Wife and mother

My Little Japanese Princess

2010-02-11T12:38:00.002+05:30

Sneha is in LKG now (Lower kindergarten to the uninitiated!), and as usual her fancy dress competition generated quite a frenzy....in me, that is.

Last year's Tennis Star was a resounding success and the pressure was on me to live up to it this year too. So i toyed around with different ideas...How about an eskimo? That should be pretty unique, i thought. A rockstar was an easy choice. But a flash of brillance struck, when i remembered the Cheongsam that my mother-in-law had brought from Singapore as a gift for Sneha.

It was perfect! The fan and umbrella completed the look. The string of pearls added a touch of class. And she did it again. Hurray for me :)

My latest craze

2009-04-10T01:21:00.010+05:30

My daughter is the center of my world. But something has come up lately that is dominating my thoughts.

A good friend mentioned a website where my husband (a graphic designer) could submit designs and stand to win a substantial amount of money. So we checked out the site, and its great, but i was hooked on to their sister site, where anyone can submit slogans (original only, please!).

That started it. Now I find myself thinking of slogans all the day long. Short ones, long ones, witty ones, and even outright dumb ones :)

Well, here are the links to my slogan. Please vote (pretty please) Click on the "I'd wear it" button and you can register on the site and submit some slogans of your own!! Scratch my back, and i'll scratch yours :)

http://www.typetees.com/score/1341570/Flattery_will_get_you_everywhere"

http://www.typetees.com/score/1370388/If_you_weren_t_reading_this_you_d_have_seen_me_change_costumes

http://www.typetees.com/score/1275990/Bet_you_didn_t_see_what_I_just_did

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
Wouldnt it be great if one of our slogans actually got printed on a T-shirt which anyone could buy anywhere in the world? Three cheers for the internet!!

Another Ace is Served

2009-02-25T11:17:00.004+05:30

The tennis player is back - on popular demand!!

I thought this picture was not very good, coz Sneha is not smiling in her usual way. But this is for my dear friend, Priya, who thinks the pose is really professional. So now my daughter is actually a "model player" :)

Here is another one taken when Sneha went up to the judges. My husband snapped this from behind the two judges. That explains the white patches in the foreground - those are the judges' shoulders!!!

As for the fat blimp behind Sneha, no explanation needed i hope. That's my hand.

My Little Tennis Star!!

2009-02-18T23:41:00.005+05:30

I've been promising all my friends a photo of Sneha, dressed as a tennis player for the fancy dress competition at her playschool.

Here it is.

It isnt too "fancy" but she actually won a prize for it...I mean i won, for originality, i guess :)

And to think i didnt want her to participate coz I thought she's too young for it, she'll cry, she'll just cling to me all the time (she did for some time) etc...But though she freaked out seeing the Cheetah and Santa Claus, she did her part!

The kids had to walk down the length of the room, up to the judges. Sneha needed me to accompany her, as did all other kids of her age group. I mean they needed their mothers...not me!! Somebody, Help my English, please.

Anyway, i "coached" her at home to say "yes" in case anyone asked her if she was Sania Mirza. But she resolutely refused to. And even when the judges asked her the same question, she said "Illa, tennis playera." Translated that means, "No, i'm not Sania Mirza. I'm a tennis player." I guess that did it.

And now for the costume, totally put together in about 1/2 hour! I had the dress, which when i bought it, i never realized how sporty it was, even though it included a matching wristband!!!! The orange cap/half-cap/visor/...what do you call those things??..was a gift from my sister from Bengaluru, and i had never used it for her till that day. Shoes and socks, standard stuff. The final touch, the tennis racket, was borrowed from a dear friend, whose daughter was learning to play tennis. Sneha needed both her hands and all her strength to carry it!!!

A New Year Motto

2008-12-31T00:35:00.004+05:30

I've been away from this blog for nearly 8 months now. I must admit i missed it.

2008 has been a super fast year, rushing along at breakneck speed. Yesterday it was January and today it's December. It's hard to believe that 364 days have passed by already this year.

I wonder why some years seem to drag by, boring, dull, time slows down, the days drag their feet. That happened when i was pregnant, in 2005. I was eagerly waiting my baby's birth in late December but the days passed by in slow motion!

The days, weeks, and months after my baby was born are a blur and i just seem to get flashes of memories occasionally. 2006, did you really happen?

But 2007 was a tiring year. My daughter, Sneha, was 1 year old, and constantly demanded my attention. I can only thank God for carrying me through those stressful days.

And then came along 2008 Express! It has whizzed past me at an alarming pace. Before i knew it, i was a year older!! Sneha turns 3 today, Dec 31st. And i bet 2009 is going to be nothing like i expect!!

So my motto for the new year: Expect the unexpected!!!

:)

Wishing you a safe and secure new year. May God be with you.

Priceless Silver

2008-04-13T00:02:00.001+05:30

I saw "Stuart Little-2" again on TV recently.

One thing stood out. Mr. Little tells Stuart about how every dark cloud has a silver lining.

Well, I've found mine.

When i am down or depressed, feel sick or plain lazy, If i'm upset or angry, or my day hasnt gone well...my silver lining always makes me smile :)

She's so cute and cuddly.
She gives me kisses for no reason at all.
She beams at me, sometimes angelic, sometimes naughtily.

Her range of expressions amaze me. Her facial muscles are well-toned with all the funny faces she makes. She has a different face, a different expression for every emotion under the sun!

Even in the most desperate situation, i always thank God for her.

My silver lining, my daughter, is pure gold.

The beautiful process of GROWTH

2008-04-07T03:17:00.002+05:30

Growth is essential...sometimes painful, sometime unnoticable, but essential all the same.

I see my daughter, i know she is growing everyday, every moment...and it is evident in the way she walks and the way she talks....picking up new words and new expressions.

Then suddenly i come across a picture of hers from when she was just an infant...Thats when the "growth" really shows.

Now, about me...the most noticable growth is that of my waist!

Shia's Gibberish

2008-03-30T14:09:00.003+05:30

Here are some words that my daughter lisps...

Fa fa fly for butterfly
Min goose for Mickey mouse
Minish for finished (eg. when she drinks all her milk)
Shakoon for Shahrukh Khan (her fav person on TV)
Keenu for crayon
Katchu for thank you
Kaiss for thanks

and though her name is Sneha, she calls herself "shia" :)

My mom in law wishes there was a translating machine that could tell her what Sneha's gibberish means :)

Greatest Man in History

2008-03-22T02:17:00.004+05:30

I read this in an internet forward that i received today. It is certainly food for thought.

""The Greatest Man in History

Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master.

Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.

Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer

He had no army, yet kings feared Him..

He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.

He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.

He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.""

I feel honored to serve such a God who loved me so much.

Two hands too less

2008-03-08T01:58:00.003+05:30

Have you tried washing a 2-yr-old's hands lately?

I have two hands. She has two too. But one of my hands is busy carrying her. And her two hands act like four! What an equation........

Here i am, first i turn the tap on. She immediately turns it too so that the water rushes out too fast and splatters all over me. Then when i'm fiddling with the tap again, she reaches for the soap.

Wait Sneha....there goes the soap!

Then i pick up the soap, wash it, and soap her hands while she squirms and i dance and juggle at the same time.

Now is the part she likes best. She gets to put her hands in water to wash the soap off....and manages to partially block the tap with her fingers...the water splatters over me again!

SNEHA!!...Stop it mole (that's malayalam for daughter, not "you filthy animal!" like some of you might think)

Finally her hands are clean and all i have to do is turn the tap off. But wait...what's that in her hands? OH NO...it's the naphthalene ball that i put in the washbasin to keep out the roaches.

Dont tell me i have to go through all that all over again... :(

** For those of you who dont have kids, let me inform you that this pattern repeats about 5-7 times....a day!

*** For those of you who do have kids....just leave me a sympathetic comment.

A treasure found

2008-03-07T02:19:00.005+05:30

I came across this site, lilypie.com, and it's just adorable.

They give you birthday tickers for your kid's birthday, (or for your due date if you are pregnant) and there are many backgrounds to choose from. Its really simple. All you moms out there should try it.

The website also generates an html code which you can copy and paste to your website, or desktop or forum posts, or even blogs..like i did :)
Let me know how you like it, ok?

Husbands are funny

2007-12-13T23:49:00.002+05:30

This post is copied from another blog of mine, which i no longer use. The incident is rib-tickling, so i thought i'd share it here too.

Just a little while ago, my husband held my hand in his, brought it to his lips and kissed it, and then with a romantic air, he said, "your fingers are like pipes!"

You can picture me, snatching my hand away from his, with a deeply wounded expression on my face.

Then the explanations began...

It turns out my husband was comparing my fingers to "panpipes" not mere PVC pipes. I had to check it out on the net and right away i found hundreds of sites explaining all about panpipes.

Here is a sample : PANPIPE: A primitive wind instrument consisting of a series of pipes or reeds of graduated length bound together, played by blowing across the top open ends. Often used in the plural.

If that wasnt enough, there were lots of photos too....And what do you know...!!! He was right! My fingers do look like panpipes!

And thank GOD he didnt say PANCAKES!!