Growing up with Yash

Yash at a tea estate, picking tea. My almost 8 year old son, Yash, has recently acquired friends from the opposite gender. These two lovely girls are now part of a gang of 4 spirited boys. As I get a first class view of their behaviour and activities, the little girl in me lives again! It has been wonderful to see the influence of these girls on the boys :) The valentine's day that just passed, got a lot of attention from this gang. Few days before the 'Day', I heard murmurs that the day was about LOVE! It was in hushed voices and so my curiosity was naturally heightened. On the 13th of Feb, I was pleasantly surprised that the kids were planning for surprising their parents on Valentine's day with a home made chocolate. I caught them on a scavenger hunt for the ingredients from each of the kids' homes. Since the whole plan was revealed to me (basically, I spied;), my kitchen became their lab.  From this entire interaction, I understood that the ide...

When we were at the Chicago airport last winter, we were window shopping. If anyone would've told me that I'd have to buy a pair of 'super awesome' headphones, I'd have laughed at them. But that is what happened, cos our 61/2 yr old son, Yash decided what he wanted most was one pair of headphones. Through the long flight back, through the cab ride home and couple of days after our return home we could see him play his favourite songs over and over in a loop on his iPad and listening over his headphones. Yash loves music! From when he has been a baby, Yash would respond to music in any form. His dad's whistle, or a commercial on TV that became a favourite, a lullaby that I used to sing, all left an impact on him. As he grew up, it was evident that he enjoyed music. Father and son duo would listen to dad's favourite songs, talk about the music director and the singer. How wonderful! He was able to learn and sing easily. He loved it when we would want to pa...

Dear Yash, This mother's day I'd like to thank you son for making me a mother. I'm so happy that God made me a mother to a child as divine as you, my little angel. Being a mother to you warms my heart, knowing that you are growing up with the values of being honest and kind. I've seen many times these traits are reflected in your behaviour and all I can do is hope that we give you enough support and be the kind of parents that allow these values to blossom and shape you into a generous and upright young man. You surprise me with your thoughtfulness. I was excited today to get the lovely trinket boxes that you handcrafted for me. I know that you planned with your grandmother yesterday, visited the arts and crafts store to buy the material, made it while I was out and finally filled it with chocolates. Today morning, as soon as you woke up, you smiled sweetly, and wished me 'Happy Mother's Day Mom'. Oh, my heart just melted :) To top that, you came b...

Today, I dropped Yash at his friend's place for rehearsing his lines for his upcoming school day. As we reached close to her place, Yash mentioned 'I think my tummy's telling me I'm shy'! It was so 'matter-of-fact'ly that I looked at him to see his expression. I am amazed that he interpreted his feeling of excitement and anticipation coupled with feeling shy, so well. We all get the butterflies, but for a boy of 6.5 yrs to understand what it means is a little achievement in the 'emotional development' department. I remember when he was younger, maybe about 2.5 or 3 yrs old, once he had gone upto his dad and said 'Dad, I am feeling cranky'. At that time, he was sleepy and was tired of playing, but he had understood his feelings and had felt the need to tell his dad about it. It hasn't all been rosy, he has had his fair share of tempers and tantrums, fights and breakdowns too. But overall, he has been in touch with his feelings and...

Yash is our 6 year old son. He loves eating puliyogare, riding his scooter, going to school, listening to stories (especially from his dad), and most of all, watching videos of Evan on Evantube :) Like his current idol Evan, he wanted to review a toy he had newly got. Here is the video. Enjoy and don't forget leave a comment. Yash will be excited to hear from you!

Here is a detailed description of how we spent our time at Singapore and Malaysia, having the time of our life... Day 1 - Musthafa Shopping Mall and City Square Mall -  We were rather tired since we had barely got any sleep. We set out to find lunch at Little India and went to Saravana Bhavan. After this we walked to Musthafa center which was just a stone's throw away. We spent a good 2 hours buying nothing :) First impressions about Singapore: Yash : 'Are we there yet? Wow! Amazing! Love the bubble tea dad..... When are we going here... there... everywhere.....' Me : 'We finally made it here, how's it gonna turn out? I hope we all have a good time' Vickram: 'What a beautiful city! Can't wait to see the city through my lens' My Mother in Law: 'Why do all the women here wear such skimpy clothes? ;) Next we walked to City Square Mall again a stone's throw (though you really gotta swing the stone far;) ) as we had promised Yash he wo...

The welcoming high rises of Singapore We spent the Christmas of 2013 at Singapore. We were on a holiday there for 5 days, before we moved on to Malaysia. WE includes me, Yash - my 5.5 yr old son; Vickram - my husband ; and my mother in law. We had been planning to take this vacation since long but work kept us busy. We finally decided that time was right and went for it. We tried planning it by ourselves but thought the better of it. Planning by ourselves would mean that we had to pour hours into planning each small detail. Me being a control freak does not help matters. I hate it when things don't go according to plan. And if I've spent hours especially, god save people around me! We considered the holiday to be more for Yash's enjoyment and pleasure. For about two weeks before the D Day, Yash and his dad would browse through the favorite hot-spots for kids at Singapore. Yash knew the places we were gonna visit and even played a role in shortlisting the final itin...