Good Afternoon

The week before last little Miss Haana was sick. Allergy was making her wheeze, and asthma acted up. Dad and I were taking turns watching the little girl at home.

One of these days, when I was at home, little girl and I decided we will go out for lunch.  We were both pretty hungry by the time we reached the restaurant. Miss Haana made instant friends with the waiting staff at the restaurant. Soon we were finishing up with desserts and heading out.

It was really good weather outside so we were just hanging out outside the restaurant. Just then, a drop fell on me. And then another drop fell on the little girl. And then several more between us. We ran to the car giggling and yelling, "Its raiiiiiniiing!".

We jumped into the car and spent the first couple of minutes laughing. And then, an idea struck little Haana. "Mumma!", she said, eyes gleaming, "Let's open the top, Mumma!". I paused, but then i smiled. This would not have  been the first time i would've driven around with the convertible top down in a rain! It wasn't raining all that hard, and as long as the car is moving, most raindrops fly over the front and most of the back seat.  With Little Little Miss Haana in her car seat, I put on some good music and we rode around up and down the road, singing our favorite songs, with the top down in rain! We returned home in awhile, still humming our tunes, and giddy with our adventure.

What a great afternoon!

List of Things To Do This Summer

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

Five Year Old Games

We went for a weekend trip at a cabin with friends of ours' on Easter. Miss Haana was ecstatic at the prospect of spending the weekend with her best friend. She had packed herself a special backpack full of play toys, coloring activities, special sparkle journal diary, pencil case with sharper and eraser and other small tid-bits.

Having answered the question "Are we there yet" more times than i can count, we reached the cabin. We hung around outside for a bit and were almost immediately greeted by the neighbor's friendly dog. We petted him, and he seemed glad to make new friends, although might have been a tad disappointed in us when he discovered we definitely had no cookies or treats on us.

Little girl Haana discovered a rustic,  rusting see-saw in the yard too. She sat on one end. I obliged by sitting on the other end, which turned out to be not so gratifying- the little girl was too light compared to me. I got off. Miss Haana commanded me to place the dog of the other side of the see-saw. One look at her confirmed, she was not kidding.  Friendly doggie wagged his tail nearby oblivious of his precarious position. She pestered me some more to place the friendly dog on the see-saw. I explained he might not appreciate that so much. She conceded. We got a ball out from the car trunk, to play fetch. We soon learnt, doggie's version of fetch was to run and grab the ball and then not let it go. I was playfully telling the doggie that's not how fetch works at all, when his parents called him back home.

Once the doggie went back home, we went  indoors to discover the cabin. It had an amazing wrap around patio with a great views and rocking chairs. We were soaking in the views when our friends and little Haana's best buddy walked in. The next two days were a blur of eating, sipping tea, then eating, checking on kids, walks, another round of tea,  did i mention eating- on repeat cycles.

Both the kids had a blast. At times drawing and coloring; and at other times running around screaming and giggling. And then, there was the video watching.

A weekend well spent!

When I'm A Teenager

Little Miss Haana had this to say to me today:

Haana: Mumma! When i become a teenager, i want to have those things in my ears,  those pods,  those white things....
Mumma: Mm, ear buds?
H: Ya! When i become a teenager, I'll have ear buds in my ears and I'll have a very shiny phone of my own,  and i want to go for a run listening to music. Can i mumma, can i, when i am a teenager?
(Eyes shining like diamonds!!!)
M: (I looked around and i caught the absolute rapture in her eyes just thinking about it. But i had to interject some of my own twisted version of reality)
Gugu, the only phone you will ever have is Mumma's. But that's ok, i will share with you, you can take my phone.
H: But i want a shiny one.
M: Ya, we can get a shiny cover for Mumma's phone, whichever one you like. (I'm liking this even better now;-) )
H: (Sounds satisfied) And then i will put the ear things on, and i will go for a run listening to music. (Does a little dance to show how wonderful the whole picture is!)
M: (Giggling with satisfaction at the thought that she's still using mom's phone as a teenager.)

Evil Mom

I reached school to pick up little Miss Haana one day this week. Miss Haana was holding her snack bowl, half way filled with bite sized apple pieces. As soon as she saw me, she quickly stuffed a couple pieces in her mouth, but there too many more to go in the bowl, it was not empty. She hesitantly walked towards me and reluctantly told me she hadn't been able to finish her snack just yet, but she was working on it. (I might have been gently perusing her to ensure that she finish her snack  (fruit) at school every day).

I had a mixed rollercoaster reaction when i saw her:
First,  it was comic relief. It was comical to see her quickly stuff her mouth with multiple fruit pieces and then drag her feet to report to me!

Then, it was pure unadulterated satisfaction. Getting her to eat is no mean task. That my nagging and threats actually do succeed to some degree, called for some serious pat on the back. I was secretly proud of myself- for just that  moment anyway.

Then, of course not far behind, it was guilt. How mean must she think i am, if she behaves like that! Am i just too strict with her sometimes? Do i get carried away with frustration at times?

But then finally, it was doubt. Is she really this meek little mouse like she's making it out to be right now? This is the little thing who, given a choice (out of exasperation) to eat her dinner or go for a timeout; gets down from her chair, begins her angry im-mad-at-you-too-crying; goes without any qualms for timeout; refuses to come back till i concede she is not going to have to eat any more. Compare that to this little thing stuffing apples in her face so i don't see the snack is not finished. Hmm, is she playing me? Or am i really the evil mean mom?

Definitely not asking that question.

Normal Moms

I always suspected this would happen one day in distant future, but never expected it to happen this early.

One day, picking up little Miss Haana from school, we were having our usual arguments (where she tells me what she wants, and then i tell her to do something else), when she suddenly screamed in exasperation, "Mumma! Why can't you be like a normal mom!"

Normal mom! I have to say,  the thought has occurred to me that I'm probably pretty far from normalcy. But how does Haana know that!
I asked her,  "What do you mean,  normal mom! What does that even mean?". This caused more exasperation, "Ughhh, you don't even understand what I'm saying. You never understand what I'm even saying". Why does everything with 5 year olds have to be in superlatives!

Anyway, when i prodded some more (maybe not all that carefully)  i was educated that normal moms are not that strict. And not mean either. I'm thinking they also always understand what their 5 year olds are saying. I'm sure they also always agree with what their little ones are saying. In short - they're imaginary😊

I can live with that!

Confession

I have a confession.

All of us were doing groceries at the neighbourhood store this Saturday afternoon. When done, we had our cart all loaded up with stuff and, were heading out. Little Miss Haana was telling me she wants to go and sit on the garden rocking chairs set outside the store for spring. I thought that was a great idea.

Just as we headed out the store, i saw a little girl heading into the store accompanied by two women. It was little Miss Haana's classmate, one of her best friends. I recognized one of the women was her mother. The other was far older, probably grandmother.

Little Miss Haana was in a hurry to get to the chairs and didn't see her best friend coming over from the other side. And, i didn't say anything. I recognised the girl, i smiled at her, but i didn't tell Haana.

I later felt that was such a mean thing. Actually, although the girl is miss Haana's best friend, multiple times she's said and done mean things to her. She's laughed at little Haana, made fun of her and made her cry. Multiple times I've heard the girl has been mean to my little Haana. I make no bones about it, i don't like her at all. It usually doesn't help telling kids their friends are bad kids. Instead i try to teach her to stand up to bad behavior, especially mean girls.  And to stand up to bullying. I'm not sure how successful that's going either. For some reason, my little girl Haana just likes that girl. I think it has to do with the fact that she's older and more mature, and Haana is drawn to older kids, especially girls.

Anyway, those are my reasons for not telling little Miss Haana that i just saw her best friend. I felt guilty about it later, and chastised myself for being so mean.