What are you doing?

Jr. was trying to fall awkwardly from the couch after jumping on it.

I just didn't get it. She never jumps on the couch.

Me : What are you DOING ?
Jr.: I am trying to pretend that I am S. aunty breaking her leg jumping up and down!

Now we all know S. aunty and her leg braces provided ample entertainment for one evening when we visited her. Pretending to be S. aunty is fine.. pretending to be S. aunty about to break her leg, is not a good idea!

S. aunty has now become a notorious role model!

.

Remoteless control

Today every TV comes with a remote. It is the default. Our three year old does NOT know that there is a power button on the TV which can be used as err.. "backup"!

Last week she was watching a kids DVD while eating dinner and when she finished her food, I told her to stop watching. She promptly took the remote and ran away. "how will you off it now?!" said the little tease and her face shrank when daddy casually walked past the TV on the wall, pressed a button on the side (she did not even see me press it) and the TV went "blink".. poor thing was devastated that she could not one up daddy.

Now, as usual this post is somehow steering to a remote when it should be going the other way..

The old TV in that photoblog, which seems to have stirred so many memories, has some appendages. A small box with a needle that keeps moving around 220V, called the voltage stablizer and an antenna on the terrace. A three pronged antenna mounted on the little parapet wall two floors above, connected to the TV below by a flat 1/2 inch black vinyl covered umbilical cord.

The TV had a rotary dial that went from 1 to 30 (if I remember right) and why 30 we do not know for there were only two channels! But you got the two channels to alternate in many of the 30 channels by moving the rotary switch in combination with the antenna position. In other words, there were 600 ways to get the two channels!

In those days, monkeys and I-spy playing kids would roam the terraces quite freely and once in a while, pull the cord or rotate the antenna by mistake and that would send the adults cursing.

The men would blame the kids when they saw Sunil Gavaskar launch into what could have been a "glorious cover drive" only to be suddenly replaced by millions of teeming black and white insects on the screen matched by a bzzzzzzzzzzzz sound!

"indha pasangalaaaa..."(these boyyyyys...) would come a menacing scream from the menfolk, only to be nullified by "nethu mandhi korangu mottai maadikku vandudhu nna! adhu dhan antennava thirupi irukkum" (yesterday a big male monkey came to the terrace with his harem. he must have moved the antenna) from the ladies concerned for their kids back!

The elders would quickly quiet down, because in their hearts, they knew!

They knew that getting that picture back in time to see the action replay of that shot and determining if the ball made it to cover or the slip cordon, was a two person job. A kid willing to swing the antenna on the terrace and a person twiddling the dial on the ground. So the little one(usually me) would be dispatched to the top.

Konjam left..

Konjam right..

go back..

and the directions would be relayed through an open window and like a sailor navigating a boat on a rocky sea to 1/2 degree precision, the antenna would be returned to its rightful position. The smarter kids who knew that this nuisance would haunt them for years, what with real monkeys roaming the terrace and all, would leave pencil or chalk marks to align the pole to the parapet wall, only to realize that it really didn't matter.

Gavaskar, was out! and bringing back that picture was as good as bringing in a telegram into the house that read "Gavaskar Dead. Stop. Mourn Immediately. Stop. Gory action replay to follow. Stop."

The antenna saga went on for almost a decade before the now ubiquitous remote even appeared on the scene.

Now, we just take it for granted!

Just for the fun of it, I should send Jr. and the little one to climb on the roof of our house every now and then and adjust a fake antenna.. Just for the fun of it, Gavaskar or otherwise.

.

Pandora

There is only one thing worse than opening Pandora's box. That is opening her underwear closet instead.

Last thursday, a routine mission to pick up the little one from school turned eventful. There were TV crews outside the school and a dude thrust a mic in front of my face and said "Sir, what is your reaction to what is happening here?" and my response was "What IS happening here? I don't know" and walked in to the classroom.

The teacher tells me that the school is closed by the County because there is a probable case of swine flu in the school. Apparently some sick kid attended school on Mon/Tues and did not show up for school Wed/thursday and the school was going to close till May 11th!

Most of the parents were frustrated more than concerned by the school closure. They were all just hoping that their kids (who looked fine) would stay symptomless for another couple of days and then things were fine. Some parents told me that chances were, if our kid was infected she would be showing some symptoms already!

The little one jumped on me and kissed me all over my face. She gave it the extra saliva for the special occasion. That meant, if anyone was going to be quarantined with her, it would be me.

So we showered with extra care, waddled in germ killing lotions and stayed put indoors for hte most part over the weekend. No symptoms from anyone. That meant the family was safe but there was still no school.

Finally last night they figured out that if they request sick kids be kept at home, they can open the school. Now we are all back to our regular routine.

The headlines today?

"The responsibility is now on the parents who have to make sure they keep their kids at home for at least 7 days if the kid has a fever of 100 or above"

The responsibility was ALWAYS on the parents, irrespective of school being open or closed. It puts an even greater burden on more parents if the school is closed!

The little one is finally happy. To have a three year old ask you if "we are all going to die because of swine flu?" is very very difficult to handle.

Shouldn't kids be spared the panic?

.

You are "it", with a piggy twist

Last night we got together with the cousins. We decided to avoid crowded public places and watched a movie at home instead.

Most of the conversation was centered around the flu.

While the adults are seriously worrying about the flu, the kids, safety etc, the kids are apparently playing a game called "swine flu"

One kid is supposed to be "it" and they go chasing all the other kids. When they manage to touch another kid they say "you have the swine flu now!" and now both the kids go tackle the rest..

Interesting perspective from a kid standpoint!

Hopefully it teaches them subconsciously that the more people who have the flu, it is easier for the rest to get it. Then again, these are kids playing "swine flu" without knowing what it really is.

Now don't get me started on the great job the media is doing on this topic. Have lost whatever little respect there was for the few in the media.. (most of it was already lost after they held people accountable and did great investigative reporting during the WMD issue)!

Sad. Very sad.

.

Please sleep with me

It has been a while since daddy slept in his bed.

Let's say that it has been since the little one was born..

During the recent India trip, San had somehow made sure that the LO went to bed on her own. I never believed it. When I got back, the LO tried her "daddy, please sleep next to me!" puppyface routine and without realizing what a mistake it was,(and being guilt ridden for leaving her and going to India), gave in and slept next to her two days after I got back. She promptly used my hand for a pillow and went back to sleep.

Then we tried to say things like "remember how you slept on your own in your bed when daddy was in India. Do that and make us proud ! " etc. and it seemed to work. Still, she would wake up at 3, 4, 5AM and come to our bed and say "daddy , you lied. you are not next to me" or "I have bad dreams" or "my tummy hurts" or just plain wail for 30 minutes till I relented, afraid that she would awaken everyone else in the house.

That went on for 2 weeks.

Yesterday, she slept on her own. Cried at 4AM for 15 minutes and I came over and gave her my hand to sleep on.

Tonight, while drinking milk before bedtime, she asked me

LO : "daddy will you sleep with me"
me : No. sleep by yourself and make me proud
LO : but, but, I will cry!
me : why should you cry? you are a big girl. your akka sleeps on her own in her bed. You want to be like your akka right? go sleep on your own.
LO : but I am going to wake up and come to your bed.
me : If you wake up and have bad dreams or something, I will come sleep in your bed later. But right now, go sleep. I have work to do.
LO : I am having a bad dream
me : (!!!???!!!) what do you mean?
LO : I am having a bad dream right now daddy. will you come thacham(tamlish kidspeak for sleep) with me?
me : But you aren't even sleeping yet!
LO : I know. I am just trying to see if you will come...

so much for the deviousness of a three year old.

If the little one was a three year old boy, would he be this devious? the eyelash batting, the puppyface, the devious logic... somehow this has to be part of her being a girl and don't think anyone is even teaching her this stuff. Mommy doesn't do anything like this.. at least not in the last four years...Mommy just glares at daddy if she want's anything done! So where IS she getting this stuff from? Has to be in-born right?

I know.. I know.. that last paragraph is going to spark something somewhere, but cannot help thinking that!

This is like making a four month old baby to sleep through the night.. all over again.. except this time making her sleep through the night on her own!

I need to be strong
I need to be strong
I need to be strong
I need to be strong
.
.
.
.
.
Okay will write it a hundred times in a notebook somewhere.. and yes, didn't cut paste it 3 times.. actually typed it! and that should show you how serious I am about the being strong part.

.