Autumn leaves !!!

Autumn has just passed and as we step into winter I was wondering and thinking about the last few weeks. I've always loved autumn as we get to see the various coloured leaves here which is unusual in India. I would have loved to just grab a cup of coffee and go out for long walks. And I did exactly that on one of days without a cup of coffe but with my little munchkin. How I wish I could do more of those. Memories of that day just came to my mind and I thought I should write about it. It was a Friday morning and I and Riya are generally free in the mornings. I don't work on Friday neither does Riya go to her nursery. We woke up at about 8 and we're lazying around with our breakfasts when I looked out and it was bright and sunny. I thought to myself we must go out. We can't waste such a nice bright day in this country. So we finished our breakfasts and got dressed and hopped into the car. We drove to wimbledon windmill tea rooms. Beautiful place to go running. I wish I could go running there someday. 

I was hoping to go into the windmill museum but it was closed. It's only open in the weekends :(. We decided to go walking in the woods. Riya's little snail accompanied us. It was a wonderful time walking, talking all the way. Running, hopping, climbing up and down little hills and much more. We didn't have anything else on our minds and we were not in a hurry. We enacted the 3 little pigs story in the woods and also pretended there was a straw house, a stick house and a brick house. We then played 'what's the time mr wolf in the woods. Riya loved walking on the tree trunks of the fallen trees. We sang songs. We also made up our own rhyme there while walking up and down the little hills. ' Riya and mumma went up the hill to fetch a pail of water, mumma fell down and broke her crown and Riya came tumbling after'.. Riya laughed as she sang it and sang it again and again. We picked up coloured leaves which made a beautiful carpet under our foot. We kicked the leaves and theew some on each other. It was a wonderful experience in all for Riya and me. Some relaxing time for both of us and lots of fun. We intended to have lunch in the little cafe there but the card machine in the cafe was broken and I didn't have any cash on me :(. So we had to come back home for lunch. But I hope Riya didn't regret it as I made her some shavige uppit which she likes to eat.

Kicking the leaves and making heaps of them has been the highlight of this autumn 2014 :). Every evening when I and Riya walk back from the nursery we make sure we kick enough leaves! We have also used the leaves to make some crafty things in Riya's nursery and also at home. Reminded me of my childhood days when I used to make greeting cards with dried leaves and pine tree leaves for my friends and family.

I also need to write all about the festive season in my next post. But before I end this one I thought I should write down this conversation between me, daddy and Riya.

Me : Riya, minnu mausi asked me what Riya wants for her bday? What should minnu buy for you ?

Riya : I wanted a Rapunzel princess dress mumma.

Me :  Ok, I will ask minnu to buy that for you.

Riya : daddy, you can wear a prince dress when it's your bday.

Me : and what can mumma wear when it's my bday?

Riya : mumma, you already had your bday, you can't have it again. I and daddy have not had our bdays :).

Me : Sigh :)...

Ganapathi bappa moriya..

Before I forget I need to write down what Riya told me today. She was sitting in the toilet and talking to me as usual. Yes, we do a lot of chit chat in the toilet :P.  It's Monday so she's been in the nursery all day. She yawned and said to me "I am very tired today because I have been busy playing... I played evvvverything mumma. I did colouring, drawing, sticking and she told me a couple of more things which I can't remember now. Riya's idea is that she needs to do everything in the nursery. She wants to be involved in every single activity happening in the nursery. She doesn't like to miss out on any action. Even when we were in the park the other day I and Vaishakh told her that we were heading home and came out of the park. She quickly ran to a spring hippo in her park ,sat on it for a couple of seconds and ran to us and declared now I have played everything in the park. It was very funny to watch her hurrying and acting very busy playing.
But when you think about it, playing is a serious job for the kids. They put in a lot of effort in learning how to play new things. For us it might just seem like a game but for them every new toy is serious learning which they want to master soon. Every slide,swing, climbing frames, monkey bars in different parks is different for them and they need to learn how to do it.

We had an eventful week (last week of august). It was the Ganesh Chaturti and my bday. Riya made a card for my bday and daddy helped her buy a gift for mummy. Riya got me the card she had made and told me that I should make one when it's her birthday and gave me the card only on that condition. It was Ganesh chaturthi after a couple of days and we went to the ganapathi temple . Riya enjoyed every bit of it. She shouted ganapathi bappa moraya and enjoyed the festive atmosphere in the temple.

Left this post as a draft for a long time hence cannot gather my thoughts to well to finish the post nicely. It's always to good to write in one go else we forget about the funny things she has said or done. Many such instances these days which I want to capture and cherish them for long but so less time. 

Riya seems to have discovered a new emotion. Anger and frustration are emotions we see in kids since they were babies but Riya has started associating it with the right expression and language :). She told me today that if I was not going to listen to her she will throw me somewhere in the deep. Lol. The other day when we were driving she said to her daddy 'if you do not take me to a toilet now, I will throw you in the bin daddy'. I am laughing as I write these sentences but I think we need to make a  check on such things from now on. Today she just threw a toy and walked out of the room when I said something to her. When this happened,  I and Vaishakh smiled at each other today , it was like a sneak peek of the teenage daughter we are going to see in a few years. Well we will learn to handle it as it comes. Parenting seems like ion the job training. You can never be prepared for what's going to come. Ands sometimes it is very important how you behave at that given moment. Almost like giving an exam without preparation :).

What is a Friend?

I was reading Riya a story last night. It was about a little fox and a little badger and their friendship. I asked Riya :

Me : what is a friend ?

Riya : one with loooong hair :).

Me : what do you do with your friends?

Riya : tidy up dirty things :) ( probably bcoz she had tidied up her room full of toys with her friends today before they left).

Me : and?

Riya : play and jump.

Me : who is your friend?

Riya : peeepppa pig , that's why she is sleeping with me :O.

This is one of the funny conversations with Riya.  She is all about these funny answers now. I have no idea what she is thinking but it's amazing to see their point of view and a different way of looking at things. She talks non stop now and is full of imaginations and ideas. I and Vaishakh were looking at some old videos last night when she could barely speak a few words. It felt so strange as I cannot remember that phase at all. All I can remember now is she talking and talking and answering her never ending "WHY?" questions. It's a tough job!

One of the evenings when we returned from office and nursery , I gave Riya a cup of milk and she was  doing everything else but drinking it. I got a little angry and shouted at her asking her to drink the milk and she stared and me , tears filled up in her eyes. Then she said " say sorry , mummy ". I got mad. I thought she was supposed to say sorry for all that she was doing but I quickly realised I had also not been fair by shouting at her. So I asked her " will you say sorry to me for not drinking your milk if I said sorry ?" She replied " no, you say sorry and I will drink my milk". Lol. By that time I was about to laugh, looking at her expressions and the turn of events. But I maintained a straight face and said " OK, I am sorry Riya, I will try not to shout at you". She replied " good girl mumma" and went on and finished her cup of milk. I was seeing a little me in her. Children are sometimes a reflection of what you are. For our generation , parents never said sorry to us and we never expected them to . It just didn't seem right. But now I guess the one who is wrong says sorry , be it parents or the child but I think it is right way. If I don't apologies when I am wrong how can I teach my daughter to do the same? Good lesson learnt :).

Chit chat on the way back home ...

Riya finished her first day in the new nursery very happily. Its just a few minutes walk from home compared to her old nursery which was quiet far from home. I had the pleasure of picking her up from the nursery! Lately she had been going to the nursery on her scooter and had abandoned the buggy. Oh what fun !!! for Riya. Not for me. I had to pick her up from the nursery and then walk/run with her while she was scooting along all the way back home. We used to walk past the Wimbledon high street when we walked from her old nursery to our home. She used to stop in front of the shops and ask for things. The 10-12 min walk for me used to last atleast 45 minutes with Riya. I used to be angry sometimes as I was worried about going home and cooking and doing other house chores. I used to be worried about her milk and dinner times. I used to rush her around to reach home soon. I was happy that I didn't have to do that anymore as the new nursery is a short walk from home and very convenient. 

As I walked back to her nursery yesterday evening to pick her up I realised what I was missing. I missed the chit chat with Riya on my way back home , I missed my little friend who spoke non stop. I missed all those funny questions like 'why is that boy sleeping in the buggy? 'Why is that girl wearing a blue dress?' , ' Can we go to into this shop, can we buy something?' 'Why is that ajji holding a stick ?' Phew !! I had to think hard to answer her questions as I wanted to reason with her instead of just giving her some funny answers. It was definitely fun. We used to talk about all the things she had done in the nursery, what songs she sang, what dance she did and I was clearly missing all that. It's funny how we understand the value of some things when we don't have it anymore. 

I also realised that I should try not to rush her around at times. The kids don't understand the urgency in life. They absorb all their surroundings, enjoy the sun, enjoy the rain, stand in the middle of the road to look around, jump in muddy puddles, enjoy every moment no matter what they are doing. That's how they are happy all the time. We adults spoil their moments sometimes bringing the urgency in our lives onto them. Most of the times we treat the experiences in life like tasks. For ex: Walking home from station for me is a task but for Riya it's an experience though we do it everyday. It's not a good example, I know :). She tries to find joy in it and I am not supposed to spoil it for her. I gave it a thought yesterday and decided to try not to hurry with certain things and give her the time she needs and wants at times. Not always though ;).

Gosh! It's been so long...

Yes, it has indeed been so long. Over an year since I wrote. I can't believe it. With my last post being in April last year it's 1 year and 3 months since I have penned my thoughts, actually typed in my thoughts :). One of the things about writing blogs is keeping up with it. I have always been an enthusiastic beginner for any activity, as my dad always said to me. But in this case it's not loss of enthusiasm to write but it's just the loss of time. Yes, I blame time. I am not lazy. I have a two and half year old daughter who need constant attention and is full of action. Every single day I think 'My God, I have to write about what Riya did today, she is growing up so fast but I fail to do so as I cannot find the time. I mostly wrote at night when I had put baby Riya to sleep. But now I am so exhausted myself by the end of the day that as soon as my head touches my pillow I am asleep :).

I know, in the previous paragraph I said Riya is 2 and half years old. to be precise she is 2 years and 7 months old. There was a time when I counted my baby in weeks, and then it was in months and now it is going to be in years. She will be 3 years old in a few months. Riya celebrated her 2nd birthday in India with her entire family. We will hopefully be in India again that time of the year. When I told Riya we are going to India soon she asked 'Is it for my birthday mamma ?' She remembers and memories of her bday in Goa last year. I said ' Yes Riya'. She immediately said to her dad ' I want a Rapunzel cake daddy' and I want to have a princess party. She lives in this fantasy world at the moment where she is one of those princesses. Her face lights up when I call her 'Princess' ! She is bewitched by the move 'Tangled' and has watched it over and over again. It's her favorite movie and she loves all the characters from the movie. I and Riya switch roles from the movie by being the Rapunzel and the Witch at different times. Daddy gets to be Flynn or the King depending on her mood :). We role play the entire story . What she enjoys the most is being the witch and locking me up in the tall tower.

I cannot get hold of my thoughts today. It's been so long and so much is untold that I want to pour everything into this single post which I know is not possible. Why I thought I should write something this week is because it's a new phase in my princess's life. She is joining her new nursery next week from the 4th of August and she will be doing 3 full days at the nursery. She had a couple of settling sessions at the new nursery so that she could meet everybody and Riya was clearly excited. She just walked in , into the new environment not with fear but with curiosity. She never looked back at me. I went to her and told her that I would be back to pick her up in about an hour and she didn't care. She was absorbing everything happening around her and already getting involved with some little girls singing some songs. When I went to pick her up she complained that some kids are not talking to her. I felt sad and looked at her innocent face and I told her they will speak to her next time. I am not sure if she is going to miss her old nursery and her little friends there. Her favorite friend at nursery is a little girl called Prue. I am only hoping she will adjust quickly and make some new friends. Having changed schools so often when I was studying I know how it feels to make a fresh start but hoping it will be easy for her. The new nursery principle walked up to me and said that Riya was a very confident child and she spoke with everybody and was very friendly. I only hope it all falls in place for my Princess!!