Feedback is Important

The two magic words in our house these days are Pizza Express. The promise of a visit to this magical place can get pretty much anything done in our house.

Complete your homework, kids.
Done mamma.
Clean your room, kids.
Done mamma.
Piano practice?
Of course, mamma.
Give water to the dogs.
Yes, mamma.

Can we go to Pizza Express now?

How much do they love the place? Well, if you go by this earnestly filled out feedback sticky - very, very, very, very, very, very....much!

Creative Writing

Vir had this title for his essay on spreading awareness to save endangered animals. How lovely for them to go to a school that allows creativity even in such small ways. All the schools I went to as a kid would have forced me to write a traditional heading that said: Homework/Essay: Saving Endangered Animals. 

This is their way of owning what they write, and I'm thrilled that his teachers encourage it. Also, what a great essay topic!

Sibling Love

At bedtime tonight, I asked Vir and Tara to think really hard and come up with the one thing they love about each other. It was a tough one. Vir loves how easy it is to make Tara cry. Tara loves that Vir is not in her class.

The Joys of Being a Mom

I went to meditate for 20 minutes. Heard a lot of shuffling and knocking outside my locked door. Determined to keep going, I opened my eyes after 20 minutes to find these notes under the door.

Of course, these notes are safely tucked away in a pouch along with other priceless odds and ends. 

Vir's First Solo Piano Performance

We couldn't be prouder

A different kind of milestone...

Over lunch today, Vir informed me that his teacher asked him to stand outside the classroom today because he was being naughty. This is a wholly new development, though not a very surprising one given the dramatic increase in mischief levels over the past few weeks. I have no explanation for it. He's 6. I guess that's an explanation for everything that happens this year. Last year, it was that he's 5. Next year, it will be that he's 7. I believe year 15 is something I can totally look forward to. Blank stares. Closed doors. Long hair. Strange friends. Weird music. And only one thing to comfort myself with - you guessed it - he's 15!

Back to the conversation this afternoon for now though. I asked him why it happened and got some sort of long winded story about how he and a friend not only didn't listen to ma'am when she wanted them to be quiet, they also joked about it and made fun of her.

Sigh. Vir, Vir, Vir. Vot am I to do with you?

It doesn't end here though. I told myself this is not worth overreacting to. There are many other daily disasters to which I routinely overreact. Here's my chance to be a cool mother who responds appropriately to a given situation. So, I continued eating my lunch for a bit before casually asking him how he felt about what had happened.

Huh? (How I felt about what?)

Well, you know - didn't you feel bad that your teacher sent you outside?

No, not really. I like outside. 

**

Vir, Vir, Vir. Vot am I to do with you?

Time well spent

I just spent the last 2 hours watching old videos of Vir and Tara. From a day before Vir was born, to his first sponge bath in the hospital which stressed him out so much that he had to gnaw at his fist till he was red in the face, to Tara's little tantrums and dog and cat imitations to Vir's heart to heart with me when we were in the US telling me he doesn't like America to his loving messages to his gramps to his teaching Tara to say new words...if there's ever a fire and I need to pick up one thing to save, it will be these videos! Well, right after the kids and the dog, of course. And considering the videos are on YouTube, I guess it won't really make sense to actually "carry" them out of a burning building, but you know what I mean.

What priceless moments...and watching them just made me realize how little they were and how little they still are. Sometimes, I find myself expecting too much from them. There are some things like cleaning up their toys and carrying their own bags home from the bus stop and clearing their plates off the table after dinner, which are all in the interest of creating good habits and discipline and other stuff and nonsense which I guess I can stand by. But, I do find myself expecting other things too - like understanding when I'm tired or busy and can't listen to them, or understanding why I can't drop everything to look for that lost toy, or understanding why piano class is more important than park time twice a week. How can that little nappy clad, red faced, tiny thing who just wants a fist to gnaw already be asked to deal with such things?

After I finished watching all the videos I had, I went to sneak a peek at the little devils and had to stop myself from waking them up just to see them smile.

Okay, I tried to wake them up, but very very little.

Now, I can't wait for the morning so I can tell them how much I love them. I'll try to remember that as I run around like a maniac trying to get them to the bus stop in time!