Deer Beater

Yesterday I published the post early so have to write about what transpired when I was trying to put the kids to bed. Manav was totally lost without Caunteya at bedtime. He said

"I want Papa"

"Papa's match is going on. He called to say that the first set just got over and it went on long"

"Why is it long?"

"Because Papa has a strong opponent"

"I want Papa to be strong"

"Olivia is a strong player" Arnav chimed in

"No, Olivia doesn't play tennis. Girls don't play tennis, only boys play tennis" Manav said

"Girls and boys both play tennis." I said

"Do you play tennis? " he asked

"No, I used to, long back" I said

"Does Sheetal aunty play tennis?" he continued

"No, I don't think so."

He gave me a "then?" look and suddenly asked

"What does Sheetal aunty have on her nose?"

"A nose ring, Manav. Just like I have ear rings" I said

"Sheetal aunty has ear rings and nose rings" Manav said

"Yes"

"Papa has a finger ring" excellent observation.

"Yes"

"I want Papa" back to square one, the whining continued.

Arnav called from the other bed

"Mommy, come here, sing to me"

Now that is a difficult one. Arnav has an ear for music and wants to hear only specific ones and insists they shouldn't be of the lullaby kind. So his choice is more like "Another day for you and me in Paradise", "Take it easy" and "Hotel California" (you know who did this to him) and I really s-u-c-k (can't say the word, kids are around) at these (well I amn't better at others, but I can still pull off a "Sapno ke ghar ke chat pe ho taarey" with relative ease).

So I just sang "Four Little ducks" a safe middle.

Arnav put his palm out and said "Stop"

I was analyzing my 'sur' and 'taal' ( Arnav knows when you sing wrong) when he said

"Red Light Stop" and then dropped the palm

"Green Light Sing"

and so it went on, a simple short song lasted ages, punctuated by his hand signals. If only it had resulted in him falling asleep it would have been time well spent.

I was getting agitated by the second as I was hungry and these kids were showing no signs of sleeping. So I blew up when Manav said

"Will you please read a book to me Mommy"

A very harsh reply to a simple request in a sweet voice. That is the type of guilt that can keep you feeling rotten for days to come. I want it to go away now.

After a while Manav said

"It is very dark now Mommy. I think Papa cannot see anything so he will come back. He cannot play any more"

So yesterday night I didn't feel that elation customarily associated with them falling asleep.

Over breakfast today Manav saw the Polo Ralph Lauren logo on his T-shirt and said

"Deer beater. Mommy see he has the stick and is beating the deer with it"

On way back from school Arnav was singing

"I don't care where..... " or something that sounded like this. I have no clue which song or rhyme that one is.

Manav informed me

"Mars is the red planet and Jupiter has a red mark"

Lunch was a clean and dry affair. Nothing much to serve but looks like they were fine with it.

Manav licking his finger(the wrong one though, he eats with right hand) so food couldn't be bad

And Arnav had it too with equal relish, though those cutlets were bit by me more than him.

I felt a little bad for Arnav as he is usually a good eater and I said

"Arnav do you want some plain rice?"

"Ummm Hmmm" he said

"What does that mean? Do you want or not? Yes or no?" Sometimes I have this strong urge to make them un-americanised.

"Ummm Hmmm" he repeated

Manav came to rescue after a couple of "Ummm Hmmm"s and said

"He mean yes Mommy. Give him rice"

Then the cleaning lady came in and Arnav refused to nap. Any amount of coaxing, cajoling, threatening and yelling didn't work. He said

"Look at me. Do you see a mad face or good face?"

"A mad face"

"Then?"

He followed it by

"You have to say sorry when you hit me" Yes, I was guilty of having whacked him ( a teeny tiny one, I swear) in my desperation.

"I don't like Mommy. I want Papa. Papaaaaaa"

I gave up, told him to come out and play.



Then Manav did his homework with Arnav hovering.



He colored the sun and said

"I know it should be yellow and orange but I made it red and blue"

He does this. Takes complete liberty with his homeworks and does a very shoddy job. He scribbles and when I ask him he says

" I needed to cancel that one, it wasn't good."

and writes his name and roll number in every free white space.

I took them to the library and spent the rest of the evening there. Manav has mastered the library etiquette and Arnav is not bad either. Just that Arnav was testing my patience with

"Can I laugh in library?"

"Can I lie down in library?"

"Can I do this in library?" showing different kinds of hops, skips and jumps

"Can I do that in library?" aaaaargh

And in the kid's room he yelled feebly and said

"I yelled in the library Mommy" and had that glee on his face.

The library books. They just love to read. I want to invest in audio books.

Manav painstakingly filled up his sippy cup with water from the refrigerator external water dispenser (That is a favorite with the kids), which Arnav immediately snatched away. While Manav whined, Caunteya said

"Arnav please return dada's sippy cup. He filled it"

"No, he will drink from a cup. He is a big boy. I am a baby, I will drink from the sippy cup"

Heightened whining from Manav

"Arnav, please give it back to dada, he will take only one sip"

"No two, only one" confirmed Arnav and was handing over the sippy cup to Manav when he said

"Not one sip, I want all of it" and nearly lost the opportunity.

They waited patiently on the kitchen island while Papa made dinner.

Yes, Caunteya made bread omelette for the kids as I was totally exhausted. And Arnav said

"Lets give(each other) big hugs"

I am still wondering what was the reason to rejoice. But then kids don't need a reason, we do.