Pink Rock

We had the following conversation on the way to Diya and Aadi's
swimming lesson today -

Suvo: Diya, did you pack Aadi's flip-flops?

Diya: No ... :(

Suvo: Do you remember that I asked you 3 times to pack his when you
were getting yours.

Diya: I didn't hear it :(

Suvo: ... or did you hear but forgot? It's ok if you tell the truth.

Diya: (after a pause) I forgot.

As I promised I didn't tell her anything .

Diya felt a bit generous (mainly because she was not yelled at ... so
better play nice) and told Aadi ...

Diya: Aadi, if you want you can take my slippers. They are pink, and
large. So, it's ok if you don't like it. ...

Since Aadi didn't respond, she was pretty sure Aadi was not interested
in the deal, and continued ...

Diya: Baba, you know ... it doesn't make sense to have some colors
only for girls. Boys can wear pink too. And girls blue!

Aadi chimed in …

Aadi: And boys can wear earrings. Like the ones with the round hole ...

Suvo: What!?

Diya immediately explained which versions Aadi was thinking about.

Diya: ... so, Aadi those earrings are cool, right?

Aadi: Yes! Cool boys wear cool ear-rings! Like the a Rock-n-Roll people. :)

Suvo: How do you know about Roll-n-Roll people?

Aadi: They play cool guitar.

Diya: So Baba, cool guitar means electrical guitar! Aadi - what else
do they play?

Aadi: They play drums. And they sing very loudly!! :)

I was dumbfounded. Aadi is just 4 years old! Where the heck did he
pick this up!?

I took the picture after their swimming class. They bought two gums … and as luck would have it, Aadi got a pink one, and Diya a blue! (Of course, Diya immediately exchanged the gums after taking the picture :) )

Career Counseling

Diya and Aadi came with us to bring Mishti home

from the breeders, when she was ready at 12 weeks of age. While I was finishing
up the paperwork and making the final payment etc, Diya asked the lady -”How
much do the puppies cost?”. She answered -”My puppies are two thousand
dollars.” I saw Diya's eyes becoming big and the gears starting to turn in her
head … and then the question came without any hesitation -”How much profit do
you make on them”. The lady was little taken aback but also decided to engage
Diya in a collegial sort of way. She explained all the costs involved in
running a breeder business and raising puppies and concluded that there is
really not much profit in this, they do it because they love to do it.
Meanwhile, Aadi was rolling on the ground with puppies jumping on him. 


On the drive back, Aadi was pensive and suddenly



declared -”When I grow up, I want to be a breeder”. We were surprised as this
is something we expect to hear from Diya not Aadi. Diya constantly shares new
plans for her future based on what ever is inspiring her at the moment.
Whenever we asked Aadi what he wants to be when he grows up though, his answers
have been -”when I grow up I will be Aadi” or “I don't know” or simply “unhh?”.
We figured he must have been really touched by the puppies and the breeder to
say something like this. But before we could react to it in any way Diya jumped
in. 



Diya - “Aadi you don't want to do that.” 

Aadi - “What?”

Diya - “You don't want to become a breeder. Or
maybe this can be your second job. OR something you can do after you retire …”

Aadi - “Why?”

Diya - “There is no money in it. You need a job
where you can make money.” (conversation closed) 



Aadi has been mulling over it since then. We
were amazed (&alarmed) at our 8 yrs old giving career advice to our 4
yrs old.



Later I had a heart to heart with Diya and
shared my thoughts that we should not pick a job just because of money … it has
to be something you love to do and are good at it naturally ... otherwise you'd
be miserable. Her answer was “ Oh that ... ya ya ya”. As if that part was
completely obvious. Since then she has discusses with me many times about one
job or another … mostly she is interested to find out the relative compensation
packages but then knowing where I will take the conversation adds …. and I know
you have to be good at doing it and like it too :).



Recently, one day when Suvo went to pick her up
after school she showed him what they did that day …. on a wall there were
sheets of paper where everyone in the class had written their names, hobbies,
names of pets and what they wanted to be when they grew up. Many of her
classmates are still fantasizing about superheros and fairies … wishing to
develop magical powers as they grow up. Diya's sheet stood out with “I want to
be a doctor and a teacher”. Suvo asked her why she wrote that and she said …
because these are the highest paying jobs! I am hoping she added in her mind
the other criteria that we have been talking about. 



But in any case … if that is what she wants to
do then we are looking at an MD PhD …. gosh we need to a bigger college
education budget!!!!!!!!! (I wonder where she learned to worry about money so
much?! :))



P.S.: We are on vacation in Florida this week
and Diya has started inquiring about prices of houses and cost of living here !

Mishti - Getting Civilized

Diya's Face Art

Surprised to find out ~1500 photos in my iPad this morning … 80% of them created by Diya using the PhotoStream App! 

While I got initially angry to find all these Junk Photos … thanks to the 'Motion' feature in Google Photos (PicasaWeb), it turned out to be a good content for a blog post :)

Cartoons - Getting Started

Last week I ended up buying a couple of books on cartoon drawing. I have been thinking about going to Barnes and Noble for several months, but couldn't get it to it until last week.

But when I got home with the books, it turned out that Diya and Aadi were more interested in getting started than I am.

Here's the 1st lesson and Aadi's sketch!

Mishti

This Christmas Santa had a special present for all of us – Mishti! The kids are thrilled and Mishti has filled our lives in a way only a puppy can. She is with everyone and everywhere and into everything at the same time.

She is absolutely fearless and quite adventurous. She simply cannot be contained. She jumps over baby gates, she crawls under the TV stand, she sneaks behind the sofa,  she flies up and down the stairs, she dashes out in the snow even in the arctic cold we have right now. She causes so much mischief that our friend Ken has coined a new word for her, Mishti-evious !

She clearly prefers the  kids over the adults. She is constantly following Diya around and Aadi is her favorite play-pal as she likes his toys ! She is constantly trying to pick up one of his matchbox cars and then the Aadi-Mishti chase begins and is a sight to behold. With me her business is all about potty training. With Suvo, her relationship is about chewing his stuff – the dozens of wires he has lying around the house, his slippers, his office bag!  Infact we cannot leave her out of our sight for a minute because you never know what she will start eating. Little Mish-terror!

We were initially very hesitant to bring home a new puppy – given how busy we are already and the winter etc etc. All those worries are gone. Mishti is trying so hard to be a good puppy – she eats on schedule, sleeps through the night and is a trooper when it comes to potty training. She has also brought a step change in the kids behaviors – Diya is a “proud little Mamma” who puts Mishti’s needs before her own and Aadi is trying to be a big brother, constantly worried that Mishti will get hurt or chew something small and choke. We are now thoroughly convinced it was no Mish-take,  Mishti was meant to be part of our family and we are completely Mishti-fied !

Aadi’s “Jokes” ….

Aadi has been saying such hilarious things lately that we are finding it hard to record everything. He is very well aware that he is making “jokes” and each delivery is accompanied by mischievous smiles !! Here are a few from last week.

1.      Suvo was trying to teach Aadi “opposites”.

Suvo: The opposite of ‘up’ is ‘down’.

Aadi: Oh.

Suvo: The opposite of ‘light’ is ‘dark’.

Aadi: just stares and digests.

Suvo: (Trying to tease ….) Aadi now your turn. What is the opposite of ‘Aadi’.

Aadi: (Thinks for a sec …..and says smiling) …. its “Diya” !!!!

2.     Aadi is in the night time potty training phase. He is trying to stay dry through the night. As soon as he wakes up in the morning he goes to the bathroom and removes his night time pull up. This is hard for a 4 yr old as all he wants to do at that time is cuddle and drink milk in bed. So to encourage his self-help behavior I am trying to profusely praise him when he is able to go through with the morning routine himself. The other morning, I heard a rustling sound and even before I made it to the kids room, Aadi was already in the bathroom. I was so thrilled, I told him, “Aadi, I am so so proud of you. You woke up and first thing you did is open your pull up. You are such a big boy now.” Aadi thought about it for a second and said, “Mamma, I waked up and first thing I did was to open my eyes” !!!! I assured him he was still a “big boy” and that opening the eyes first is a really good idea! J

3.     Diya’s school had a fundraiser and the grand prize for whoever raised the most funds was a trip to Dairy Queen in a Limousine!! Diya was so excited she was explaining this to us the other day. Aadi interrupted her and asked, “What is a Limousine?” Diya explained to him that it is the looooooong car that you see in the movies. Aadi’s response was, “Hmmm, then they should call the prize ‘Dairy McQueen’ !!” J