In my heart

Steve Jobs resigns and we see a whole plethora of his speeches/writings inundating the web. Reminds me of that happy feeling we used to have when a movie star would die and we would get a week long of his movies otherwise limited to weekend views on television. Very very sad but then some one's loss is the other person's gain. So many things happening - HP phases out its core business, Google buys Motorola, Irene all set to hit the East Coast and the likes but my world is centered around checking the lunch menu and imagining the kids eating OK at school, sleeping OK at school and wondering if they would be able to clean themselves after potty. Of course I do wonder about the learning at school but to a lesser extent. I envision a stress free education for them unlike mine which was always geared towards scoring and "coming first" in class.

Caunteya due to his training has been reaching home late and leaving early. Yesterday he could reach home only by midnight. It was just the three of us. We did our homework, played, watched TV, went for a walk out, asked tonnes of questions, brushed, flossed and went to bed. Now add Papa to this mix, every task becomes 10% more difficult as they make the leeway for making it funner for them i.e harder for us. Now add a guest family to the list with or without kids, each task becomes 50% more difficult. Here the kids know that they can now demand as the parents' are concentrating on conversation/dinner for the guests. They will act weird, ask for TV time at 8:30 PM, get into brawls and everything they like doing but never do when its a controlled family atmosphere.

The point I am trying to make is the ease with which these kids morph - they are different people in school, different at home with one parent, two parent and guests. They know how to push the envelope and most importantly when to push. They are miniature test machines which bombard you with situations which call for a continuous testing of your parental talents and worst is they record the scores and adapt the test bed to tear apart your weak areas. Do the strong areas get rewarded? Not sure. Actually I am not at all sure what I am writing, so let me go right back to conversations.

School has brought in the most needed schedule based lifestyle in the Parekh household. Everything is working like clockwork and it gives me a sense of control and makes me feel better. The kids are doing good too. Every day the usual "ride-back-home" conversations corroborate that.

"I am missing my old friends. But I have them in my heart as I love them." and Manav goes on to list the people he has in his heart and remarks

"I have a big heart to hold so many in it"

He also said on the first day of school

"I will take a while to like Ms Williams (new teacher) as I still like Ms Foley( old teacher). But I will like Ms Williams" .

The certainty of this statement kind of jolted me as I being a person who has never attended these teachers' classes felt it so hard to let go of Ms Foley. So is it his weak ties with people or the strong notion of "attachment happens" and "all people are good in this world" at work? I will never know, kids have a very different way of figuring out life and its changes. So far I havent seen them getting worked up with big issues, of course a broken wheel on a favorite car will make them go on a rampage. I know for sure that they live in the moment but slowly and steadily getting a hang of the time element.

Arnav is just happy being in Ms Foley's class. He is talking non-stop and has now found his voice and can actually interrupt Manav "the orator". But when I ask the usual question

"What did you do in school today Arnav" ?

"I ate goldfish, noodles and oranges" or some other combination of food. Earlier the answer used to be

"I watched Dora and Boots was being naughty" or some other combination of TV programs. There is no TV in new class.

While Manav would actually dwell on

"We didn't study the "feelings chart" today. We did some additions"

Does this indicate something? I don't know and honestly I don't want to know. I just look for the happiness and chirpiness of their replies, the content amuses me but doesnt bother me. Hope I can keep up with this attitude before being pulled into the whole competition thing.

The other day Ms Foley mentioned that we can actually see our Betta fish getting all ready for a combat if we brought a mirror in front of it. Sure enough when we returned from school and tried that the fish swelled up twice its original size and flared out its gills or whatever the contraption around its neck with a bright red color on the back. It was a scary sight and I actually thought it is unfair to provoke someone like this. And left it at that. Thankfully the kids didnt demand more when I explained.

Manav has now started telling us about his dreams. And I know for sure that he is dreaming and recollecting as he remarked the other day

"I was trying to run away from the animal but I couldnt run fast as my eyes wouldn't open"

This morning he said

"I am now dreaming about color changing cars. I dreamt about white Antonio, blue Antonio and King's wife"

The boys now have complete, coherent and long conversations at various locations - the back seat, on their beds before dozing off and in the toy room. After coming back from school they immediately get to play together and I realise they missed each other's company and I let them be though the back of my mind is reminding about homework and food. This is so precious and honestly I can acknowledge and appreciate all this as I get ample time in the morning enjoying this silence and thinking about and doing things. Incubation is on.

More in pictures.  

Manav helps Arnav with his shoes every morning before school. The fine print is he chooses which shoe Arnav should wear and then convinces Arnav with his marketing skills.

Basketball Fun in the backyard

Water Fun at a friend's backyard

Now some of Arnav's third Birthday party pics which I missed out

So till next time, do remember I have all of you in my heart though we cannot meet.