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!

Diaries of a “Professional Eater”

 « Telling Cheeky!

Diaries of a “Professional Eater”

December 6, 2009 by cheekymunchkin

This weekend we were getting ready to go to a party. Well we were supposed to be! While the Hubs was actually getting himself ready, I was making myself yet another meal this one some spicy bhelpuri (a spicy tangy salad with rice krispies) and Cheeky was playing! Our bedroom was transformed into a bus and the Hubs was dubbed the driver while Cheeky declared himself the conductor of the bus! And then he called out to me “Hey Professional Eater, come get into the bus and eat” he called! True to name, I entered the bus bowl in hand the hand to mouth motion not stopping for even a fleeting second!

The hardest part is satisfying the urges of my taste! My tongue has a mind of its own which requires me to slave over the stove for hours to come up with some spicy, tangy concoction which I proceed to polish off in less than 5 minutes! Between that and the barf parties I pretty much have my hands full! I am very familiar with the patterns of the bathroom floor and the smells of the nooks and crannies of this household! Meanwhile, between the eating, sleeping and barfing… I have a full day ahead of me!

https://cheekymunchkin.wordpress.com/2009/12/06/diaries-of-a-professional-eater/

What's with the brag -fest?

I am often encountered by parents who ask me why my son is not in Kumon or Abacus or some such thing! I want to say "He is in school you know?" and sometimes do try to explain to them why! All parents want the best for their kids. And we know that the first few years of the child's life is when the brain grows the fastest. And this is why some parents think it is absolutely essential to make sure their kid is "2 grades ahead" like a friend said!
I must admit that the thought crossed my head too. My son was 3 and people all around me where teaching their kid new tricks while I was struggling to let my neighbor understand why I did not care if he did not color between the lines! Then it occured to me, that my son would probably be behind in the "rat race" as Sumana put it. Noon also talked about this in her blog post and brought back memories of this time. So I picked up the phone one day and called the Kumon center and almost went to look it up! Meanwhile I spoke to a few people and they told me Kumon was about repetitive learning.. now I have no clue if this is true or not or what they really teach at Kumon. But while I was researching all this, I got thinking. If my son's brain is developing so fast in these years then so is his personality right? Would I rather he be academically strong or be a more rounded individual? I never got around to the Kumon classes.
A friend asked me a year back when she was choosing a school for her kid what I would reccomend? I said "I would look for a place that has the most toys, that gives the kids the freedom to explore and have fun and that is very secure"! "But what about the curriculum" she asked! "Your kid is 3 for heaven's sake, let her learn to love school before worrying about academics and grades" I advised. Well I was probably the only one who told her that, later she said she actually gave it a lot of thought and followed my advice. My son started full time school only this year.. till last year he would go only 3 days a week.
This year he started Kindergarten and I was really finding the homeworks he lugged home rather strange and amusing, but learning to live with it! Till one day he brought back a paper home with a grade on it. It said A+. I smiled and put the paper away, soon this became a routine thing. They had graded tests in school and I was starting to get mildly annoyed. Still I assumed that they probably just gave all the kids an A+. Then one afternoon my son came home very upset and worried. He was worried that he had not drawn a zebra right and would not get an A+ in his paper. I was so incredulous.. what now they are grading zebras? After assuring him I did not care what his grades where as long as he was having fun I had a talk with the teacher. Turns out they never did grade the zebra. After a lot of thought I gave my feedback to the teacher and then the director that they should stop grading these children and guess what they agreed with me! Some kids had got B- and D's and had been so upset over that! Like I said "This is a pressure they can live without.. atleast not at 5!".
So back to the Kumon classes. Recently a friend asked me why I was not sending my son to Kumon and lectured me about how the brain develops at lightning pace these years! I asked her, "So tell me if that is true then by sending him to school and Kumon and focussing so much energy for academics you are letting only one part of that brain develop arent you?" Cheeky is a sports fan and goes to a sport camp once a week. We are waiting for the dawn of the new year to start him on Taekwondo (that earned me a snigger from some parents too.. you want to teach your son to fight?)! And in summer I want him to join a music class and swimming lessons. Maybe some tennis too if he can fit it in.. however, I take the cue from my son and these are all the activities he has chosen for himself! At this age I want him to have maximum exposure to all aspects of personality and physical development. There are somethings you can't leave till too late and personality is one such thing!
Meanwhile I must say that Cheeky does work on some workbooks at home. He is also encouraged to do puzzles and mazes, word search, and word puzzles. He has learnt to handle money and tell time, read fluently and do advanced math problems for his age. However he does all this because he enjoys it and has fun while doing it.. it is not another exercise to do, it is a fun activity to do! We miss our afternoon soujourns to the park (what with more long school hours) but we love to get out on weekends and give our legs a stretch!
This post is to all those parents out there who have to ask "So why is your son not in Kumon?" I am sure they have their reasons too.. and I am sure their kids have enough fun too.. atleast I hope they do! Mine is having a blast! What say?

Telling Cheeky

 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

What?!!

“When ?” he says with such a pained look on his face I thought I was going to cry (well cry laugh, I seem to be swaying up and down all day.. so Cheeky can hardly be blamed)!

“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 heroines! 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 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” we say!

“Remember how you prayed to God for a brother or sister last year?”!

“But then I told God not to bother and that I would like a pet instead” he says eyeing the tummy!

Dad quickly kills all hopes suspicions with a trip to Parenting.com and some 3d ultrasound images of the baby! For now Cheeky is quiet, but we know that brain is working and soon we will have to throw up our arms in despair! Whoever said it was easier the next time around?

https://cheekymunchkin.wordpress.com/2009/11/30/telling-cheeky/