones to make the most of it now before their vacations get eschewed by tuitions and coaching classes as they move to higher classes!

To celebrate Abhay’s start of summer vacation 2013, I had him read “School Holidays” by Leanne Wells and illustrated by Celina Korcak, a level 1 Early Reader from Cambridge University Press. Narrated by three kids who indulge in different activities every day of their school holidays - skating on Monday, fishing on Tuesday, swimming on Wednesday, riding on Thursday, watching  Television on Friday (All day?? asked Abhay!) and playing on computer on Saturday, sparing just enough energy to clean up for Sunday and …….just like that ......they get ready to go to school on Monday! ( If only it were that simple!) Not much of a story, but this series provides guide notes in the end to improve your little one’s critical thinking and language skills, and help them reflect on the story that they have just read. “School holidays” for the kids in the book last only for a week but Abhay has over 76 days of summer holidays this year! So...here's wishing everyone who have either started their summer vacation already or are going to in the near future......Happy Holidays!

Nobody quite like me!

When you’ve borne your little one for nine whole months and have endured excruciating pain to bring him/her to the world, a moment that changes your life forever, the least you can expect is for your little one to look a little like you! I thought it was extremely rude when everyone who came in to see Abhay on the day he was born, claimed that he was a replica of his father! Hello! What about his exhausted mom who just went through almost 24 hours of labor? Why does everyone assume that she would gush over a comment like that? I am not sure of our older generation, I sincerely feel even if your little one is a clone of the dad, it should be considered politically incorrect to announce the same ….at least on the first day! Of course, when Abhay was growing up (he still is!)….different members claimed different parts of his body….his face structure claimed by his dad, his elephant ears by his maternal grandma who in turn claimed to have inherited the recessive gene from her grandma, his long fingers claimed to be of his great–grandfather’s…..now this was when I decided to put my foot down ….because in case nobody noticed….I have long fingers too! J Of course, when everybody else lets you down….you can always count on Facebook where you can upload your baby’s pictures and have your loyal friends declare that your baby looks just like you….never mind that they have never seen anybody else from your family!

The reason for this flashback is a book that I had Abhay read today, “Nobody quite like me” by Pamela Rushby and illustrated by Melissa Webb, a Level2 Early Reader from Cambridge University Press. I recently chanced upon this Early Reader series that has graded reading based on different levels of learning of the English language. For instance, a Level 2 has been described as being ideal for the second and third year of English. While visiting his grandma, a little boy finds a photo album that has photos of all the members of his family. Coming across an old photo of his now balding grandpa, his grandma remarks that he has lovely curly hair just like his grandpa Bill. The boy’s grandma goes on to liken his toes to that of his Uncle Jack’s, his big brown eyes to that of Auntie Sue’s, his nose that turns up at the end , just like his dad’s! ( Must be the paternal grandma as there is no mention of the mom!) So the boy understands that he looks a lot like his family, but there is nobody quite like him! So Abhay may have his father’s face structure, his mom’s smile, (my facebook friends have told me!), his grandma’s ears and his great-grand father’s long fingers…..but there is nobody quite like him! But in the tug-of war between his parents over whom does he look like, Abhay in fact thinks he looks like the actor Ajay Devgan!