7-15 a.m. Wake up again hearing Ash crying in his sleep. Prolly a dream that has upset him. I pat him, coo to him and he quietens down and falls back to deep slumber. I spent a moment in prayer.
7-20 to 8.30 a.m. I brush, collect the milk packets & the newspapers, make tea and gets busy in cooking breakfast and lunch.
8.30 a.m. A balloon seller goes past, rubbing his hands over the balloons to produce sharp, irritating (to other adults) sound effects. Ash jumps up and runs to the window shouting: "Bunoon, bunnoon". He then scoots to the balcony and shouts: 'Mani, watchman, bunoon. '
8.40 a.m. Mani the watchman brings a balloon and V pays him.
8.50 a.m. The balloon forgotten, Ash demands his TV time. (It's a holiday, so brushing teeth and bathing can wait.)
9.30 am He has had enuf of TV and wants rhymes. I insist on the brushing. He takes his milk and proceeds to the computer. Mira sleeps blissfully - she hadnt had much sleep the previous day.
10 a.m. Mira is up. She sits like a hen over her potty - sometimes she remains perched there for a good 20 minutes. Brushing is tricky - some days she is cooperative, on others she like to eat the paste and brush on her own. I employ my Indian police tactics then - put her on my lap and brush from behind, a tip I learnt from Babycentre.
10.05 am Ash comes to give her her bottle of milk and I say "breakfast first".
10.20 a.m. The idli fed, I search for her bottle of milk over the oven. It is missing. I find it empty on the computer table. Ash had prolly handed it to her while I was fetching the idli, I vaguely remember her chewing the nipple of an empty bottle.
10.30 am. I hear Mira screaming. I run to her to find Ash deodorising her with V's deodarant. I put it at the top of the shelf and pull back the footstool they used to reach the shelf. The fish in the frying pan gets burnt out meanwhile.
11 a.m. The duo proceed to the other bedroom. They sight the laundry basket empty, pull it down and Mira gets into it head first. Ash sets it back in position, with Mira standing on her head inside the basket. I rescue her and chase both away from the room.
11.05 a.m. They sight the maid putting clothes to dry on the line, and help her - hand out each piece after an effort at squeezing out excess water. I am amazed at what children observe and imitate.
11.15 a.m. Ash pretends he is a fish-monger. He takes a toy, pretends to slice it and hands me 'the fish'. I pay and he widens the waistband of his shorts and 'put' in the money there. He must have seen hawkers stashing away money in the fold of their lungis/mundus. He gives me some change and tells me to put it away in my blouse! Women hawkers do that - they safekeep money inside their blouses. My! the things kids notice.
11.30 a.m. He procures a vessel from the kitchen and walks from one end of the flat to the other 'selling' flowers. "Malli, malli", he drones the way the jasmine seller does it in the evenings. He also imitates the ice cream/kulfi seller - providing us parents variety entertainment.
11.40 a.m. I leave for office. Both have a customary parting shot: "Amma, bye. Ice(cream), bunoon, patta (kite), bomvita (bournvita), Horlicks vangichiyaa (buy)." They used to say the same when the maid went to her room after she joined us for night prayers.
p.s. I dont think I have the patience to list a whole day's events nor would you have the patience to read it. There is more mischief than harmless child's play when the two of them get together - such as Mira climbing up the grilled enclosure of the balcony right up to the ceiling, aided by Ash. Or Ash throwing a ball/small teddy bear into the ornamental, seldom-lit lamp shades - and one which burnt and emitted smoke as we were about to cut the birthday cake last week. We thought it was a short circuit in the new AC unit until, much later, it dawned on V that the lamp was source of the smoke and lava.
1 comment:
- amazing day(s), I forgot all about those times. There is something which parents probably don't realize when their children are young: it is a time when parents play more, become more children-like, are in fact younger! The more the children grow, the more serious they become (both children and parents)... Diana
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