SIL, BIL, Pyar Vyar

What a month this has been! Starting from the day, B's older brother and family arrived from Kuwait, it was times of fun, music, travel and chats/debates after dinner. Each day went by visiting Niagara, D.C, Philly, New York and North Carolina.

I have spent only a day or so with them during our India trip - both our families were visiting India and we had our own hectic schedules. This is the first time we are spending quality time together. It was great to find out that I could be myself with SIL and BIL (sis in law and bro in law). They were good enough to laugh at my silly jokes tirelessly. It was nice to share girly talks with SIL - I did not grow up with a sister, so now I could see what I have missed.

Our kids enjoyed the times with 'cousin brother' and never asked for us. As we get ready to drop them to JFK and bid adieu, it surely feels like life has come to a standstill. What will we do next week? Going back to our normal routine life seems so boring and action-less now.

I know all good things have to come to an end. I am reminded of the lull in my parents' home after my relatives went back after a visit.The railway station platform, waving at cousins (or Appa when he was working in a different city), till the train takes them so far away that you don't know whether the hands you are looking at are theirs or not. Times when we said bye to folks, not knowing when we will meet again and which stage in our life we will be at that time. It is not railway platform, it is usually airports these days - but the feelings are the same.

Goodbye times are always hard - but I guess life must go on!

The week that was

Monday evening, B called me and said Nikhil did a good job at his Kumon test and he was going to take Nikhil to a restaurant as a treat. So B, Nikhil and Nithin went to this cozy family restaurant near home called "Happy Days". It was Nikhil's pick. Dad and son had gone there a while ago and told me about it. My mind was for once, not set on going to an Indian restaurant because it was Nikhil's choice and I thought I should go with it today.

I raced the car to join them. I was hoping to get something vegetarian to eat. When I reached there, the waitress asked me "Are you here to join your family?". I was surpised ,felt important and said "yes". She escorted me to the table where the 3 wise (??!!) men were sitting. Nikhil was super surpised -"Amma, how did you come here!?".

Tortellini Alfredo was super yummy and loaded with cheese. I was happy because I really liked it rather than having to be satified with getting something to eat. We had a table on a secluded section of the restaurant that made us feel better. No need to be conscious about Nithin's acts.

After the dinner, dad and Nikhil drove back in their car.
And I took Daps with me and put his favorite "Chechi Song" from "Dasavatharam" CD.
(On a side note, the chechi song is the song where they introduce Mallika Sherawat in the movie. She is a club dancer and what not! I cannot help laughing to think that my son would be the only one who calls her Chechi!)

It will be a night to remember!

Wednesday: Grabbed a DVD of "Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na" from an Indian store and watched it successfully in one shot with kids falling asleep on me.

Review posted here:
http://anamikareviews.blogspot.com/2008/10/jaane-tu-ya-jaane-na.html

This is a weekend I am on call. Hoping it goes smooth!
Happy weekend to you all!

Break The Rules

Looks like B and I are really enjoying this time. Mr.Nikhil seems to be enjoying all the way at his grandparents' home in Trivandrum. Seeing him smile and laugh and talk to us on the phone tells us he is not terribly missing us. That means that we do not have to worry about his being unhappy for a while.

Going back to life with 1 kid is an interesting experience. When I am cooking, now, I can focus on just one kid's interests. Smaller quantities suffice. It is quiet period at work for both of us and B does not have any classes to take. No driving around for any child activities. It seems like we have plenty of time at hand in the evenings. So, even though, we have not verbally declared it,we have been breaking some family rules and taking it easy.

1. If you don't feel like cooking, don't. Can split a veggie pizza and be done with it. Can explore a new place to eat out, because we wont be doing a lot of this when school reopens.
2. If you are in the mood to drive around, just get up and go. Can be impulsive now as it wont affect a school-goer's schedule. No planning needed.
3. Watch movies every week day night and sleep really late.
4. No forced bedtime. Nithin hangs out with us watching movies and we don't put him to bed right on time. He enjoys the time with us.

It is good to break the rules, once in a while. Helps us to go easy on ourselves, now that the schedule permits it. We are enjoying it.

Side-effects: Nithin says 'Amma, let us go downstairs and watch a movie'. When the car takes the turn towards home, he says 'more shop' meaning 'I don't want to go home'.

Positive side effects: Some improvement on Nithin's potty training since we now have the patience to entice him into 'flushing' the toilet. Also, I have been able to read books to him and he is all thrilled to listen to me. I am now reading a book myself. Ages since I have attempted this.

See you tomorrow!

Time is valuable

This week has been so hectic and crazy not just for me, but for our whole work group. When I had to work for some days for about 12 hours, there were people around me who were putting in more. I could feel the stress creeping into me and killing me throughout the week. There was no time to eat lunch - to me, that evokes self-pity! Mornings were crazy, it was difficult to get up coz my body has not recovered from previous day's stress and dragging the kids to their respective places seemed painful and gave me guilt pangs too! Mr.Nithin has his own innovative reasons to cry for in the morning - refusing diaper change or dress change.

Yesterday evening, when my job was done and I was graciously allowed to go home, even though others were still at work, I told myself how precious the few hours in the evening are to me. To be able to spend that time with the family was a boon. B had promised N a family dinner outing and we were too tired to even move. But we always try to keep our promises to the kids, so we changed the location of the outing to something closer home and made it.

It was a nice two hours at Carabba's Italian Grill. Kids were happy and I saw B relaxed. We both had to put in additional effort to not scream/yell at the kids. As always, our hearts pounded when Nithin would not sit down and try to mess things on the table, but I have learnt to 'enjoy' the moments with the tension in the background.

Today, finally I got some time to type this up. So how have you all been? I am in a great mood to go on a trip somewhere, but work keeps me from moving out of town on weekends. I love to sit next to B when we explore new roads, making guesses on where we would end up going that route and get excited when my guesses usually turn right. I think of those on-the-way places/rest areas where we stopped to buy coffee/fries. The looks of places different from what we usually see on our daily drives - I am longing for those now!

Next month..I will have to wait for June!

And those of you who can get out and take a drive far away, please do it. It will freshen you up, I am sure! Happy Weekend!