Summer is Over (But the Heat Continues)

When i was in school, summer vacations were awsome!! And, by the same measure, ending of the summer vacation was a sad and sobering affair. I never looked forward to going back to school. Somehow the summer was never long enough.

Not so in our household now though. Little miss Haana had been looking forward to going back to school. The excitement was palpable. In the weeks leading up to starting of school, a couple get together with the girls were arranged. Little miss Haana and her friends hung out at home, went to coffee shop; played arcade games. Then a few days before school, clothes and accessories were decided and arranged, a new lunch box was ordered. Little miss Haana made a meal plan for her lunch during the week, and updated the grocery list with all the things she needed to prepare her own school lunches!

This past week, every day, in the evening after dinner, she brings out her lunch box, fills up the 3 compartments with a meal, fruit, yogurt, crackers, a candy and a drink - everything! The week started with a home-made smoked salmon sushi. Then another day of a sushi bowl (sticky rice, spicy mayo, smoked salmon, furikake, sesame seeds,  nori). Then one day she took fried rice. Thursday and friday she cooked herself 2 egg omlettes and took ketchup in a bowl. All this plus, cucumber, grapes, cherries, 1 piece of chocolate, a few crackers, yogurt, and eithee orange juice or today - home-made vanilla latte (yes she made that herself as well!). She fills her water bottle in the night with water, puts pieces of cucumber and strawberries in it, before leaving it in the fridge. 

In the morning, she gets ready, heats up the meal, puts ice cubes in her water bottle, and fits it all in her lunch bag. After school, she washes the lunch box as soon as she gets back.

I've been trying to gether to make her fancy lunches for me too! But she's not agreeing to it. Too much work apparently!

I'm so proud of her! She's so fancy and so amazing!

Water Bender

It is not good to waste water. It is also not good to waste a perfectly good rain!

Little miss Haana and I agree on this. I had just finished my breakfast and Bobby boy had just fallen asleep that the sudden sound of rain surprised me. I opened the front door and it was raining hard. Wonderful, wonderful summer rain. Resplendent with the fragrance of wet earth and of fresh green-ness. Pitter pattering rain drops in the front yard and park. 

Little miss Haana wanted to check whether she gets wet if she runs up to the front gate and back. Somewhat wet but not soaking. Would she get wet if she did it again? Somewhat. And again? And again and again and again? I had to get in on the experiment too. So, both of us together. But once was not enough. Except, this time we didn't head back indoors. 

Eddies and streams on every sidewalk. And puddles on every bend. We were both bare foot, feeling the sidewalk rivers to check which ones were warmer. One of us was jumping on the puddles, the crazy one! I was peering at the puddles checking if the bottom is muddy or just dark. Drenched now, the both of us. Holding hands in the pattering rain. Going farther in the neighbourhood. Still barefoot. But i'm cold, i told little miss Haana. 'You'll get used to it and then you'll adapt!', she told me and pulled me on. Deeper puddles were cooler, but I liked the eddies by the sidewalk the best, with warm water running to meet us. We headed towards the lake, it looked like a sheet of silver with pattering raindrops on it. "It looks so blue, and look, almost silver over there at a distance. Like an ombre", little miss Haana says. I had to ask her what am ombre means, and then I complained about her knowing words that I don't know! (She's been finishing one book every 2 days lately). "People must think we are crazy", one of us said. "But who cares!! This is so fun!", says miss Haana. It's in moments such as these I get the warm golden feeling, some part of this parenting thing is going well! Do what makes you feel truly happy inside. Not because its cool. Not because it fits in the plan. Not because.. Just because. Its what makes life worth living. Its what makes life full of living. The rest, all of the rest, is just stuff...

We find ourselves a deep puddle by our garage lane, and proceeded to practice our ninja warrior moves of a water bender/air bender/taikwando black belt with lots of sound and action, turning and splashing (mostly from little miss Haana). We came up with our secret water-bender hand shake,  although it took some convincing on my part for her to agree! 

Soon the rain was almost over and it was time to head back indoors. Completely soaking now! Raj had thoughtfully put out towels and bath robes for the both of us by the back door. A morning well spent. The little Bobby boy, who slept through it, was just waking up now. I promised him we'll take him along next time! :)

Summer of 18

This summer we did what we haven't done in last 3 summers. Visit grand parents and great grand parents in India.

Unlike what people may usually think, the long plane journey to India is generally quite peaceful with little Miss Haana. She watches her favorite videos, eats what she wants(and not what she doesn't), sleeps once she's exhausted from the video-watching. It's a dream come true for her! And like all dreams this one gets over once we land.

We landed in Delhi, met nana nani (maternal grand parents) at the airport, and headed towards the home where i had grown up. At dinner it was discovered Miss Haana has quite a jet lag. It was past 1am and she had her batteries fully charged and ready to go!! For the next almost 10 days( almost half of our trip), she would sleep between 3-6pm in the afternoon and wake up between 2-4am.

After a few days of steady in Delhi, we continued to Chennai and various other places in the south of India. Visited the great grand mother, uncles and aunts and cousins. Walked coconut and banana fields. Everywhere we went little Miss Haana was the queen-bee! Commanding everyone's attention and channeling everyone's energy.

I had gotten several story books, coloring books, math workbook for miss Haana to spend time on while we were in India. Story books were a big hit! 

We came back to Delhi to spend about a week with nana, nani. This was also the time when we met with Softy mausi (my sister), Aby bhaiya ( nephew who's now 3 times the size of Miss Haana! And still just as sweet as before if not cuter still!), and Sid uncle. Like last time little Miss Haana followed Aby bhaiya around everywhere and they both kept playing games on their phones that no one else was privy to. We met several of nana-nani's friends and Veer nana and Anu nani.

And just like that, it was then time for us to leave and head back. Summer may not be over yet, but the great India vacation came and went. Like all India vacations, it was a whole lot, crammed into not many days.

List of Things To Do This Summer

Here is the list of things Miss Haana came up with to do this summer.

Ice cream For Mumma

Little Miss Haana and I were talking to Softy Mausi ( Aunt Softy) this morning and i remembered an incident from earlier in the summer.

In the summer,  little Miss Haana's montessori used to have an ice cream truck visit once a week,  and the kids could get a treat from the truck. The first time she had an ice cream at school, i asked her which ice cream she got, and where mine was?

The next time the ice cream truck came to school,  little miss Haana got herself an ice cream of choice. And then when to ask for one for her mumma!! She was told it's only for kids.

But i just remembered this today and felt what a sweet, sweet thing my little baby Haana is,  asking for an ice cream for mumma at her school😊.

I Need A New Umbrella

It's just rained cats and dogs here. And some of us have been out there braving the elements.

Miss Haana and I went for a walk just as a few raindrops were falling here and there. We went with my umbrella which- I should say, is not much of an umbrella at all. It is small and goes from a concave to a convex shape at the slightest of balmy winds! Miss Haana kept choosing which way to go (left or right?) so we kept going away from home. Still only drizzling at best. Then we came close to the gazebo by the lake so I suggested let's go to the gazebo. Now it started raining. Big time! I carried the little girl and the umbrella somehow and we made it to the gazebo. But like I said some of us just didn't want to just stay in the shade. Miss Haana wanted to go down the stairs next to the gazebo and walk next to the lake.. There were some spots along the lake partially protected by the rain because of trees. The little girl insisted on singing. 

Suddenly it was raining cats n dogs now and we were stuck beneath a hardly-shade-enough-of-a-tree with a useless umbrella. The little one  and I were giggling like crazy! 

Finally I carried her and the umbrella (really a liability at this point) and headed back to gazebo. Raj had come looking for us at the gazebo with his umbrella (big, big one). She transfered tents. We headed back totally soaking ;)

When we got to our garage all pretense of trying to stay out of the rain were abandoned and we were running around in the back lane in the rain.

Now that's how you welcome the summer :)

Suhaana

Right now outside the balcony door, is such beautiful, beautiful weather(mausam in Hindi).

Unusually and unexpectedly warm. Just moments after an equally unexpected fragrant light rain. Diffused moonlight filtering from dispersed clouds. Brief reflections in puddles. Twinkling like stars. Fluttering momentarily. Wind that's faint, like a mild fragrance. Like a pleasant thought in recalling. A prelude to summer. Like a brief window of time - an escape, a calling. Enjoyable, like a secret!

In two words - Suhaana mausum(weather)!

Ants

It was an interesting day today. While the rest of the country, especially the north east turns into a deep freezer, we had a summery 77F out here. That might mean many things to many people, but for me that means Suhaana and I are going out walking in the evening.

Instead of going to our usual playground, we took a detour. Brisk walked (that will have to do for now till I figure out the time slot in my day for some real workout) to a different playground farther off. It had sloping grass patch on which the little girl loved to run around: Climb up the slope, then scuttle down. Then run back up the slope to where Mommy is. Give her a hug, then run back down. Then run up the slope. Come close to Mumma, she's expecting to catch me now, but dodge her and run back down hill..
The little one had a blast!

Then, we packed up from there and headed to another play area- the evening was far from over. More slides to slide on, wood chips to collect and running around to do. I caught up with a friend of mine at the playground while keeping an eye on her. When we were ready to leave, Suhaana came running to me throwing her hands about, fussing. I picked her up and saw her hands, there were several ants sticking to her palm. And in all the throwing her hands about, she wasn't even letting me brush them off. Even when I held her hand tightly, the ants were really stuck on her palm. I was so anxious to get them off and dying inside thinking they must be biting her. Finally all the ants were off and we bid our good byes to my friend and were off headed home. I was expecting the hand to hurt and itch her - but thankfully she was just fine soon after. A hand wash and creme later, there were some damages (mild swelling in the hand), but it could've been so much worse(if it really bothered her).

All's well that ends well!