'Where memory fails records remember' Prof. B S Raman rightly said. This is the testimony of my life mostly with my daughter Sumedhaa AKA Mickey...
For those of you who are NOT students of Accountancy from Mangalore University, Prof B. S Raman wrote our Accounting bible.
Surf Excel has had very innovative Ads for a long time now. Their 'Daag ache hain' (Dirt/Stains are good) concept is loved by all. Be it the young brother getting his dress dirty trying to get the dirty water on the road say sorry to his sister or the young boy getting a ball of yarn for the old lady or the ad where the boy gets his dress stained earning to tie the lace, all of them are classy. The Rosy Miss Ad where the boy tries to cheer his teacher by acting like a dog and in the process gets his dress stained is the icing on the cake. It has been a favorite amongst the kids; kids who can't even talk enact the boy acting as a dog. :)
Has anyone watched the most recent Surf Excel ad that features Kishori Ballal and a young boy? The ad is about how the boy helps his grandma (Kishori) to shoo away the crows from the front yard. The boy dresses up as a scarecrow in his father's shirt after coloring himself and the shirt in some shade of blue. When the grandma calls the boy, he keeps replying 'Ek Minute' (1 minute). You should watch the ad that is on You tube
Mickey has been so much influenced by this ad that she colors herself in the same shade of blue. I don't know how she got this color on the palate. Also, she keeps saying 'Ek Minute' just as in the ad. Display of Mickey's imitation of the Ad in still pictures is as below.
A Top view of the colored feet (below)
Close up of the leg (I found it interesting) (below)
Dressed up in her Dad's T Shirt (Below)
There are, I am sure, greater influence of the small screen in her life that I am yet to see.
Television, whether it is soaps, reality shows, movies, music, ads or cartoons, is what Mickey is hooked on to. It need not be Television, it can even be a Laptop. All things get done when she is watching Television, be it eating, drinking milk or even trimming nails. It is very difficult to move her away from it. It all began with watching Rhymes and Cartoon movies. She would be glued to the sofa. So when she had to be taken to another room, I would say, let me pause the CD/DVD and the work would be done. Now, when she watches shows on TV and she has to go to the loo, she says Pause Ampu!!! Shri and I have a smile on our faces when we say 'Sure'.
Here are a few pics of her concentrating and watching TV.
Mickey after her breakfast without even washing her mouth.
Do you remember the "Big Day" in which we were the proud parents of a kid who got admission to BGS NPS? This is a sequel. Its 4 days since she started (May 18th) her school. Thought, this is the best time, if not too late, to write about the Mickey's first day at school and the prep behind it.
As parents, we were excited to get her Uniform, books, pay her fees, get her bag, shoes and the likes. The preparations began with the purchase of Uniform. We got her Uniform from Chauhan and Sons, the official vendors for BGS, who had put up a stall in the school. The uniform consisted of 3 Frocks in gray and in white, 2 Shirts and 2 T Shirts all in white, 4 pairs of socks, gray and white, 2 each. 2 bloomers in gray and 1 Blazer. The total cost was Rs 2500 plus a few hundreds . That was probably my fees for a year during my B'com. :)
The uniform was typical, not very impressive kinds but what struck us the most was the Blazer which was to be worn every Monday. Both of us were speechless, all we did was picked up the smallest available blazer and returned home. The first reaction that I got when I spoke about the Blazer to the rest of the world (which I had to say as I couldn't hold on to such a shock) was "Makkalige chaddi haaklikke kalisuva modalu Blazer haakuva kaala bandide!", "Chaddi haakikoLLalikke barada makaalige Blazer anthe!", "Chaddi paadare barpujji, Blazer ge!!!!".
The next big thing was books. There was a big bag that was handed over to me, in exchange for Rs 2150. I was terrified looking at the size of the bag. I looked in it, there were 3 books, 1 art book and a plastic roll with a sheet of label stickers. I was like "Is this all for Rs 2150!!!", then I saw a list of stationery that was supposed to be supplied in class. I was relieved that I am getting my money's worth at least. Then my eyes fell on the title of the books, one read 'English Alphabets', the other read 'Numbers - 1 to 100 - Writing', the last one read 'ABC writing'. I was petrified and the fear remains. God knows, how kids will cope with this.
We had to attend the Invocation session one day before Mickey's first day at school. Reverend Father Dr. Divya Paul, a child Psychologist, spoke about the right way to bring up a child. After getting this gyan session, where parents who brought their kids couldn't hear much beyond the screaming and shouting which could be attributed to boredom or heat, we came back home to prepare Mickey to go to school.
As the day was nearing, Mickey was being prepared to go to school. She was explained how wonderful it was to go to school, how much fun it was to travel by bus, how she could color as much as she wanted, how she could play with other kids in the class, so on. One week in advance, she was woken up between 7 or 7.30 am so that she could could be habituated to this routine. Mom was here so that she could warm her up to go to school and it really helped.
Finally the day had come for her to go to school. Shri and I got up quite early and Mickey was ready to go to school at 8.15 am as Shri had to drop and pick her up on the first day. All of us including Mickey were so excited. The one feeling that we had that Mickey didn't was, tension. What if she could take it, what if she cried in the school, what if she didn't like it, many more questions were running in the back of my head.
Another of those proud moments was when I saw Mickey in her Uniform for the first time. Everyone - Mom, Rams, Shri, I and Mickey were very proud. You can see how happy she is in her new uniform.
That's Mickey on her first day to School.
Just a Trivia, the scribbling and the color in the background is her work of creativity. Will write about it some other time (if I find the time, I am saying that as I have written so many 'some other time' and never have written :))
Not diverging too much from the topic, contrary to all our fears, Mickey has taken a liking to her school. The best part about the school, for her, is the school bus. She doesn't want to get out the bus at all. The aaya or my mom drag her down the bus when she returns from school. Oh! yesterday (May 21st) was the easiest to get her out of the bus, she was sleeping :)
I miss you a lot my dear. I miss your looks, the beautiful slender body and the silky skin that slipped from my hands everytime. Oh, your lovely voice, thats what you were famous for. The clarity and the intensity could impress anyone. I miss everything about you. I would try and get another of you if you were still in this world. Alas! that isn't possible anymore. I miss you my beloved - Nokia XpressMusic. May your soul Rest in Peace. :(
On April 19th, 2010 my favorite cellphone, Nokia XpressMusic, fell off my pocket and got run over by, I don't know how many, vehicles. By the time the ambulance reached the spot, the cellphone was almost lifeless. It was declared DEAD on the spot. Few parts of the body like the battery couldn't be found at all. Few other parts like the heart and a part of the brain were functioning, hence were passed on to the heir - Nokia 6303 i on April 21st 2010.
This should have been a prequel to the post 'An Inspiration'. Anyways, another of those incidents which has inspired me to go to the gym.
Mom & Me is a store near our house exclusively for mothers to be, new mothers and kids. The stores name board has a slender mom and a baby's picture. Mickey always refers to the baby as Sumedhaa babu. One day she said, 'Sumedhaa babu, amma aath'. This was an indication to me that I am not as thin as the lady on the board.
I have heard and read that the third year of any kid is the most difficult year for the parents. This statement must be true coz handling Mickey this year has gotten tougher. I don't know if it is my incompetency or if it is Mickey, the menace. This is yet to be decided.
Mickey helps me in my daily chores, be it folding clothes or chapati making. It can even be cleaning up the sofa or the refrigerator. The problem with her helping me is that after she finished helping me, I have to do it all over again with double the effort.
Mickey loves climbing. I have said that earlier and I repeat again, she climbs anything from window to gate, from chair, table to breakfast counter, ladder. She hangs on any of our legs. When she does that she calls herself a monkey. The heights was when we were in Udupi. She was climbing the iron pillar in the house with the support of Prashanth's hands (her uncle). Shri and I are wondering if Mickey will become a gymnast or a pole dance!!!
Mickey can reach upto any height to get what she wants. It's not that she has grown so tall. At home you can always see Mickey walking around with a small chair or a carton in her hand. Mickey can never climb up or down the stair case in our building without loosening the nut which is on the staircase railing.
My memory fails to record all such incidents. I don't know if this is the maximum that a child can do. Or is it that every mother feels that her child is the most unmanageable kid around. The answer is still unknown to me.
Its really been quite a while since anything has been posted about Mickey's diction. Not that there isn't enough to write but I am so engrossed in enjoying my time with her that there isn't enough time left in between my daily chores to update the blog.
'ENma Thare aan, lakle'
'ENma Thare aan, lakle' ('8 heads are done, get up') to actually say 'ENma arE aan, lakle' ('its 8.30, get up') whatever may be the time. This is how Mickey wakes Shri up on any day she is up before Shri.
'Amma, Appag nerothri. Paapa alla Appa'
I was whining about how the house was dirty and how it needed to be cleaned. Also I was asking him why he couldn't take up the initiative to clean up the house when Mickey said 'Appag nerothri, Paapa alla appa.'
'Please don't do that Amma'
Mickey slapped me very hard one day. Instead of asking her not to do that, I hit her on her leg. She was so insulted that she frowningly said 'Please don't do that Amma'.
'Sumedhaa Kannu Soola' (look at Sumedhaa's eyes)
If Shri or I don't do something that Mickey wants us to do, then this is what Mickey says.
'I am sorry Appa, nana ampuri. OR Ist ok Appa'
This is what Mickey says whenever she does something wrong, especially when she pees anywhere other than the bathroom.
'ari thinare aavanu, ari challare aavanu, sumedhaa Nerpe'
Mickey pulls rice out of the Rice container and eats it. She is yelled at for that. So one morning, Mickey gets up early in the morning walks to the kitchen and tells me 'ari thinare aavanu, ari challare aavanu, sumedhaa Nerpe' (One shouldn't eat rice or spill rice, Sumedhaa will yell at them).
'Ini Ammi maami barperu'
Its a routine for us to meet up with Shri's sister Mamta's family every weekend. On any Saturday morning after about 11.30 am, Mickey would say, 'Ini Ammi maami barperu' (Mamta Aunt will come home today) and we would wonder how she would know that Mamta would come home. Later we realized that she said this based on her biological clock. Any day if Mickey didn't go to school even after 10 am in the morning that was her weekend. :)
It's very funny to hear Mickey say a few things for the first time though it may not sound interesting for anybody else. It may be the way Mickey standing on the Shoe stand, behind the door, peeping through the peep hole and yelling - 'Amma, See here baakil (Door)' or it may be what she said when she first saw Shrinath's baby 'Shrinath maama g kinni baabu undu, avenu incha incha ampuve'. Or the way Mickey asked 'what happened amma?' in her regular tune that goes high and low. Or the way Mickey spoke to Adi on the phone and said 'Adi, Hello pann Sumedhaa g',
But a few things remain very funny. Like the Mickey says 'PuLi Juice' for sprite or 'Poo' for a flower and 'Poos' for flowers.
Will post more of these when I get to hear more of these, that's it for now.
The last three days have been somewhat silent. Is this the silence before the storm or is it a tactic of the nature to indicate how important children are to us.
We were in Udupi over the Good Friday weekend and the following Monday and Tuesday. Mom was asking us to leave Mickey in Mang with my parents for the rest of the week. Amma, Appa and Ramya were coming to Bang on Saturday morning. So it was just a case of 3 days and 4 nights. It would also save us Rs 3500, the fees to be paid to the Day Care. It was a good break for all of us. Shri agreed to this with a lot of reluctance.
On Tuesday (April 6th), Shri and I started back to Bangalore as planned after leaving Mickey behind. I was glad that I could sleep early in the bus and be fresh to go to office the next day. It was funny to see Shri in the bus. He was sitting and silent all the while. He denied that he was missing Mickey first by saying he wasn't sleepy, he was just tired, etc. He accepted that he missed Mickey only when I openly asked if he was missing her. Shri and I were completely silent in the auto on our way back home.
The next day the scene was completely different the next day. In the evening, Shri went off with his boss Rakhee for dinner, I was left alone. I gymmed, read all the shlokas even then the clock wouldn't move. I went to bed as early as 10 PM. I didn't cook for the next three days. Whenever I started from office, I would start missing her. I realized that I am relaxed only if she sleeps with me.
We both started counting days for Mickey to reach Bangalore. At the bottom of all this, Shri and I realized that we can't live without Mickey.
The other side of the story:
When I left her in Mangalore, I was really scared and tensed. I had asked my mom to come to Bang the very next day she asks for even one of us. But in reality was that she didn't even miss us. Mickey asked for her Appa twice and Amma only once at the end of the 3rd day. She happily lived with my parents. She wanted my dad to do everything that Shri does. I don't know if it is a fortunate thing or unfortunate thing that she can live without any of her parents around.
Our fear 'can she live without her parents?' has changed to a feeling of insecurity 'if she can live without her parents?'. Have we become redundant? This is really scary.
'aanti g banji nee iddi'. When Sumedhaa said this, I had a shock of my life. It was early Sunday morning in April (4th) when we were in Udupi for the good Friday weekend when Shri and Sumedhaa were reading a Kannada newspaper (Udayavani). There was a very beautiful model who has a great figure advertising some jewelery. It is very much expected from anyone who has seen only big tummies ( Mom, shri, Mother in law, me).
Its high time that I get to shape myself up before Sumedhaa directly comments on me. Since then I have been working out and am on a diet. I have lost about half a kilogram in the last 3 days. Right now, I am writing this with Absolute in my hand, that too a second one. I don't know how many more days this remains as a motivation. But I don't want to hear this from her mouth again.
The months of February and March are meant for appraisal. I have heard this in my appraisal. I have heard people hear this - 'Think out of the box.' Its easy to say, difficult to think. Its surely difficult when one focuses on thinking out of the box.
Mickey eats corn flakes for breakfast or evening snack whenever there is no breakfast of her choice. So I started bringing these Mango flavoured corn flakes. Now, its a game to break each flake that is present in her bowl (without milk). She loves it when it makes that crackling sound. She calls that sound 'chiti chiti'. Now Chiti Chiti is a synonym to Corn flakes.
Mickey has this tendency to all of a sudden forget what a thing that she wants is called. She will keep sayung ' Adu Adu' or ' Avvu Avvu', both meaning 'that'. One day she started saying 'avvu bodu, avvu avvu' (i want that). I kept asking her what was it. After a lot of persuasion she said 'Ding Ding'. Then she showed me her musical ABC board that always starts with a 'ding ding ding ding'.
I had more fun when Mickey started associating shapes to objects. She identifies her pillow as 'Circle Circle, Triangle Triangle, Poo(flower)' as the pillow cover has all these shapes and one flower in the center. The current logo of Canara Bank has two triangles criss crossed. Whenever Mickey sees it she says, 'triangle bathn (came)'. The best was when she said 'lollipop' looking at the State Bank of India Logo which is a key hole.
I have never thought of SBI logo as a lollipop. Is this what it is to 'Think out of the box'? :) Now come to think about it, is it so difficult. Dont be prejudiced, just think like how children think. This is my take home for the day.
So many posts on Mickey Dictum would make somebody bored or feel that I have no brains to come up with a new title. But there is so much to talk about the way Mickey talks, its really funny at times. At times it makes us go 'Aaaw!' with our mouths wide open. Listening to the way Mickey speaks is delightful. Its a bliss to hear every new word coming out of her mouth.
Its funny sometimes when Mickey can't pronounce the word right, especially when she jumbles the letters. For a long time Pocket was Poteck and Bucket was Buteck.Whenever Ammi (mickey's aunt) came home, she would train her to say Poteck and so that she never gets the word right. Helipocketer for helicopter is another of them.Pogadi for Podige meaning, fear, Top for Pot. Today was thefirst day when she said Rubber Band correctly which was rubband otherwise. The day I tried to record her saying DoDDaTTa for DoDDappa she said it right. :)
Its amazing to see how kids learn so many new things so well. Everyday there surely is something new. There may be a chance that I have missed something on a given day but surely there is something new everyday. It may be a single word, one line of a rhyme, a complete rhyme, or a shloka or a Bhajan.But along with these things, there is another set of vocabulary that she has picked up which shri and I wouldn't have liked her to.
Whenever she doesn't get what she wants or we don't do as she asks us to do, she really gets angry. And then you hear her yelling 'Kol Thogundu Barbeka', ' HoDdubiDthini Ammange', 'Appange HeLbeka', 'Chachbidthini', 'Vade beka ninge' (Do u want me to get a stick?, I will hit amma, I will tell that to Papa, I will smash you, Do u want a kick?). This really worries me. Now this has taken a new turn. She calls us 'Ye ThooTe' anytime and every time. Or she does a 'thurrr' with her tongue stuck out of her mouth. Whenever she beats or yells these words Shri takes her out to the Balcony and threatens her that he will keep her there alone. So now, she yells back at me saying 'amman balcony pideyi paaduve' (i will throw amma out of the balcony). Everything is back biting. The stress these words create are much lesser to the smile that comes on our faces when she immediately says ' ammag Kolu koNapuri', 'Balcony th pideyi paaduri', 'amma paapa', 'Sumedhaa Up up'. Few such incidents are:
Ist OK and Lest Go
This is an incident which is fresh as it occurred only a few hours ago. Mickey yelled 'Ye ThooTe' and beat shri I believe. So he asked her not to talk to him. she walked up to me and I said the same thing. She sat on the sofa for sometime and then she walked upto me and said 'Ist Ok amma'. It took me 30-40 seconds to realize what it was. She was telling me that 'Its OK'. Whatever she was saying was what she was expecting out of us had she apologize. All I could say was 'AAAAH!'
The other similar words that she says is "Bist of Paper" for "Bits of Paper" and "Lest Go" for "Lets Go". Whenever Mickey is ready to go out, she says, 'Lest go appa, Lest go. It sounds very funny when she says it.
Sumedhaa ThinpopaL
Yesterday when Mom and I were trying to feed Mickey a piece of papaya, Mickey said, "Sumedhaa ThinpopaL". Mom thought that Mickey wanted to feed one of us and asked her "yereg" meaning whom, so the answer was 'Sumedhaag'!!! She wanted to eat it herself.
Semedhaa na Karkondu hogi
Yesterday when Giri and Mamtha were starting back to go home, Mickey started crying 'Semedhaa na Karkondu hogi'. :)
'BiDonthillaa'- Budonthiddi + Bidtha illa
Mickey pulls her hair with her hand and screams 'Sumedhaa biDonthilla'. This stops only when either Shri or me has to go upto her, take her hand out of her hair.
Few more Jumbling Languages, just for the record
'KaLebeDa' - 'KaLeyothri' + 'Thegibeda'
Don't remove it. Whenever Mickey doesn't want us to change the channel, she screamskaLebeDa.
'HaakbeDa' = 'Haakothri' + 'Hodibeda'
Don't beat me.
'KeNBeDa' - 'KeNothri' + 'KeLbeDa'
Don't listen to that.
'Amputhini' - 'Ampuve' + 'Maadthini'
I will do that.
'GobbaNa' - 'Gobbuga' + 'AaDaNa'
Mickey pulls shri and me out of sofa screaming 'GobbaNa' and when we stand up she plays with me for a while and then occupies the place where I was earlier sitting. Nice plan, huh?
I mentioned in one of my previous posts how Mickey started identifying celebrities quite early in life. She started identifying Dhoni when she was 1.5 years. She used to say 'Moni'. The pleasure that my husband and all my friends who loved cricket was unbelievable. Shrikanth trains her on all these people. He tries to get her to identify all these Heroes from the Movies. Abhishek, Hrithik are just a few.
Later on came 'Don Maama'. Don Maama? Yes She was watching the Airtel Ad and she cried Don Maama. That was Shah Rukh Khan. Whoever taught her that. We were shocked. Everyone now asks me when did Shahrukh become my brother.
Pocket hai Pocket hai means Pocket mein Rocket hai from the movie Rocket Singh which starred Ranbir Singh. Thus Ranbir Singh is now Pocket hai Pocket hai. Anyone who has watched the movie 3 idiots can figure out 'All izz well' maama. Yes, of course it is Aamir Khan. She says 'jaane tum maama alla, all izz well maama'. :)
The icing on the cake was this one incident which left my mouth, ears, eyes open with a big 'AAAAWW'. One day, we were again watching this show Dance India Dance (it was sometime in Mid Jan 2010), she said, 'Big Boss Ajja'. Guess?? It was Amithabh Bachchan who had earlier hosted Big Boss was on this show as a celebrity judge. She was anyways identifying 'Kya Baat, Kya Baat, Kya Baat!' - that is Mithun Chakravarthy.
Surprised? We were too. She is 2 years and 4 months old and can identify so many celebrities but she can't identify the English Alphabets ABC?
