The truth about Santa

The Geeky Dad always had trouble with acceptance. He always tended to put a spoke in the wheels come Christmas. No it has nothing to do with the spirit of Christmas or anything.. He just wants credit when it is due. And he was upset about some fat guy taking all the credit when he worked so hard, bought the dear, coveted and pricey gifts (Seriously whats with these kids and their gifts? The Price tag seems to grow with them)... and hid them well! So this year he had been threatening me with not going a hunting for the perfect gift.. "Not if I cant take credit" said He!

Meanwhile Cheeky has always been a practical kid.. He has never wanted to sit on Santa's lap.. thinks its too "Cheesy". Yet a Santa picture adorns our mantle this year. Thanks to his friends, who wanted to see Santa. Cheeky sported a Sly grin and said "Yay! Lets go see the real Santa and take pictures" and went off with his Friend's family! Earlier when we were in Disneyland, he spotted some kids getting autographs from the Characters and asked me "Whats with these kids? Don't they know that is someone in a costume?". I knew then that this cant be the guy who claims to believe in Santa Claus.. there was something fishy.

Yet my son never failed to remind me that Santa would come on his shining sleigh on Christmas Eve. I asked him so what about the guy you took the picture with.. "Oh that guy is fake, the real Santa doesn't have time to sit around and take pictures" said Mr. Know-It-All.

"Where does Santa live?" I asked

"In the milky way galaxy" came the reply

"Huh.. that's pretty huge" Said I.

"I don't have to go looking for him, he will find me" came the reply

But he never failed to tell me what he wanted for Christmas. He would remind me 4 times a day "I am going to ask Santa for a Nintendo DS.. Because (Here is when the voice gets a bit louder and obvious) .. my mom wont let me have it". At this point I knew my 6-Going on 16 year old son was faking it big time! So a few days before Christmas I said "Look I am too busy to go Christmas shopping this year, so we are going to have to hope that Santa remembers ". And I looked pretty serious too.. so that prompted the cat out of the bag.

"Oh alright mom, I know" said the Cheeky Monster!

"Know what" I asked innocently

"That there is no real Santa, you guys are my Santa"

"Really, what about the milky way galaxy"

"You know I was making that up" Said he with a grin

"How did you find out?" asked I

"Oh I have known for a couple of years" said he

Now that was a shocker, and I thought my son was innocent.. at least when he was 4. And he revealed the big truth

"Well 2 years back I saw you buy a King toy at the store, a few days later it turned up on Christmas with a note from Santa. And I guessed the truth"

Whats more shocking than this is the fact that my son has actually been hiding the fact from me for the past 2 years and playing along.. talk about Cheeky!! But I have known all along too.. the whole charade seemed a bit too forced, so I suspected that my son was pretending too!!

Like friends remind me time and again.. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.. we are a matched pair!" And whats more this year we went Christmas shopping together, and pulled everything out 2 days early. When I admonished him, Cheeky declared "How does it matter?" .. and I agreed. Nevertheless old habits die hard, so on Christmas there were a couple of gifts waiting at the fire place. But this time there were no notes from Santa.

And there is always a lesson in there, so we are sending some money to charity this year. We have redefined Santa and are playing Secret Santa to some deserving kids in a remote village in Southern India. If any of you are interested, let me know and I will send you the details.

Thrills of Parenting - Cheeky Tales

Every year the schools we go to (yeah so far we have kept the record.. we do not stay in a house for more than a year and that applies to the schools too)! Anyway.. the schools we go to have this lovely concept called “Star Student of the week” which they claim makes the selected kid feel special all of that week. However what it is really aimed at is making the parents sweat some. The arguments about favorite toys and books does not end and what’s more leads on to demands for fav toys and books. Now if we had to go shopping every time someone asked you for your favorite things I wouldn’t be a mom! So we argue through the week and the weekend we make and unmake our mind. But that’s not all.. we have to do things with Curious George and take pictures!! Sigh… and there is more!! Mommy (because Daddy won’t do it) has to write a letter or a poem about Cheeky!

Last year Mommy wrote this poem that made the kids laugh (Mind you I scribbled it in 5 mins that morning and did not intend for it to be funny.. but when I try to get sentimental apparently even Kindergartners have a good laugh!). This year we re-used the pictures and were about to re-use the poem when Cheeky declared he wanted neither a letter or a poem this year. He wanted funny stories! So this mommy sat slaving over the computer to come up with this. After all the effort I need to share it here! Who knows what the 6 yr olds will think of it.. let’s see what you think! (Remember this is addressed to 6 yr olds.. I am hard trying to make them laugh. I will have to find out what the verdict is!)

Our Son A
We have a nick name for A. We call him Cheeky. He is a funny guy sometimes and keeps us laughing.

When Cheeky was 10 months old his favorite toy was Pooh Bear. One day we went to a store and there was a huge pooh bear which was as tall as an adult. Little Cheeky loved this toy and kept looking at it. At that time he had begun saying his first words. He would say “baa” for come. So as we started leaving the store Cheeky started screaming “Poo baa Poo baa” at the top of his voice. And was very upset when Pooh wouldn’t come!

When Cheeky was 2 yrs old I had a broken thumb and had to go to the doctor every week to fix it. One day 2 ladies came in and started talking to Cheeky. They kept calling him “Ronak”. So I thought they had got his name wrong, or maybe they thought he was someone else. But they told me that Cheeky had told them his name was Ronak. I was confused. On asking him Cheeky said “But Mama I like the name Ronak and am going to be called that”. We had to plead with him to be called Cheeky.

When he was 2, Cheeky went to school one day and his teacher was talking about different occupations. The kind of jobs parents do. All the kids were telling the teacher that their mom was a doctor, nurse, teacher, manager and so on. It was Cheeky’s turn. Teacher asked him “What does your Daddy do Cheeky?”

Cheeky replied “My daddy hugs”

The note from school said "We discussed what we want to be when we grow up"

Mom: Cheeky did your teacher ask you what you wanted to be when you grow up?

Cheeky: Yes I said I want to be a firefighter.

Dad: Do you know you have to go into a fire and rescue people?

Cheeky: Yes. But I won’t go.Dad: But that’s what a firefighter does.

Mom: So what will you do when there is a fire?

Cheeky: I will be a NASCAR Driver.

I asked Cheeky one day “Do you want to write a letter?”

Cheeky who was almost 3 replied “Yes mommy can I write it on my laptop?”

I asked him “So what will you write”

Cheeky replied “The letter L”

When Cheeky was 3 he came to me one day and asked “Mama can we break the roof of our car?”

I asked “Why?”

So he said “Because then we will have a convertible”

We went to a friend’s place for lunch and she had made some yummy food. Cheeky was not much of an eater, he wanted to play. So our friend asked him “What do you like Cheeky, you can eat whatever you like”

Cheeky replied “I like the plate, can I eat that?”

Do you remember the nursery rhyme?

“Piggy on the railway picking up stones, Down came the engine and broke piggy’s bones”

Cheeky did not like Piggy being hurt so he would sing it like this

“Piggy on the railway picking up stones,Down came the engine and piggy not there”

Recently Cheeky’s aunt called him over the phone and told him she had bought him a piggy bank and would send it to him. Cheeky thought this over and then said “But aunty can you buy me an ATM instead?”

I hope you had fun laughing to these stories about Cheeky. We sure had a good time with our buddy Cheeky.

The little pixie called Tootsie

"Don't pick her up so much you will regret it" I told my friends. "Don't give in, be strong" I advised them. "Stick to the rules" I gloated. Little did I know that I had gotten lucky. The little guy did not want to be picked up, he could stay entertained looking at little hands and feet. The light, the fan, the curtains and even the toys were his friends. Rules were not questioned.. And then he turned 6 and all hell broke loose. Because along came a little itty bitty girl named Tootsie and Mommy had to eat her words!
At 4 months the little chipmunk has a mind of her own. She has decided she loves to sit up and hates lying down. She wants to watch mommy work from the royal seat.. mommy's lap! She wants Mommy and Daddy to talk to her not into the phone! She voices her opinion to the doctor and the nurse. SO much the doctor turned to Mommy and said "She is a strong personality already".. A nice way of saying "Boy is she stubborn?" The little one who is lying next to mommy as she types this and stirring in her sleep! She is the little one we call Tootsie!
Now I will no longer hand out free advise to friends will I? Reality bites!! Tootsie is not a cry baby though.. she is a talker. So when she doesn't get her way she whines, coos, calls and finally shifts to a loud baritone so no one else can be heard! Aaaha now I got your attention pick me up smiles the little pixie. And everyone (Cheeky not excluding) dance to her tunes!

In other news..
Halloween was a hit. Like all 6 year olds, Cheeky had a full social calendar and celebrated Halloween for the entire weekend, starting that Friday. As we hopped from Parades to Carnivals to Haunted Houses, Dad spent some quality time with the lady bug. Mom watched as the Transformer along with a few other super heroes were turned loose on the streets on Halloween night. Among Pirates, Skeletons and Dracula's (Apparently the Princesses and Fairies and even the Witches did not want to have anything to do with this assortment of characters and took another route). No house was left unknocked. No alleyway was left unexplored. At the end of the night the little imps were already discussing their costumes for the next year and planning their next Halloween. The tired parent chaperons were just glad to drag our feet home behind the super heroes high with just the sight of all that Candy. And we planned how to hide the stash away from prying eyes and hands.
Cheeky is becoming a gangsta. While they don't call themselves a "gang", they call themselves "group". "They" are a group of 4 friends. They were 5 and one kid moved away... so now they are trying out different kids to initiate them into the gang! These kids plot and plan how to trick parents. Every afternoon they would sit and talk, and throw out their lunch so the unsuspecting parents would think they had actually eaten it! But we are not parents if we don't know that history repeats itself!! Every afternoon when I saw the clean box I kept getting flashes of the sand I threw in my box every afternoon to fool my mom and the milk that was drained into the sink every morning. But Geeky Dad was the one who wormed the truth out of the clever Cheeky's mouth.. So now he just brings the box home with all the food intact! Seriously where do these kids get their energy?
Meanwhile, I have been invited to lunch by "the gang" next week. Only if I bring cup cakes.. so I will take me and the cup cakes and meet the privileged 5! I heard from a reliable source (another unsuspecting parent of the gangsta's) that I would be ignored, but would get to listen in on some very interesting conversation. I must say I am looking forward to meet the gang in their setting!

This bedraggled mom has a messy house to turn her attention to.. but wait hear that? The silence.. the little pixie is asleep, maybe I will rest my head for a few before we have to do the pixie dance again!!!

Cheeky's new avatar - Courtship Counsellor

Before I begin I must thank S for picking the topic :)

I have often thought this courtship thing keeps seeping down the ages .. but I would never have thought I would hear it from the mouth of the babes.

At 2.5 years Cheeky came home one afternoon and asked me "Amma what is Sexy? Caiden thinks my cold is sexy". And that was just the beginning.. ever since then I have been handling, batting away, skirting around questions along these lines!

Last year Cheeky the Kindergartner came home telling me how 2 boys from his class cornered a girl and moved her stealthily to the corner of the playground for a kiss. My jaw fell. The school woke up to this and introduced a no-touching policy!

A week back Cheeky came home with the day's hottest news. Rob and Kate were boy friend and girl friend. But you know what they broke up!

I asked "Cheeky why do you think they are boy friend and girl friend?"

Cheeky replies "Because Chris says so"

Me: "But maybe Chris is mistaken, maybe they are just friends"

Cheeky "No amma he is sure. I asked him and he said they were falling in love"

At this point I decided to stop the interrogation.. but that was not the end of it. Cheeky was asked the same questions by different members of the family and he repeated the tale with an all important look!

This friday he got into the car excited "Amma do you know the latest news? Rob and Kate got back together"

Me "Really"

Cheeky "Yes I think they kissed"!!

Now for those of you who dont know me.. I must tell you that I am Indian (Asian). We think dating comes after wedded bliss.. or well atleast that dating is followed by wedded bliss? Even f I do not fool myself thinking my son will think along these lines, I do think my son is 6!! So I sported that wide eyed look as I drove home and explained to Cheeky why he must wait till he is an adult before he can have a girl friend. So far he does not like "the girl germs" .. but there might come along a girl that will break that barrier.. what do you think?

My friend's 13 yr old daughter thinks it is unfair that 6 yr olds have boy friends and she can't go to the school dance.. About that, I will just have to lock Tootsie up for the next 20 years wont I?

The talker and the manipulator

All is well in the Cheeky-Tootsie household. Cheeky and Tootsie are managing to keep Mommy on her toes. Tootsie is proving to be quite a talker and keeps cooing to anyone that will listen. And God forbid she is left alone for a minute.. she protests and screams like she is hurt.. and the minute she is picked up her real intent is made clear!! The picker upper gets a toothless grin and that I guess is supposed to make the heart pounding worth it!!
Its when Cheeky gets back from school that the fun starts.. while he narrates his day's stories.. tootsie talks non-stop. Cheeky is heard complaining "Amma ask her to stop interrupting me"
"Cheeky she is telling you what she did all day.. "
Cheeky: "But Tootsie you just ate and slept all day... how long will you tell me that? You have nothing interesting to say, let me talk"
He does have a point there..
Every afternoon we have a ritual. Cheeky gets home, takes his piggy bank (The fantasy aunt is responsible for this contraption) and counts his life's savings. He reminds me of my grand-dad who would count his money every day! Anyway Cheeky gets all left over dimes and cents lying around the house! So when he counted out the big pile of coins in his piggy bank he found he has the fortune of one dollar and 21 cents. And he went around proclaiming this to everyone that will listen. Then he came to me one afternoon and said, "Amma I want to buy myself a toy with my money".
Amma: "Yeah sure you can buy whatever 1$ will buy you"
Cheeky: "Ok I want a nintendo Ds"
Amma:" But that costs 200$"
Cheeky: " So what you give me the rest of the money for it"
Amma: "Do you even know how much the rest of the money is?"
Cheeky: " Yes 199 dollars"
Amma: "But Cheeky you need to earn your money"
Cheeky rolling his eyes: "Amma adults earn money, kids get it from their parents"
At this point I decided to withdraw from my losing argument and maintain status quo.. So I did the wisest thing and walked away. However the conversation was far from over. The next day Cheeky began negotiating when he would get Nintendo DS.. Next week moved on to this summer to when he turns 7. Meanwhile Geeky Dad was blissfully unaware of this whole ruckus. He arrived from an out of town trip a few days later and was waylaid.
Cheeky: "Daddy what did you get me from your trip?"
Dad: "Nothing"
Cheeky: "Daddy are you kidding me"
Dad: "No Cheeky I was on a business trip I did not buy you anything"
Cheeky: "Maybe I should check your bag"
Meanwhile mom thought she was being clever and told dad "Give him a coin for his piggy bank". Dad handed Cheeky a dime. Cheeky perked up "Daddy I need some money for a toy... I am short of a few dollars".
Daddy rummaging through his wallet looks up: "How much?"
Cheeky: "199 dollars"
Sigh!! When fantasy aunt gifted him a piggy bank, Cheeky told her he wanted an ATM instead. Why couldnt she listen??

And then she smiled...

I sit here night after night asking the same question.. will tonight be the night? Will it be tonight that miracles happen.. the earth and the sky move, my stars align and my daughter chooses to sleep! And night after night she assures me that it is not time yet!! Every time I glance at the clock I calculate.. I am so thankful for my math .. if she sleeps for 3 hrs from now (like she is supposed to) .. then she will get up at x hrs and I will get oh wait where is my notepad.. x - the time now.. oh right that is 3 hrs of sleep.. but the hours tick away and she is not dozing off!! Instead I sit upright holding her against me so she can sleep in fits and spurts and I can live in constant fear of dozing off and dropping the precious bundle!! Sigh!! Like she will let me, a slight slip of the arm and I am reminded with a squeal.. and I am on high alert yet again (as alert as I can possibly be...)

Don't believe me? Come meet me and you will figure out like my neighbor did.. that my brain is out on vacation! I realised this the other day.. I stood breathing some fresh air for the precious minutes my daughter would deign to sleep.. baby monitor in hand. Meanwhile the imp zoomed past on his scooter.. keeping up his vigil on mommy! Between them they have a pact, when one rests the other takes over! So as I stood there (trying) to talk to my neighbor and the words eluded me. I seemed to have forgotten english and stood there grappling for my vocabulary! And that is when it occured to me, my brain must be on a vacation.

The next day I called my friend who is a new mom herself to check if my theory was right.. and as we spoke for an hour about diapers and baby poop, we were certain that we had lost it completely! M came home that evening and as I started telling him my woes I forgot what I was going to talk about. Now if I did not have enough signs here was one sure one! So I decided I needed a break and a hobby! Now blogging is a good enough hobby so is mindless surfing of the net, if I could get to a computer!

Now what kind of hobby can you pursue with a baby who refuses to leave your lap and arms? I got myself a netbook.. the hubs thinks I just needed an excuse to go get a mini laptop.. after all I have been angling for one for a long time now. And now I have been able to build a perfect case! Hey it is not like I got an IPad right... I could not build a strong enough case for 2 of those in the household! Sigh! The woes of my life!! M if you are reading this.. remember what I told you "Sharing is a good habit" .. so when can we swap and share? After all you need to go earn the bread and butter.. now hand it over!

And as I sat there in this woe begone state of mine contemplating my lost sleep (I talk about sleep day in and day out!! I am beginning to think people are running away from me! I wonder why!!) .. anyway as I sat there one morning at 5 am she smiled! The sleep melted away and incredulity stepped in. Here I was sitting fatigued after an all nighter... mentally cursing M who was travelling again.. who had the audacity to choose crowded airports, skipping timezones, untimely meals and strange hotels over a pleasant time with his family of sleepless women and bouncing imps! And she smiled.. her first ever smile on the dawn of her first month bday.. I gaped mouth open! Later that day the doctor asked me if she had smiled yet.. I was still dazed as I answered that yes indeed she had. And needless to say bored her with a monolgue of sleepless nights and mocking smiles!! The doctor now has a restraining order against me.. (puzzled expression!!) As for me, I sit today yet again sleepless and I await the second toothless grin!!

P.S. A friend told me sometime back (when I was pregnant actually.. why he chose that time to break the news to me is beyond comprehension.. but still as a true friend I think he was enlightening me!!?? Or as my luck seems to be lately.. he was mocking me as well I guess).. anyway he said "when you have 2 kids that is when true parenting starts". At that time I brushed off the comment with an intelligent blank look and a knowing fake smile.. but today I look back at those words and the meaning is beginning to dawn on me!! Oh my we are in for some interesting years ahead I say!

Letting Cheeky in on the little big secret

We toyed with the idea of telling Cheeky after the 3 months had passed.. but we had to visit the doctor with Cheeky in tow.. and there was all the barfing he would end up watching! Either he would “ew” it or maybe just maybe worry (who am I kidding uh?) about why his mother was trying to throw her insides out every morning! Not to mention the fact that she was always found languishing on the couch! So we decided to tell him.. and went about it all wrong!
“Cheeky guess what we are going to have a baby join our family” we said
Silence.. more silence
“Cheeky?”
“Oh No” he exclaims
“When ?” he says with such a pained look on his face I thought I was going to cry (well between my mood swings Cheeky could hardly be blamed for that)!
“It will be sometime in July 2010 Honey” say we!
“And that is going to be the worst day of my life in 2010″ says he?
“Cheeky” we say in unison in absolute horror!
He explains “But Mommy I am too young to have a baby yet!”
Sigh! “Cheeky not you, mommy is going to have the baby, you are going to have a brother or a sister”
Then he sighed.. a huge sigh of relief! The funny guy “Then let it be a brother” he beamed!
“But God will decide hon” say we and before he loses the smile ask him “So what do you think we should name it?”
“If it is a boy – Jack” he says
“And if it is a girl?”
“Lets name her Shreya” says Dad
“Or Asin or Trisha or Priya Mani” chimes Cheeky belting out the names of all tamil lead female actors! My oh my.. at 5 if he does this I wonder what he would do at 25!!

If you expect a happily ever after, think again. We sat at the doctor’s office a few days later and the doctor was busy talking to Mama. Cheeky whispers to his Dad “So you going to marry mom again?”
Dad bewildered “No why?”
“Then how do you have that second kid now?”
“Shush Cheeky lets talk about it later ok” says a red faced Dad!
And later.. Mom was posed the same question, but she was now ready and armed “We ask God Sweety and he decides when to give us the next baby”!
“Remember how you prayed to God for a brother or sister last year?” I said congratulating myself on my quick thinking...
“But then I told God not to bother and that I would like a pet instead” he says eyeing the tummy!

Despite the ultrasounds and weekly pictures from parenting website I am sure the arrival of Tootsie was what convinced Cheeky. Now Tootsie has a tough act to beat.. following the Cheeky Brat and I sure have my work cut out for the next 20 + years! So how did you break the news to your first born and how did he/ she react? Do Share ,...

(Image source: http://imagecache5.art.com/p/LRG/16/1650/N1ZGD00Z/laura-monahan-hope-baby-hands-and-feet.jpg)
[p.s. The flip side of blogging - The out of town hubs and friends gathers updates from my blog rather than hearing my long winding tales on the phone!!! Sigh!!]

What's it with me and the flooding!

A few months back in good old Charlotte I donned my slacks and crisp shirt one morning. Packed 3 full bags - One the most important Lunch, the other what my work people forced me to lug along my laptop and the third my make up and candy stash with my wallet in my purse (quite as important I would say). I was ready to get on the commuter train to downtown and pretend to be an all important person in the corporate world! Meanwhile I had to keep my part of hte morning deal, wake Cheeky. The hubs had the harder part getting him ready for school.. As we stood 2 sleepy heads, one straight out of bed and the other all set for work but still sleepy and quite pregnant too.. We stood there in front of the sink and opened the tap and gush we were both drenched and the water kept gushing out while I watched in horror without any understanding. A pipe had burst on us.. A few precious minutes later sense prevailed and the hubs and I managed to turn off the water valves.. but the damage was done! That was quite an adventure you would say right?

But little did I know that the phrase "History repeats itself" would hold so true in my life! Last afternoon the hubs took off on a trip (carefree that he is)... and I struggled with my 2 little imps. The minute I rested my back one or the other one would pipe up!! And on one such occassion I noticed some water in the kitchen. Investigation proved the forbidden door was leaking (we have 2 forbidden doors in our tiny little apartment.. 2 forbidden doors and no storage!). This door housed the water heater which had sprung a leak. A call to maintenance later we found the heater had to replaced. That took the better part of my afternoon and I sighed and accepted a ruined rest time!

Later that evening I switched on the washer and my dad (who is visiting by the way) got ready to take an evening stroll) and lo behold he walked into a big pool of water in what used to be the kitchen! It was the washer this time. Tootsie began to scream right this instant and Cheeky thought this was splash planet and decided to play in the "big puddle" as he called it! I screamed like a banshee at the emergency maintenance call center ("We have paged maintenance ma'am there is nothing more we can do"! I am going to call 9-1-1 screamed the crazy woman!). My dad tried hard to keep the water from the carpet. And then sense prevailed. I twisted myself into a boomerang shaped spring toy while I groped in the dark behind the immovable washer for the valves. It was the wet kitchen with water steadily seeping into the carpets that bounced me back in shape.. or it would have taken an entire army to straighten me up! An hour and a half later maintenance arrived to tell me they would be back in the morning as I seemed to have everything under control. But you have seen no wrath as that of the mom of 2... "You will do no such thing.. you will clear the mess in the carpets right now" said I.. and the guy rushed to get a vaccum, rip out the carpets and run a blower to dry the place! While I settled to a night of owl-hood with my little infant!

And M is frolicking on his "business" trip! Now just you wait mister.. this aint funny!! You better have a good story!! Now what are the odds that this happen to me not once, not twice but thrice (and 2 times on the same day?) .. some one out there has some sense of humor I say!

(Img: http://www.porthuron.org)

(DISCLAIMER: THESE BLOGS COME UN-EDITED... I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY MISTAKES.. SIGNED FROM ZOMBIE LAND)

Introducing Tootsie the Chipmunk!

Not so long ago I talked about mid life crisis... apparently when crisis strikes you take action! And boy has my past year been eventful.. granted I have not been blogging quite as much, but I have a story I promise ya!

It all started not too long ago when I was trying to figure out the direction my life was going.. I was tired of just floating along being superfluous and drinking off the margarita cup all day while watching daytime soap operas and turning from a potato to a pumpkin! So I decided to introspect and discovered a mid life crisis!

Then I hit the gym, became a model and lived happily ever after... you wish! Oh yes I hit the gym and got back into my pre-Cheeky clothes (finally!!) and took a long vacation to recuperate from doing nothing :) Back home from my long holiday I took up creative writing as a career.. after all I spent so much time online might as well make it lucrative right? I found that the more creative I get, people did not want to pay me.. just wanted me to write for nothing. However if I wrote boring monlogues on things that I had no knowledge off, I was paid a decent sum! Go figure! So finally I bit the bullet and returned to my IT Career and was all set to become a career woman! But remember the guy up there who needs to have the last laugh! After years and years of contemplation and procrasination, I decided to take the plunge into motherhood part 2. So here I was fighting nausea and commuting to work on the local train!

But there is more, our itchy restless feet put on its act again and we did a coast to coast move in April.. About 6 months pregnant and working full time with a 5 yr old kid who has a wild independent streak, that was bound to be fun! Now I was a work at home mom and all I needed to complete the picture was a mini van. So we did that too.. bought a mini van that I could drive around to complete the mommy image! And Cheeky never fails to remind me that it is "Mommy like"

An accident with a knife, slitting open a thumb; a mini surgery on Cheeky and a grand tour of the mountains on my first drive around in the mini van (call for details... ) later I was ready to pop... 38 weeks preggers I stopped working and started fretting about getting prepared for the baby. Two days later Tootsie was born!

True to our image Cheeky the monkey is now followed by Tootsie the Chipmunk... The family like others say is complete with a boy and a girl.. but by no way regular .. so join us for our next round on the parenting roller coaster as we raise the Chipmunk and the Monkey in our role as zoo keepers :)

(pic courtesy: http://susty.com)

Up and Away....

Oh well... it is no longer a shock or a surprise when I announce a move. It has become a way of life for us and a matter of fact news for my friends. "Oh well .. the Cheeky's are moving again" I can hear them say! So yes we are moving... again! There was a time in my life when a move meant I would get all flustered, call family and friends, make lists, start packing .... and do a myriad other things including having mega sized meltdowns.

This time I know somehow everything will get done. I will wave a magic wand and everything will disappear into that semi truck... I will fret and worry as much as I want... it will get there only when the moving company wants it to (in other words in their own sweet time). The house can be cleaned a dozen times now, but when the moving company loads up; it will look like a hurricane just swept through! So why bother? Right? So I decided to sit down, relax and blog!! In fact in a long time in months, I am at a loss for things to do.. no laundry to do, no ironing to do, no cooking and no grocery shopping.. we will all just sit around in limbo and savor our last few days in Charlotte!

While in this self imposed limbo, when we try and close our eyes to the messy pig sty we call home now; we tell ourselves "In the new place.. we will be nothing short of perfect!" Yeah right we know that ain't happening!! So we decided to explore the still unexplored parts of Charlotte. And we headed to the much talked off "old money" zone of Charlotte. This is where they have gianormous brick buildings enclosed behind massive gates. Where the pride of the "South" runs deep, and the families can trace lineage back to centuries. Amidst this little fairy tale world is a mall called South Park Mall... where you wil find Burberry and louis Vitton (Names I can't even pronounce right). We walked into Sunglass hut and found Prada and Gucci and all other big names ... sun glasses that cost a mini fortune. Ermenegildo Zegna and other such names that will never make its way out my mouth!

So anyway... we went to this mall, surfed the stores and the hubs bought a ridiculously expensive designer sunglass of unpronouncable name and undeterminable value ... now for the sake of our southern pride we will leave the cost undisclosed! Meanwhile Cheeky and I true to our spirits walked to a book store and rummaged the bargain aisle where I worried over spending 6$ on a bargain book and the hubs gave me a hard time about carrying my "books" to California. A hard look at the sunglass later I won my way and Cheeky added a $2 elastic band to our loot... "$2.25 for elastic bands? this better be good mister" I told him! Apparently this is the latest rage in kindergarten world.. silly bands they are called! I call it scamming! A brownie and french fries later Cheeky and I wore a big satisfied smile on our faces as we trodded along side the big guy! My are we easy to please... the swaroski's and tiffany's did not even get a sideways glance from me! tch tch!!

We spent some time geekishly gawking at the cool IPad though and decided to call it a day! For a long time I have been intrigued by the Abercrombie and Fitch stores and their likes. The dingy interiors and the stylish manequins have me intrigued. So we walked in and looked at the highly priced torn pairs of jeans and I thought of my grandmom. I walked to what they call "Betty's" section and found these pair of cute looking really short shorts... my son naively asked "Are these for kids?" .. No hon "They are for mommy". He took a good look and declared "And they are ripped up.. its not even funny! Don't you buy them!" you bet! The sales guy was giving me a funny look I couldnt resist telling him "I know what you are thinking.. they dont make clothes my size do they?" as I walked out. He had a good laugh for sure!! As for me.. I dream on, I told the hubs I will go back and buy those shorts and skirts if only for spite! I will make myself fit into them even if it kills me! "Ofcourse you will hon" he said .. the smart guy knows when to let things be!

And I am back.. with more Cheeky-isms!

First let’s do away with the pleasantries and get that over with… and then we will move on to what everyone has really been waiting for ... Cheeky Tales!
But first, why has this blog been in hibernation for so long? Because I decided to join corporate America, get off my behind and get a real job! So here I am working a full time job and handling a cheeky imp at home... and between that and homework (no I don’t mean doing the dishes... I mean good old homework my kindergartner brings home), I am left gasping for breath!! So what does being part of the corporate world entail? Getting up at 5:30 AM every morning to don stiff looking clothes, the long train ride to downtown where all the action is... a quick nap on this train ride that almost has me shunting up and down the commuter corridor every morning! Almost but not quite, for miraculously I have managed to shoot up at my destination every morning and hurry out into the cold wintry day for another fun day lost in meetings and staring at the PC! But enough of that right? Who wants to hear about my work place? Let’s move on to the entertainment for today – Cheeky Tales!
A few weeks back we were checking out some new development in a nearby community… no we are not buying a home, we were just pretending we are adults and looking at some! Anyway, Cheeky was being himself and was on a roll! So while he argued with us why he had to have the biggest room of the house and so forth, the sales lady looked on. And started having a conversation with him… After he told her how OLD he was, she asked him “My you are so smart, do you want to come work for me?” Immediately the imp retorted “So what happens if I don’t know where a piece goes?” As you can imagine, I am a little slow on the uptake and so was this lady, so together we chimed “What was that sweetie?” And he says “So what will you do if I don’t know where a piece of the house goes? Will you fire me?” Ouch! The recession is really catching on if a 5 yr old is worrying about job security!
The Cheeky tales go on and on... but more on that later! I do need to get to work, and before I go here is this morning’s conversation for you! A sleepy Cheeky walks over complaining about being hauled out of bed at 7 am again! Just who asked you to romp about in bed after you were tucked in last night? Anyway, the hubs tries to cheer him up saying “Guess what, they said on the news that it was going to snow today!” That usually perks the imp up, and as expected it worked! An excited imp made a bee line for the patio… and saw the drizzle outside! And asked “But it is only raining, did the weatherman tell you it was going to snow?” “But how does he know, does he Google it up?” He might as well be, for he never does get it right does he? So with these life truths, I am going to be signing off for the day. More fun tales to come… watch this space!