Letter from Diya

Spirit Day!

Diya's DIY car ...

2017 New Year Resolutions

Diya is busy in the kitchen, making the house smell of Happy. Mishti is following her every move and can hardly wait to eat her “Doogie Omelette” that Diya is making as her Homecoming plus New Year Special breakfast. The Doogie Omelette consists of kibble cooked with eggs and topped with bacon bits. Its looking so good, I want to eat some.

Aadi just came out of the usual early morning funk with the help of a cup of warm milk with a heavy dose of Ovaltine and light sprinkling of instant coffee. He then decided to grace my lap for a quick cuddle, and we got into the discussion about New Year Resolutions. 

Here are Aadi’s:

1. I will try to keep Mishti not agitated. (Mishti decided to sleep in his room last night - for the first time EVER! So he is trying to build some bridges with her and resolving to not harass her all the time.)
2. I will read Percy Jackson book 2 and book 3. (Apparently book 4 and 5 are on the roster for next year, which, I got reminded, will be in 364 days. Hmm, good thinking Aadi - pacing yourself and staging the goal, usually hard for my own All or Nothing mindset.)
3. I will become a better Chef. Which led to the following conversation:

Me: Better than whom? (Dreading, he might say “Diya”…that would be a tough benchmark)

Aadi: Better than I was last yr.

Me: Good. Sometimes people make goals that they want to be better than so and so, that is not a good way to make goals. Doing better that what you did last year is a good goal. (I felt the need to codify it for him, even though he seemed to have the idea already.)

Aadi: Shrug … (how is he so wise?)

Me: So tell me how will you know that you have become a better Chef than last year? What specifically do you want to be able to do which will tell you that you are better now.

Aadi: I want to make new things that I cannot make now.

Me: So what can you make now and how many new things you want to be able to make?

Aadi: I can make pancakes, omelettes, sunny side up and cordon bleu skillet (a recipe from our favorite breakfast place - Egg and I!). And I want to learn to cut fish and fry it. 

Me: (Whoa, that will involve a knife AND hot oil) But frying fish is like high school stuff, even I don't like to do it. Can you think of something more like elementary or middle school type thing? 

Aadi: No because I want to learn to make fish. (Why O why??? !!!)

Me: Why do you want to do that. You don't even like to eat fish?

Aadi: I like fish. I like Salmon and I like the fish with the name that starts with T but I don't know what its called. 

Me: OK. You know what - the best way to cook Salmon is to bake it (problem solved!!). I can teach you how to bake it. But remember only I can put it in the oven and take it out. Even Diya is not allowed to do that yet. (yay Victory!!)

Aadi: What about the other one … with the T.

Me: Its called Tilapia. And you can bake it too … or sometimes fry it. (trying to not lie outright …but hoping he does not latch onto this too much). Wrong !

Aadi: OK so I want to learn to cut and fry Tilapia.

Me: (Grrrrrr….but lets see if I can salvage something out of this situation) Will you promise to eat it if I teach you to cut and fry it? (maybe i can get precut pieces and get a deep fryer!)

Aadi: Yes I will.

Me: OK lets do it!

God - please help me raise kids who are way tougher and smarter than me. Grant me one more year of sanity :)