Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Living by example or living example??

Well, a piece of conversation that would help you come to a conclusion... hopefully..

"Pranav is so fat, but still he could not lift it Amma."
"Being fat does not mean one is healthy or strong..."
A couple of minutes is all it takes ...
"Correct, see, you are fat and that is why you cannot run fast ...."

Friday, September 28, 2012

Copy Colour Attribute


Another example of the boundless imagination of a child.
"Amma, tell me the colours I need to mix to get white colour".
"You cannot get white by mixing colours. You just have to use the white crayon."
"Oh"
"Acutally,  white light has all the colours mixed together in it.  When white light is split you can see all the 7 colours."
" Oh i know ,  that's how the rainbow is formed"
"Yes!"
"Oh Amma, now i get it.  Now i know why the clouds are white.  The rainbow colours are all mixing and giving the colour to the clouds!!"

Monday, September 24, 2012

The Saviour's Dilemma

The impeccability of a child's thought never ceases to amaze us.  I  read out an article from the newspaper to my son, which was an account of the heroic act of a 11year old boy who saved an 8 year old from drowning.  My six year old sat in pensive silence for a while and then observed,  " We should help someone who is drowning."  I said, " Yes, we should."   The culmination of this musings poured out. " If we know how to swim, it is ok.  Or else, we should first pray to God to save us and the drowning person, and then jump into the water ...."

Nitty Gritty

Having taken to playing Squash  recently, my husband got himself a new pair of sport shorts and half a dozen pairs of socks from Decathlon recently.   On inspecting the contents of the  shopping bag my daughter chuckled and her comment was as usual sharp. 
" Appa has more socks than the whole Indian Squash team put together !!"

Script Scrape

"Amma, our kannada ma'am taught us two new letters today"
"And they are?"
A couple of seconds of thinking and then ...
"The one that looks like a bum and the next one that looks like something coming out of it"
"!!!!"


The above conversation took place when we were waiting at the Tirumalai Eye Clinic for the eye checkup.  The smiles and laughs from the rest of the crowd waiting for their turn suggested that they figured  something out,  ... well .. irrespective of whether they were familiar with the kannada script or not.

Friday, March 02, 2012

Note the note

Morning, when i have to pack my daughters lunch box, it invariably turns out that her lunch boxes are still safe inside her school bag, unwashed. I would forget to ask her the previous night and she would never remember to give them for cleaning. Just telling her to give the boxes for cleaning the previous night did not change the situation. I had to then tell her that if she did not give the boxes for cleaning the previous night, she would have to wash the them herself and keep them ready for me to pack in the morning. This worked for two days. The boxes were given for cleaning the previous night. On the third day, when i had to pack the boxes, i realised that the boxes had not been given to me for cleaning the previous night. I checked her bag, then the sink, they were not there. I almost concluded that she must have left them in school, when i saw them piled up in a corner of the kitchen counter, with a note next to the unwashed boxes ...

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Opposing opposite

My little one is being taught opposite words in kindergarten. I asked him to tell me a couple of them. He started to recall from memory .. ' hot - cold ' , ' far - near ' , 'up - down' ... it went on ... until he could recollect no more. His eyes wandered around until they came to rest on his dad ...' hair - no hair' ....

Tuesday, January 03, 2012

Time to Act!

Waking my little one up in the morning on school days is quite a task. In order to get him to open his eyes, i sat on the bed with the days newspaper which featured an article about poachers having entered the forests of karnataka and the tigers being at peril. As anticipated, the eyes opened instantly and he sprang up and listened to the article as i read.
Precious innocence commented with sleepy eyes " I wish the tigers knew Kung Fu". And then, "Amma, let us go to that forest and save them". I tried to educate him that there existed a 'Forest Department' which takes care of the task and also added that he could perhaps join the department when he is big enough and take care of them. There, error committed. The agitated reply was, "By the time i am big, they would have finished killing all the tigers in the forest!!"

Thursday, September 08, 2011

Cornered!

Being a teacher at the Kindergarten should qualify as one of those difficult (yet rewarding ofcourse!) professions. My five year old told me that he and his best friend do not sit adjacent to each other anymore, and that he was moved to the far corner of the row in which they sat. Wondering if he was aware of why she had done this i asked, 'Why?'. He answered, 'So that we both can talk from this corner to that!'!!!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

A tooth for tooth a tusk for tusk

My just-turned-five-year-old has his first milk tooth shaking and i always catch him fingering the tooth. Just to keep him from touching the tooth i said, 'If you keep touching the shaking tooth, the new one will come out like a tusk!'. The long pensive look that he was giving himself in the bathroom mirror was clear indication of running imagination. Would he let it pass? After a couple of seconds he said, "Amma, if i keep touching my nose, it would grow very long. If i keep touching my ears, they would grow wide. .. And i would be an African Elephant!!

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Toon & Teen

Our recent visit to HomeCenter at 'Lifestyle' brought out an interesting incident. As we were browsing through the ' Interiors' section, the soon-to-be-five year old was taking a close look at a lamp shade with cartoons on it, and declared, 'I like this!'. His teenage sister who has to share the room with him when we move to our flat said , 'It is time you show some maturity and stop looking at such baby stuff. Look at something more elegant that makes the room look better. Grow up now so that we can get on with life ....'
The sternness of her innuendo drove the message of disapproval so strongly that he quietly moved away from the object that had all his attention.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Dad & Daughter

My girl who has entered teens loves the malls like all the other kids her age do. Well aware of this, her dad annouced that we were all to go to one of her favourite mall and she would have to stay back home to finish her homework. "In your dreams" came the reply from her. I asked him , " Does she come in your dreams?". Without hesitation and before he could reply came her answer, "If i did, it would be his nightmare". !!!

Friday, June 10, 2011

Of hands and trunks

Learning lessons dont stop no matter how old you get. I have all the reasons to believe that the learning sessions are more frequent if you have a little one around to teach you a thing or two. The most resent lesson learnt? It is that one not only needs to think rationally while dishing out an example, but also do it very carefully and definitely should use some imagination. Here is the reason why ...
"Why are humans two legged creatures and not four?', he asked.
"Because we need hands to work, to write, to eat, to hold and to play", i replied.
"Four legged ones can't do all these?".
"Must be difficult to write" i said. I should have left it at that. But trying to throw more light i offered, " Elephants can't play tennis". There! Erroneous example and it took him less than a second to point it out to me.
"They can use their trunk! Two elephants can play tennis with their trunks if they are taught. An elephant cannot play tennis with a giraffe, but two giraffes can maybe play football?".

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Dissection of the mind

My son and me were having the usual before-going-to-sleep talk at bedtime when he educated me with "Amma, do you know, the claws of a crab can grow back if they are cut?". I was surprised and acknowledging the truth in the statement, i asked where he came across this information. He said he they showed it on TV. From here we reached earthworms and i was educated that if the earthworm was cut into two, they grow into two earthworms. Cartoons! this time i was sure. Before i had the time to correct this partial truth came the cannonade of his questions, "If the worm is cut into two, they grow into two earthworms. But can we join it back for it to become one earthworm? Does the earthworm like being one or two??? We cannot fix it if we cut, can we?

If one steps aside from the line of science for a minute, one would see it with
the child's perspective. A point to ponder. What do the earthworms think?

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Power is Strength

My four year old contracted Flu and the two of us landed at the poly clinic to which we are very frequent visitors since his birth. Specialists pertaining to various specialities consult at the polyclinic and a new addition of opthalmology had been made. At the waiting room, a brand new showcase of glasses was an evident change made to the unchanged interiors that stood adamant for years. Everyone had no choice but to notice it. With years of familiarity behind him, my little one confidently went up to the lady at the reception and asked her, 'Do you have glasses for 4 year olds?'
She said, 'Yes.'
'Can i wear them?'
'They are power glasses'. She replied.
Yes, right, he asked the inevitable question.
'If you wear them, do you get strenght??!'
After a second or two of silence, she laughed and repled, 'I wish i could say yes!'...

Friday, February 18, 2011

Clouded Dream

Cartoons! Don't we associate it with humour, creativity and imagination? Well what beats our imagination is how our little ones are associating, interpreting and understanding this stream. My four year old, who loves cartoons (who doesnt?) was screaming 'Run, run' aloud in his sleep. When he woke up, i asked him about his dream and he said, ' There was a volcano, and i was running away,
did you see?'

I said ' It was your dream, how could i have seen it?'
He waved his hands over this head and asked ' Didn't you see it over my head?'
Puzzled and unsettled i said ' the dream happens in your mind, others cannot see it'
'Yes, you can' he replied.
Bewildered by his conviction i questioned ' What makes you think so?'
Came his reply, ' Dont you remember we saw it on tv? When tom has a dream, a
cloud appears over his head and we can see tom chasing Jerry inside the cloud!!?? .........'

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Foxed

Message arrived from school during the weekend that the following monday would be 'Fancy Dress' day for my four year old.
The little one has never been comfortable in any costume. I asked him what he would like to dress up as and the answer i dreaded, 'Dinosaur' arrived. I had to request him for something simpler as there was not much time for preparation. He considered and finally wanted to dress up like a 'fox'.

Yes, ran to the craft shop to get felt paper,woollen, glue, cardboard, colurs and all those that went into turning him into a cute fox with a really bushy tail. My daughter made a lovely snout with all her artistic skills which looked really good and sat up with me in the night helping me complete the costume. The following day, when i dressed him up at school, the little 'fox' was all happy. Half and hour later, with the judges running late, the kids were really restless and the fox was the most restive of the lot. He started feeling highly uncomfortable in his costume and complained of sickness to the teacher. He started to cry and wanted to just go home. He took off the snout and refused to wear it again. I had no choice but to paint his whiskers and nose with eyeliner liquid.

The parents were asked to leave the children with the teachers and to return only when the judges had done their rounds. This took another hour and by then, the fox had completely lost it. Finally the ordeal was over and he come out of the class
room. The painted whiskers and snout had beem washed down by the tears. One ear was missing, but the tail was intact.

I asked him 'How did it go?'
He said 'Fine'.
'Did Aunty ask you anyting? '
'She asked who i am, and i said Giraffe'.
'Why???'
'Because i got tired of being a fox.'!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I laughed, but my daughter is still furious .....

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Sometimes even when it doesnt rain, it pours

October and November being bounteous of rains this year, it had become habitual and necessary to carry umbrellas every day, one for me and one for my four year old, to the bus stop every morning. One of these mornings, the sky threw a surprise with a spread of cloudless blue. I insisted that there was no need for an umbrella as it would not rain. Sure as the sun was about his brightness was the little ones answer - " I know it will not rain, but i want to carry the umbrella because i like to, i want to, that's all ". And he did walk to the bus stop, cheerful and talking non-stop, with the umbrella open. Got me thinking as to when i last did something just because i like to , i want to. Couldn't remember ......


I am sure i am not alone too ....

Friday, May 21, 2010

Story of story telling

Telling a story is different and easier than selling the story that we tell. This was taught to me by my going-to-be-four year old. Storytelling has become a ritual everyday at bedtime and also this extended ritual of extending the number if stories told with ' please please, last one'.

I was telling him a story from Panchatantra. " THE STORY OF THE LION, THE JACKAL AND THE CAVE" .... This is how the story goes ...

In a certain part of the jungle, there lived a lion, by the name of Kharanakhara. One day, he felt very hungry and wandered everywhere looking for food, but he could not catch a single animal. At sunset, he went into a big cave, thinking to himself, ' Some animal is bound to be living here and will certainly return during the evening. I shall hide in the cave and wait for him'.

Sure enough, after a short time, a jackal, arrived on the scene. He noticed that a lion's footprints were leading into the cave but not coming out. He thought to himself, 'Now I am dead! It is almost certain that there is a lion inside. But how can I know for sure? What can I do to find out?'

Suddenly an idea struck him. He stood at the entrance of the cave and began to shout, 'Hello, Cave! ' He waited in silence for some time. Then he cried, 'Ho, Cave! Don't you remember the agreement we came to, that when I arrive here, I shall first call you and you will reply and only then will I come in. Now, as you are not replying, I shall go to some other cave'.

When the lion heard this, he thought to himself, 'The cave really replies to the jackal, when he returns, but today, for fear of me, it is keeping quiet. So, I shall invite him in myself and when he enters, I'll make a meal of him'. With this idea in mind, the lion replied to the jackal, 'Hello, jackal! It's all right, you can come in.' The cave echoed with his roar so loud that even animals far away were frightened. The jackal bolted.


I was sort of concluding the story with ' Since the cave does not talk, the Jackal knew the lion was inside' . I had no time to proceed to the moral of the story since his little brain was already working and out came the statement ... " Amma, the cave cannot talk. The jackal cannot talk and the lion cannot talk ... then, how did this story come about???" !!!


Any answers??

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

A journey ..

Questions that my three year old asked my sister, who is full term pregnant :
1. Did the baby go in through your nose? or mouth?
2. When you eat, does the food fall on the baby's head?
this one deserves something ....
3. How do i get in there???!!!!!

We were standing in the queue to embark on the 'Emirates' at the airport and each of us had our boarding pass at hand. My three year old wanted one for himself so i gave him a pamphlet from a nearby counter to pass as his 'ticket'. As he stood in great animation in the queue, a lady who was
ahead of him in the queue noticed him and asked, " Is that your ticket?

"He said, "Yes!".
"Where are you going?"
"To Dubai, where are you goving?"
"I am going to Dubai, too".
He immediately retorted, "I am going to Dubai, one."
She laughed and asked, "How many years are you?", when she did not get any reply to "How old are you?".
Without the slightest hesitation he pointed to his ears and said aloud "two ears!".
You bet, he made her journey and day!