The value of giving!

As the date of our return to India draws near, we are now on a wind-up mode. This means that we are breaking our heads over how to squeeze our two bedroom establishment into 10 shipping boxes and 6 suitcases! I wish we had Hermione’s undetectable extension charm for that!! (From Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) Anyway, trust me, this is a job that nobody wants. We are now trying to sort our belongings into  various heads -  “things to be given away” , “to be sold” , “to be shipped or packed  as check-in luggage” and “things to be donated”. Well, Abhay does not exactly agree with this distinction. For him, all his toys are in the “things to be shipped or packed” category! So much so, he is not even ready to part with his toddler toys like the bead maze or barnyard toy piano or his 'Baby Einstein' board books! Nevertheless, that doesn’t stop us from giving away his stuff anyway, but it would be nice if we could instill the value of giving in our four year old. Besides, the less attached he is to his belongings; the less baggage he’ll have in life! Like his mom, Abhay too finds it hard to let go. After all, an apple cannot fall far from the tree!Isn't it?

So in order to make him understand the joy in giving, today I read “Ivy loves to give” by Freya Blackwood. Ivy loves to give and sometimes her gifts or presents are not quite right for the recipient – a pair of glasses for the dog, or a cup of tea for her hen, or a pacifier for the cat! But she finds a way to make her presents perfectly fit the bill – glasses for her grandma, a nice cup of tea for mom, pacifier for the baby and boy does it feel good to give! But when she finds something that would rather keep, like her sister’s princess skirt, Ivy is allowed to keep it! So in return, Ivy gives the best gift of all– a big hug to her sister!  So when I asked Abhay if he was ready to give away some of his toys that he didn't need, my cunning four year old pointed to two of his toy engines whose batteries needed to be replaced! So much for my charity lessons!

Square's fair!

What I love about children’s books in the US is that they tackle so many different issues that parents and  kids face today and will probably face tomorrow! Why I love writing this blog is because I can chronicle my experience of sharing those books that I read to my son today and nostalgise about them tomorrow when he’s older and past his age of innocence. Not only that, some of these books have deeper meanings or important life lessons hidden in their stories that may prove to be useful not only during his awkward teens or confusing youth but indeed throughout his life! 

Today I read one such book that went over Abhay’s head for now, but is sure to ring bell in a few years from now. “Square Cat” by Elizabeth Schoonmaker is a story of Eula, a square cat who wishes to be round like other cats.  She finds that life is tough for a square cat – her favorite circle skirt not fitting right; mouse holes seem impossible for her chase into and most importantly she finds it hard to get back up when she tips over. Her friends Patsy and Maude, both round cats try to cheer her up but it doesn't seem to work. Finally, they both slip into square boxes and become just like Eula. They  demonstrate how a round cat couldn’t quite carry off a checkerboard sweater as well as a square cat or how a painting of a square cat is priceless or how they make excellent square dancers and finally reassure Eula that mouse holes are impossible even for round cats! Eula jumps with joy and so do her friends with their boxes. When they tip over and fall on their backs and they gaze into the blue sky and they realize something -  only a square cat can have this view of the sky! As mentioned earlier, Abhay didn’t quite get the underlying meaning of the story but he seemed to be fascinated by the square cat and its capabilities. All I want to say is ...in the days to come, just remember, do not despair that you are unlike the rest rather celebrate the same! :-)

Cupcake Wars!

Abhay has never been too fond of desserts except of course for cupcakes and even as far as cupcakes are concerned, he is only interested in the frosting. Every time we approach the bakery section in a grocery store, we are conned into buying cupcakes for Abhay who vows to devour the cake along with  its cream frosting.  Of course, like most promises, this one too is forgotten the moment he gets what he wants and we are left with six cupcakes (they mostly come in a pack of six) with their frosting polished off clean. So in our three years in the US, we’ve probably set a record as being the couple who’ve had the most number of cupcakes minus the frosting! :-) So off late, in an attempt to do some damage control, I’ve been trying my hand at baking. Though ostensibly meant for Abhay and his weakness for baked sugary treats, I realized that I quite enjoy working the oven. Unfortunately, all my efforts seem to be in vain as all Abhay wants is the cream on the cake! It doesn’t matter, if I have tried a new recipe, or managed to make it eggless or that the cake looks and tastes simply delicious. As long as the cake or the cupcake is not iced with a frosting, he couldn’t care less.So today I baked strawberry cupcakes and for the first time, tried to whip up some frosting as well. Did Abhay enjoy them? Hmm….well….no matter what you do, some people just cannot be pleased! :-)

Even if Abhay didn’t find the cupcakes to be delectable, I still read the book “Fancy Nancy and the Delectable cupcakes”, a Level 1 in I can read series of Early Readers,  by Jane O’Connor and pictures by Robin Preiss Glasser. Nancy can’t wait to return home from school to make cupcakes for next day’s bake sale. Once back home, she and her mother gather all ingredients and bake the most delicious looking cupcakes which Nancy decorates with sprinkles and frosting so as to make them  fancy enough to live up to her reputation. Once done, her mother asks her put the cupcakes out of Frenchy’s ( her dog) reach. Heeding  to instructions not being one of her specialties, she places them just where she is not supposed to and Frenchy gets the taste of her cupcakes before the bake sale. Devastated by the ‘destruction’, she realizes she’s will be a no show at school the next day. Just then her father arrives home with all the necessary ingredients that once again go into making fancy Nancy’s delectable cup cakes!! If only I knew the exact ingredients that go into what my fastidious four- year old deems “delectable cup cakes”!:-)

Painted Dreams!

Abhay loves to draw and color but the colors he applies to his pictures don’t necessarily correspond to their natural colors. For instance, leaves are colored yellow, flowers are brown or clouds are painted orange! When asked to explain the orange clouds, his reply was “The clouds look orange during sunset!” Okay….I had to grant him this one, but after all I was his mom …wasn’t I? I persisted and questioned him about the brown flowers to which his response was simply “I like them brown’! In his art class too, I found that his instructor, while lauding Abhay’s interest in sketching,  said that he needed to work on following instructions as to which color goes where! I understand that it is better to stand out than to merge, but at times it is also important to conform or blend in with the background! Isn't it?

Today I read a book that was recommended by one of the parenting websites as being a book that help kids to think out of the box. ‘Big Orange Splot” by Daniel Manas Pinkwater does just that - drop a big orange splot on your little one’s imagination! Mr. Plumbean’s street was a neat one as all the houses were painted the same color and everyone like it that way. But one day, a flying seagull carrying a can of orange paint dropped the can on Mr. Plumbean’s house making a conspicuous orange splot on his roof. Everyone who lived on the street thought it looked ugly and asked Mr. Plumbean to paint his house back to the same color as it was. Mr. Plumbean just looked at the orange splot and went about his business. All the neighbors then got impatient and kept hounding him over his spotty roof. Finally, one night, Mr. Plumbean began painting his house and the next morning, to everyone’s surprise, not only did the orange spot still adorn his roof, but the house was painted like a rainbow. The neighbors disapproved but Mr. Plumbean couldn’t care less. He went on to build a tower on top of his house and painted a clock on the tower and then drove to the market and came back with a truck load of green things. While everyone gawked, Mr. Plumbean planted palm trees, baobabs, thorn bushes and hung a hammock in between the palm trees on which he lay relaxed, sipping a glass of lemonade. When questioned, Mr. Plumbean says “This is my house and I am it. My house is where I like to be and it looks like all my dreams.” When his neighbor calls on Mr. Plumbean to talk some sense into him, Mr. Plumbean invites him into his garden and has a nice chat with him under the cool shade of the palm trees. The next day, everyone is shocked to see the house next to Mr. Plumbean’s painted into a red and yellow ship, to reflect the owner's dreams! Slowly, one by one, all the residents draw inspiration from Mr. Plumbean and paint their so called ‘neat street’ into a street of their dreams! Of course, Abhay loved this book which is his new favorite now! I guess this book has not only taught Abhay to think out of the box, but helped Abhay’s mommy to do the same too!  So the next time, I see Abhay shading a car in rainbow colors, I can say “This is his picture, and he is it. This picture is where he likes to be and looks like his dreams”!!!

Grumpy little boy!

Abhay was in a particularly grumpy mood this evening as he woke up from his afternoon nap. Well, I honestly thought he has outgrown the phase of waking up with a foul mood….apparently I was wrong! Nothing I did seemed to brighten his mood and frankly I wasn’t trying too hard either! I’m sure most moms would agree, there are days when you feel detached and just want to let him be. Today was one of those days! But as most moms would also agree, you cannot afford to wallow in it for long….for your child’s sake and most importantly, for the sake of your own peace of mind!!

To cheer him up, I read the book “I love it when you smile” by Sam McBratney and illustrated by Charles Fuge. I had picked up this book at the library last week thinking it might be useful someday and boy was I right!:-) This is the story of Roo, a Joey who is feeling so grumpy one morning that he doesn't even want to play. In order to make him laugh, mommy kangaroo tickles him to see if he breaks into a smile. But he doesn’t budge! All her other attempts like flipping him head over heels or playing peek-a-boo or tossing leaves all over don’t yield positive results. But as she slides him into her pouch and hops down the hill to look for breakfast, she slips into a muddy hole. Roo himself is all covered in mud but when he finds his mommy soaked wet and muddy from head to toe, he can’t stop grinning and his mom is relieved to see her baby smile at last! On reading this book, I could see my baby smile too! We all love it when they smile, even if it is at our cost, isn't it?