Friday, September 24, 2010

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??

4 comments:

Aryan-Arjun said...

That is so good. Cheeky really knows how to trap his parents..everytime I read about about him, I feel he is really growing day by day....

Pavi said...

aha! my sis tells me the same thing abt her now 1 yr old. That she talks non-stop.n for that very reason she reminds all of them abt me..i have been called "vayyadi" since forever!

Gosh..kids these days!so hard to meet their demands. n remem the toys we used to play with as kids?! such simpletons we were!

PG said...

Tootsie is a sweety!

As for Cheeky, he has a point. Infact, you reminded me of something which I started and somehow totally forgot after a while - sunny boy's pocket money. He had been collecting it regularly for a while in his piggybank but it has been long since the last time he got it and now I know what to tell him when he asks for his new-found love of chewinggums. He is quite possesive of his piggy bank and doesn't want a single penny be taken out!! Let's see.
Loved reading it, like always. Take care!

Sumana said...

Love cheeky's comment. So tootsie has been a talker. Wait till she starts to make words and then sentences. It is fun to understand how they think and interpret. Have fun...Boys are always into endless mischief and girls are talkers.So we end up running and talking all the time. huh..

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