Wake me up!

If getting my five year old to bed is a challenge, getting him out of it in the morning is a whole new ball game!   After over two weeks of vacation, Abhay is reluctant to get back to his routine of waking up at around 6.45 Am only to snooze off in his school bus an hour later!  I have tried everything from stories to incentives to threats to actual implementation of threats…..but each morning he simply refuses to stir out of his bed!  Frankly, this whole waking-up- in-time-to-catch-the-school-bus is new to me too. In the US, more than Abhay, I was used to dropping him off to school as and when he was ready, but in Bangalore, I would rather have him miss school than face the prospect of driving him myself to his school! Of course, Abhay is only too happy to miss school to spend another day at home that keeps his grandparents on their toes! So in the interest of everyone at home….I have to get him out the bed! 

So today I read “Get out of Bed” by Robert Munsch and illustrated by Alan & Lea Daniel. This is the story of Amy who in the middle of the night, instead of sleeping, walks into her living room to watch the late show, the late late show and then the very early show, the early show until she passes out! The next morning, as her parents and her brother get ready to start their day, Amy refuses to get out of bed in the morning. So her brother comes up with a crazy but effective solution to this problem – they drag Amy to school along with her bed on which she sleeps soundly as they carry her bed down their street, round the corner, through the schoolyard and into the school! They put the bed in Amy’s classroom and leave when everyone in school tries their luck at waking up Amy. But Amy snores on blissfully through the English class, Arithmetic class, art class, gym, and through recess. Finally as it is time to go when her parents and brother carry Amy back who still seems to be in a surfeit of sleep! Amy is brought back home and promptly taken to her room when she continues to zzzzzzzz! The next morning, she wakes up at the crack of dawn all fresh and hungry! When her mother and later her teacher ask her if she has had a good sleep, she replies in the affirmative but complains of being haunted by strange dreams! When Amy walks into her classroom, she is shocked to find all her classmates in deep slumber on their respective beds! So if you little one doesn’t  get out of bed……you know what to say!!! 

Forgetting to sleep?

I don’t understand what it is that these kids have against going to bed at night! Though setting a sleep routine for Abhay has always been a challenge, it has now become next to impossible! Ever since Dassera vacations have begun, my son has turned nocturnal with his energy levels peaking at night just when my tolerance level is at an all time low!  Most moms would agree that there are days when all you want to do is to hit the bed and by sheer co incidence or otherwise, that’s the last thing your little one wants to do! Well…..when what you wish for them to do is what they wish to avoid and what you wish they avoid is what they are hell-bent on doing  – that’s what parenting is all about! :-)

Anyway, with vacations at its fag end , I was keen on getting Abhay to bed on time in preparation for school all set to reopen in the next couple of days. To my delight, I found a book apt for my setting written by a mom just like me in an attempt to get her little one to bed! “I’m so sleepy” by Radhika Chadha and pictures by Priya Kuriyan, a book in the Baby Bahadur series. This is a story of a baby elephant named Bahadur who has, like my baby, forgotten how to sleep! So one night when his amma had gone visiting  a relative, he felt sleepy but just couldn’t remember how to sleep! He decided to seek help from his friends and first approached Shanmugam, the lion, who was in a deep slumber. As he tried to wake him up, he was told by a monkey that lions are known to sleep all day and wake up at night. Bahadur then turned to his monkey friend, Manu who asked him to climb up the tree to sleep next to him when the little elephant knew better than sleeping on a tree! So he moved on and came across Ritu, the rabbit who invited the sleepy Bahadur into her little hole to retire for the day. But Bahadur was sure that let alone his whole self, not even his trunk could fit into the hole! He was convinced that elephants hardly sleep in burrows and called on his other friends from Chandu the crocodile, to Paytu the pig, to Kamalnayan the camel and Hutoxi the horse, all in a quest for a good night’s sleep. When he sees Hutoxi, the horse sleeping standing up, Bahadur has a brain-flash and finds a tree nearby to fall fast asleep leaning against it, like all elephants do! Abhay liked this book for sure, but I loved this book not only for its charming storyline but also its interesting animal characters with even more interesting alliterating names  -  I mean….have you ever come across a camel named Kamalnayan? Abhay  remembered his dear friend Ritu from Portland days when he read about Ritu, the rabbit!  This book can also serve as a good memory game for your little one, which, of course you wouldn’t want to try out at bedtime, lest they too forget to sleep! :-)

A folktale for Dasara

It’s the festival season in India and after a gap of three years, it feels like rediscovering Navaratri and Diwali, two of the biggest Hindu festivals celebrated during this time. Though I have grown up celebrating Ayudha Pooja, attending Navaratri festivities at temples, or calling on neighbors who exhibit their Dasara dolls collection, it is a whole new experience for my five year old. This festive splendor can compare with the Holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas in the US. This is the time to go on a guilt-free shopping spree or go on an eating binge or go on a temple tour or on  a vacation and I  confess that except the temple visit, I have done it all this festival season….and may be gone a little overboard as if to make up for the last three years!:-) 

Anyway, with schools closed for Dasara vacations, I was looking for ways to engage Abhay and found a few places holding folk arts and crafts designed to sensitize kids to their roots. So today I read a book based on a Marati folktale “Ekki Dokki” retold by Sandhya Rao and Ranjan De. This is a tale of two sisters – Ekkisvali and Dokkeswali fondly known as Ekki and Dokki respectively. Ekki had one strand of hair on her head and Dokki had two. Dokki was very proud of her two strands of hair and always tried to show off to her sister. Fed up with her sister’s jeers, Ekki runs into the forest. As she runs deeper and deeper into the forest, she hears a voice calling for water. After a quite a search, she spots a withered bush in need of water. As she collects water from a nearby stream and sprinkles it on the bush, the mendhi bush thanks her for the help. As she moves on, she hears another voice calling for food when she finds a cow tied to a dead tree. The kind girl that she is, Ekki gathers some leaves and feeds them to the emaciated creature. She also unties the knot and sets the cow free who can’t thank her enough. As soon as she bids goodbye to the cow, she soon finds a mud hut with a thatched roof. An old lady comes out of the hut and invites her in. Ekki makes herself comfortable in the house when the old lady asks her to take a bath and have lunch. Ekki surprised to find such a hospitable environment in the middle of nowhere does as she is told. After an oil bath, Ekki is delighted to see long black tresses fall over her shoulders and found that she had the most beautiful hair anyone could imagine. She runs home, stopping only to accept the cow’s milk and the Mendhi bush’s mendhi paste. When she reaches home, her parents are thrilled to have her back and that too with a makeover!  But Dokki, her jealous sister cant bear to look at her and instead rushes off to the forest in the hope of an encore. But Dokki being selfish and self centered, didn’t hear the bush or the cow and heads straight to the old lady’s hut demanding a special bath. The old lady concedes to her demand and asks her take bath. When she does, Dokki excitedly unwrapped the towel from her head to find that she has lost all her hair! The message from this folk tale though not obvious makes your little one think of the consequences of their actions and triumph of good over bad, which is why we celebrate Navaratri. Dasara greetings to everyone!

Dosa Delight!

Every Indian would swear by the fact that there is no place like India when it comes to food – be it lunch or dinner at your regular vegetarian restaurant or a gourmet restaurant, or mini meals or snacks at a Darshini style fast food joint or baked savories at Iyengar bakery, or roadside chat, and of course chilli bajjis dished out by your neighboring gaadiwala – variety is the true spice of your appetite! J While in the US, though we got to sample various cuisines around the world, I remember my constant lament over the lack of many choices for vegetarians like me, especially in places like Texas or Hawaii. Added to this, we found not many places catering to our Indian Palette when we craved for some savory snacks during teatime. I mean seriously, a cinnamon swirl or a banana walnut cake is hardly a match to our good old aloo bonda  to go with your cup of chai! Anyway, when you are on the road with a picky eater like my five year old ……thank God for Dosas!!!

It didn’t take too long for Abhay to turn from curd rice boy to the dosa boy! So today I found a book that titled “Dosa” by Sandhya Rao and pictures by Ashok Rajagopalan. Though a book more for toddlers, it did not fail to charm my five year old dosa lover!  Amma makes Dosa for Bapa who is busy reading newspaper. Amma makes one, two, three, four and many more dosas for Bapa who seemed to gulp them down in no time. Finally tired of making dosas, amma asks Bapa if she can stop making dosas. Then Bapa seems surprised and asks her when she even started as he claimed to have eaten none! Amma doesn’t believe bapa when he asks a question bothering amma and the readers ‘Who ate the dosas?" As we turn the last page, we  find the answer – we see a picture of a pet dog waging its tongue! Read “Dosa” to your little dosa lover but make sure you have the dosa batter ready!:-)

The Question of questions!

Questions questions and more questions, Abhay is full of them just like any average five year old. But Abhay’s repository of questions has increased multifold after we’ve moved back to India. Questions on everyday things we take for granted – “why are the roads so bumpy? Why do drivers honk all the time? Or Why is the Indian police dressed in brown?”; Questions that are hard to answer even for adults – Why are there so many mosquitoes when there were none in Portland? Questions leading to further questions – Why do I have to ride the school bus? Why can’t you drop me to school like you used to? Questions that make you squirm – Why don’t I have a sister? Finally questions that would delight my mother in law – Why don’t you wear a bindi like ajji? 

Anyway, in response to a friend’s request to dig up some local stuff, today I read “The Why Why girl” by  Mahasweta Devi. Narrated by the famous writer herself, this is a true story of a ten year old Tribal girl named Moyna. While working with the tribal group named Shabars, the author saw a girl chasing a snake and when stopped, she asks “But why shouldn’t I?” Fascinated by the curious little girl, the author encourages her to question even more! Moyna then boldly raises questions about everything from nature to science to society to lack of basic amenities in the tribal world to exploitation by the landlords and there is no stopping her! One day, she decides to go to school but finds the school timings unsuitable for cowherds and goatherds like her. With the power of her questions, she becomes the first girl admitted to her village primary school! Moyna grows up to be a teacher in the same school and now it’s not only Moyna but her students too  aren’t afraid to ask “why”! Though an educative story, it failed sustain Abhay’s interest till the end as he couldn’t quite relate to the harsh realities of a tribal’s life.  I feel its a  book more for parents than kids so that the next time your child asks “Why” …you can pause and answer him “Why not”!