The wildflowers are everywhere. Picture this. Two boys on their bikes and Mommy walking alongside on the sidewalk. Every few minutes the older boy alights followed by the scampering younger one. Not a single dandelion can remain "unblown" till of course they see a whole field of them swaying in the breeze. Yellow small flowers,( here I have to acknowledge google for names and information on wildflowers) probably desert marigolds appear in a clump of four. Big boy says
"Mommy look it is a family. Mommy, Papa, Manav and Arnav" pointing to the individual flowers
"And here there is grandma and there, over there is grandpa"
"Arnav no touching or plucking them. Plants hurt. You can blow dandelions only"
Then they chance upon an entire field of blanket flowers dotted with a few black-eyed susans, iceland poppies and bluebonnets.
"Mommy look this is like a microphone" pointing to a grey-headed coneflower sans the petals and proceeds to sing "Mamma Mia" using the same. I missed my camera. I can give you a glimpse of my gerbera though
After umpteen other stops midway, chasing bunnies, squishing bugs, alerting for dog poop, surprising the crow like birds, waving at other bikers and more flowers they reached the park. Finally Mommy could rest in peace on one of those benches or so she thought when
"Mommy can you buy me one of those? I am so tired pedalling a bike" pointing at a girl riding the Razor motorcycle and zipping past the gaping boys. The story ends here though seeing her flying hair even I wished I had a toy like that. But I can't spoil my own kids, can I?
Earlier in the evening the boys pretend played doctor. Manav had chanced upon my breast-pump accessories which I had marked for trashing and found good use of those. Arnav complained of chest pain. Manav took out the thin tubes and wrapped around his forehead and said
"Beep, Beep, Beep. Now that it has beeped it is done"
Then took out the suction cups and put them on Arnav's chest and told him to breathe hard
"Oh, with my stethoscope I can hear your chest saying that you want to susu."
"Oh Mommy, I want to susu." Arnav said and promptly went to the bathroom.
"Thank you doctor, you are so good. Now my chest is not hurting" Arnav thanked Manav. Manav tapped him lightly on the shoulder and said
"No problem"
"Doctor, I got hurt here" Arnav came back.
"Now this is the last check I will do. Did you hurt your knee?" Manav asked
"Yes, I just got this boo-boo. See I cannot move my leg. See it is moving so slow" Arnav said shaking his legs.
"Ok, let me check it out with....." Manav started fumbling in the accessories bag
"Ok, I have to put an injection. Here .....and band-aid, band-aid" Manav pretended the band-aids after the injection.
"Doctor here too" Arnav showed another place for band-aid and was rewarded.
"Thank you doctor, no more boo-boo"
Then they moved onto their homework. Manav does get some from school while Arnav works on Manav's previous day's homework, which has already been corrected and graded by his teacher.
"Mommy, look I colored purple" Arnav tells me excitedly
"It is so pretty Arnav. I like it" I say with eyes still on my computer screen.
"Don't say that. Don't say you like it" Arnav's words make me look at him
"Why? " I ask
"Because I am not done. Let me finish then you say you like it" Arnav pouts with his traditional arms crossed over chest stance.
Lesson learnt. If you are not paying attention to their remarks and sitting there like a figurehead (mom) that's what you will get back. Blame the childrens' "not listening" skills to yourself.
Then some more lesson. Arnav walks over with his "completed" sheet and says
"Is it pretty?"
"It is very pretty Arnav. I like it" I am genuine this time around.
Lesson is - whatever you do they will always come back to you. They will forgive you in nanoseconds and love you unconditionally. Till what age this holds true is a tough question though.
Manav is doing a great job with his homework especially coloring. He sits with his coloring sheet for a long time and painstakingly mixes, matches and colors all the time making up stories.
"The bird landed on a green field"
"The flowers are a pretty blue and pink. The bird likes it so is singing"
Philosophy aside, it is tough being with the kids whole day with a break of 2 - 2.5 hrs in the morning. My "inebriated" brain is no match for two "making millions of connections per second" brain of these kids. The worst part is they look up to you to answer their queries and believe what you say so you can't lie. Its having a mirror all day reflecting your activities,
"Why did you eat after brushing your teeth?"
"How did this chocolate wrapper come in the trash?"
"Why did that boy touch and take the candies to play with in the store?"
"Why does a giant squid has popped out eyes?"
"What is the meaning of resist "?
Now that they are asleep and I have had a breather, I have good answers to all these questions but at that moment all I can muster is
"Its ok. We'll find out later. Lets finish our lunch" or something like that.
I promise to be a better mother tomorrow as they promised to be better boys tomorrow. Well tomorrow is better.
"Mommy look it is a family. Mommy, Papa, Manav and Arnav" pointing to the individual flowers
"And here there is grandma and there, over there is grandpa"
"Arnav no touching or plucking them. Plants hurt. You can blow dandelions only"
Then they chance upon an entire field of blanket flowers dotted with a few black-eyed susans, iceland poppies and bluebonnets.
"Mommy look this is like a microphone" pointing to a grey-headed coneflower sans the petals and proceeds to sing "Mamma Mia" using the same. I missed my camera. I can give you a glimpse of my gerbera though
After umpteen other stops midway, chasing bunnies, squishing bugs, alerting for dog poop, surprising the crow like birds, waving at other bikers and more flowers they reached the park. Finally Mommy could rest in peace on one of those benches or so she thought when
"Mommy can you buy me one of those? I am so tired pedalling a bike" pointing at a girl riding the Razor motorcycle and zipping past the gaping boys. The story ends here though seeing her flying hair even I wished I had a toy like that. But I can't spoil my own kids, can I?
Earlier in the evening the boys pretend played doctor. Manav had chanced upon my breast-pump accessories which I had marked for trashing and found good use of those. Arnav complained of chest pain. Manav took out the thin tubes and wrapped around his forehead and said
"Beep, Beep, Beep. Now that it has beeped it is done"
Then took out the suction cups and put them on Arnav's chest and told him to breathe hard
"Oh, with my stethoscope I can hear your chest saying that you want to susu."
"Oh Mommy, I want to susu." Arnav said and promptly went to the bathroom.
"Thank you doctor, you are so good. Now my chest is not hurting" Arnav thanked Manav. Manav tapped him lightly on the shoulder and said
"No problem"
"Doctor, I got hurt here" Arnav came back.
"Now this is the last check I will do. Did you hurt your knee?" Manav asked
"Yes, I just got this boo-boo. See I cannot move my leg. See it is moving so slow" Arnav said shaking his legs.
"Ok, let me check it out with....." Manav started fumbling in the accessories bag
"Ok, I have to put an injection. Here .....and band-aid, band-aid" Manav pretended the band-aids after the injection.
"Doctor here too" Arnav showed another place for band-aid and was rewarded.
"Thank you doctor, no more boo-boo"
Then they moved onto their homework. Manav does get some from school while Arnav works on Manav's previous day's homework, which has already been corrected and graded by his teacher.
"Mommy, look I colored purple" Arnav tells me excitedly
"It is so pretty Arnav. I like it" I say with eyes still on my computer screen.
"Don't say that. Don't say you like it" Arnav's words make me look at him
"Why? " I ask
"Because I am not done. Let me finish then you say you like it" Arnav pouts with his traditional arms crossed over chest stance.
Lesson learnt. If you are not paying attention to their remarks and sitting there like a figurehead (mom) that's what you will get back. Blame the childrens' "not listening" skills to yourself.
Then some more lesson. Arnav walks over with his "completed" sheet and says
"Is it pretty?"
"It is very pretty Arnav. I like it" I am genuine this time around.
Lesson is - whatever you do they will always come back to you. They will forgive you in nanoseconds and love you unconditionally. Till what age this holds true is a tough question though.
Manav is doing a great job with his homework especially coloring. He sits with his coloring sheet for a long time and painstakingly mixes, matches and colors all the time making up stories.
"The bird landed on a green field"
"The flowers are a pretty blue and pink. The bird likes it so is singing"
Philosophy aside, it is tough being with the kids whole day with a break of 2 - 2.5 hrs in the morning. My "inebriated" brain is no match for two "making millions of connections per second" brain of these kids. The worst part is they look up to you to answer their queries and believe what you say so you can't lie. Its having a mirror all day reflecting your activities,
"Why did you eat after brushing your teeth?"
"How did this chocolate wrapper come in the trash?"
"Why did that boy touch and take the candies to play with in the store?"
"Why does a giant squid has popped out eyes?"
"What is the meaning of resist "?
Now that they are asleep and I have had a breather, I have good answers to all these questions but at that moment all I can muster is
"Its ok. We'll find out later. Lets finish our lunch" or something like that.
I promise to be a better mother tomorrow as they promised to be better boys tomorrow. Well tomorrow is better.
Wow... that's lovely work from Manav! Will you consider getting their bikes to our place tomorrow, I'd love to take them to the park for a ride - more so after reading this post and all the fun ya'll had at each of their stops - not sure if we have windflowers here - but we'll find out!
ReplyDeleteGood post Debjani..You phrase motherhood so beautifully..The unconditional love and the way they forgive in nanoseconds is something that I have been wondering too..I also felt very similar to the "Non't go" post a few weeks back..
ReplyDeleteand the drawing by Manav is lovely :)