College? But Why? I am ready now!

Tootsie the Pixie has a personality that keeps life interesting for all of us. She is 5 now, ready to start kindergarten. Her spark of personality is so unique true to her name. We are often stumped by her brand of reasoning.

Many years ago a wise lady advised me on dreaming big. She said its important for us to encourage our kids to dream big and set them on the right path. She had convinced her kids they should be doctors and if you asked them thats what they would say. But not mine. I have tried this many times with Cheeky. He went from wanting to be a fire fighter to a truck driver to a wrestler and UFC Fighter. Yes my son wants to be a fighter in cage fighting!!!!! No amount of encouragement to pursue a less bloody career works! If you ask him what you want to be when you grow up.. there are only 2 answers you would get. "A billionaire" is usually the first one! How will you get there? "UFC Champion" is the next. I have never failed to remind him ... UFC Champions are not billionaire's. Warren Buffet is a billionaire!

Now Tootsie is a different story all together. She is this complacent little munchkin! She still cant read, doesnt care enough to try. She can be found often times in her own world humming a tune, dancing a step or better still talking to herself! She is my little dreamer! So I thought maybe this time I will be lucky! So I started on a mission... after being lectured multiple times "You can be whatever you want to be, mom" it looked like my luck would turn!

And I had Doc Mc. Stuffins to thank! So Tootsie decided she wanted to be a doctor! I was so thrilled that finally here was a kid who would do me proud when asked "What do you want to be when you grow up?" After years of answering "A princess" she had taken to saying a "Doctor Princess". But Tootsie is a deep thinker. She came to me one day and said, "But mom.. I dont know what Doctors do".

Me distractedly "They take care of people"
Tootsie still the little troubled frown on her face "But I dont know how to"
Me "Thats what college's are for. They will teach you there"
After lengthy discussions about colleges and learning to be a professional, you would have thought I put her mind to ease? Oh no... I changed her mind!! Now ask her what she wants to be "A teacher" she says

"Why Tootsie?"
"Because I already know how to be one!"

Talk about Ms. Lazy Bones! We tried our hand at convincing her otherwise, and asked her "What do teachers do?"

Tootsie "They ask kids to line up, go to the playground, wash up, line up again go eat"

So Cheeky says "What if the kids dont listen to you?"

That apparently got the little Missy thinking. Recently she was heard telling someone "I am going to be a teacher of older kids. Because they listen"

We are not going to read in Kindergarten and we definitely are not planning on college! I will just not tell her that teachers need to go to college too. If not we will be back to "Princess"! I must be a great mom at inspiring my kids! I better shut up and let nature take it course!!!

How will you be named?

Apparently my kids think its normal to name themselves. For those of you who have heard my tales you are probably familiar with the tale of Cheeky naming himself Ronak. If you aren't and wish to get acquainted, do read the link at the bottom. It seems to be a never ending battle with not 1 but both my kids. They think its quite normal to rename themselves. And I have to run nick names by them too.

The Cheeky Tale:
We are a Tamil family with too many last names. Traditionally we take the first name of our dad as the last name. As you can imagine that can get quite confusing. After marriage, the girl takes the husband's first name as the last name. I ofcourse chose not to. So now we are stuck with 3 last names. In a stroke of genius we decided it would make our lives so much easier and conversations with doctor offices so much shorter if we all had the same last name. So we picked a family name and decided to retain our current last name as a middle name. So no one loses right? Except my kids wanted to have a say in it. After arguing with us for hours, Cheeky came up to us and said. Hey I know.. when you change my name can I be Peter James? That ended the name change discussion in our house, forever!

The Tootsie Tale:
Tootsie is 4 now and we have run through all possible nick names I can give her. But she just hates them all. I love to call my kids by nick names, pet names that only mommy uses and a pen name that I use on my blog. So even before Tootsie was born we had a name picked for her and a pen name as well. But no nick name. Since their names are very close, I wanted to come up with something Unique that's only Tootsie. But my 1 and 2 yr old gave me opinions about Nick name. She is 4 now and I have settled on a cute little nick name for her Nu-nu... and she corrects me "Thats a baby name, not my name". So this summer for a dress up day I got her a pink dress, fairy wings and a beautiful tiara and wand. Told her she was Princess Nu-Nu. Since then she is a little bit more accepting of the name, but only occasionally. Well she will be till she knows the real story. I forgot about dress up day at school and walked in to a room full of princesses and super heroes! True "One Fine Day" moment... but I apologized to her and walked out. As I sat at a meeting that morning, the scene from One fine day flashed in my head. So I canceled my next meeting, rushed to Target and picked whatever I could find! They don't sell costumes in July, so I had to get creative. And it kind of helped! But not quite. My 4 yr old insists I use her full name to call her every time! Who does that? Do you?

[The Cheeky Tale: http://incessantmusings.blogspot.com/2007/12/naughty-gene-payback_20.html]

My Real Family!!

Whats with my kids and cheeky talk? Tootsie is turning out to be a talker. And the things that leave her mouth. We have had numerous conversations about fictitious lunches, her teachers talking Tamil after I leave and more recently Santa's discussions with her.

However the conversation we had this week took the cake! I was driving home with the kids a couple nights ago. Cheeky and I were talking about hair styles and bangs. Cheeky was telling me why bangs were not a good idea and how he was glad Tootsie grew hers out. While confused little Tootsie kept chiming in from the back "And you know I looked like Dracula with my bangs"... 4 yrs old and we get f and b confused! But we are not fazed by the fact that we had fangs!!

Finally we revealed to her that bangs had to do with hair and not teeth. So then she says "Yeah my real family really liked bangs so they gave me some". That stopped our conversation in its tracks.
"Real Family?" I asked
"Yes my real family who had me till I was 2 years old" Tootsie says with a straight face
We were still very confused, so Cheeky asks her "Who is your real family?"
"You know my English Mom, English Dad and English Brother".
Cheeky and I were speechless, we exchanged puzzled looks. Tootsie took this opportunity to educate us
"And now because I live with my Indian family I am learning Tamil" and she went on to say "Amma thanni kudu" (Mom give me some water) very calmly like this was all very normal.

So then we asked her "If your English family gave you to us, do we need to give you back to them?". She says "yeah, I will need to go back."

By then I had figured out why we were having this conversation, so I asked "Are you saying this because we talk Tamil and you don't?"

"Yes my English family only knew English, but my Indian family knows Tamil so I am learning" She says with an exaggerated sigh!

Will teach M to try teach her Tamil.. M is guilty of trying to get her to talk with her grand mom in Tamil this past weekend.

So this went on for 2 days when she described her family. Asked for names she said "I was too little, I didn't know the name of my mom, I just called her "Mom"". We of course narrated this preposterous story to my sister and she quizzed her about the English family as well.

Last night my sister in law sent us pictures of Kanu Pidi, a south Indian tradition that we do for Pongal (Harvest Festival). I was carrying Tootise and Cheeky stood next to me as I showed them the video and pictures. So the kids asked what that was about. So I said "They are praying to God that like a flock of crows, the family should stay together forever". Cheeky then told Tootsie "Oh but we dont need to pray for you, your English family will do that"

Tootsie hugged me and said "But mommy I want to stay with you forever. I am not going to go back to my English family"
Finally last night I guess Cheeky wore her down, she came to me and said
"You know I was with my English family before I came to your tummy" and later "Mommy I was just pretending about the English family"

What clued me in. Earlier that day I was working from home and on a conference call. Tootsie came up to me making gestures and mouthing something to me. M watching this asked her what she wanted and what she was trying to do. So Tootsie clarifies "When Mommy is talking to English people, she doesn't like them to hear me. So I was whispering!". And of course the fact that she frets over not being able to talk in Tamil. She keeps repeating the 4 words she knows in Tamil telling us "I am talking in Tamil now"

But well in all these that's the first time she has accepted her pretense. I am amazed at how well this kid can fabricate tales and stick with it all keeping a straight face. Like Cheeky says "Maybe we have a future writer?" Or I think Conman?

Starving for lunch

I have a big problem! The day care Tootsie goes to refuses to feed her lunch. They just starve my poor baby every day! Poor girl just cant catch a break here!

So every evening I pick Tootsie up from school and start on my hour long drive back home in traffic. This is usually our time to chat about our day! Or so I think. The first thing I do is hand her a snack and when she is done judging and going through all the different options for the day. Apparently I am a restaurant on Wheels! Anyway when she is done we can finally begin to share our day!

Usually one of the first questions I ask her is about her lunch. So here are a few examples of our conversations

Mom: Tootsie what did you eat for lunch today
(No Answer)
Mom: Tootsie what did you have for lunch today?
(No Answer)
Mom: Tootsie did you eat lunch today?
Tootsie: No
Mom: How come?
Mom: Tootsie did they give you any lunch today?
Tootsie: No
Mom: What about the other kids?
Tootsie: They ate lunch
Mom: What were you doing?
Tootsie: There was no place for me at the table, so I did not eat

Another day
Mom: Tootsie did your teacher give you any lunch today?
Tootsie: No
Mom: SO you did not get to sit a the table today?
Tootsie: Today I sat at the table, they did not give me lunch
Mom: What about the other kids?
Tootsie: No one got lunch today
Mom: So you did not eat anything today?
Tootsie: No I ate dessert
Mom: What did you eat for dessert?
Tootsie: Yoghurt

Yet Another Day
Mom: Tootsie did you eat lunch today?
Tootsie: No
Mom: But I saw them making lunch this morning
Tootsie: You did (I can hear the wheels turning at this point) 
Mom: I did, so don't tell me they did not give you lunch
Tootsie: They did give us lunch, but Mason was very hungry. And he ate it all up
Mom: What? Did your teacher not tell him anything?
Tootsie: She said "Mason don't eat from other's plates"
Mom: And...
Tootsie: He still ate it

And the next day
Mom: Tootsie did the give you lunch today?
Tootsie: Yes
Mom : Did you eat it?
Tootsie: Yes, Mason did not eat it today
Mom: What did you eat for lunch?
Tootsie: Rice and Bean ...
Mom thinking "Finally"
Tootsie: And Nuggets and hot dog and dal and rice and rice cakes and strawberry and broccoli and banana. I ate it all up.

Oh Boy! I give up officially... I would take back Cheeky's "I don't know" or "I don't remember" any day!!!

Driving Confessions

My car pool buddy and I have very intense conversations every night. There is something about sitting in the traffic for hours at end that will do it to you. It makes us philosophical. Besides that sometimes there are geography lessons to be had. And who is this driving buddy you ask? Why it is the little pixie called Tootsie. Tootsie has been a late bloomer when it comes to conversations. She is a talker alright, but she is a dreamy talker none of the cheekiness of the big brother. Here are some excerpts from our conversations

"Mommy, S is going to come to my home, take the princess clothes and give them away to Santa". S is the best friend and they so lovvveee each other. If you have a girl you know how that works. With Cheeky, the other kid was either a friend or not. And if he was a best friend they played together, if the kid was not a best friend they still played together every other day!! Life was simple. Now its all stories about "How will you feel if I do that to you" or "I am going to send a note home to your mommy. Then how will you feel" or "I am never going to be your friend again". There is so much drama involved.

Anyway so today's story was about the princess clothes. After trying unsuccessfully to tell her that S did not have the authority to do that, I decided to try another route.
"How does she know where Santa lives"
Tootsie - "Everyone knows where Santa lives"
How come I am not in on the secret then?
"Really? Where does he live?"
Tootsie - "He lives in a hotel"
"Which one?"
"The Hotel Santa"
"Where is that"
"It is where Santa lives on his sled and his reindeers live with him"
"Ok, do you know how to get there?"
"Of Course!"
"How?"
"You get there by car mommy"
"But how. What way do you take?"
"The road way mommy"
 "But do you know how to get there"
"I told you .. you drive in the car mommy" Exasperated voice
But I know to push it "How Tootsie?"
"Like this" says she turning the imaginary wheel round and round!!
"Oh that way. Now I get it"

Albeit slow, I am finally all caught up on Santa's co-ordinates. If you need help just ask Tootsie and her friend S.

The art of hiding!

Have you ever been faced with the daunting task of finding something so well hidden that it takes you weeks or months to unearth it? Well of course you have! And so have I. But not when I hid it on purpose!!

I have always been known as the google of the household. I can always find thing no matter how well hidden! Little did I know that the reverse was true as well. 

Anyway, the story goes like this! A year back Cheeky 's music teacher at school decided to teach the kids how to play the recorder! Now as parents of Cheeky we are in no doubts about where his artistic talents lie! Let's just say that gene skipped him! After sitting through a variety of concerts year after year we knew too well what to expect! ( hey I am not a bad parent... Just a realist! As is Cheeky... He will be the first to admit how tone deaf he is !)

So the concept of a group of 3 rd graders playing the recorder was daunting to say the least! So the 5$ was paid and the recorder was brought home to "practice"!! After the first week practice was limited to Cheeky's room. After week 3, the recorder never left the backpack!  What especially helped my cause was the 2 yr old Tootsie running away recorder in hand every time her brother brought it out! So in fear of damage, the brother kept it out of sight! 

On the day of the concert everyone dressed like for a black tie event and listened to what can only be described as sounds on the multitude of recorders!! We did make out the beginning of hot cross bins and/ or three blind mice to the music teacher's credit! 

Now back home and the fear all gone the recorder was out in the open with not 1 but 2 kids attempting to "play" the recorder. I did what every mom faced with this situation does ... I hid the recorder!! And I hid it well :)

Life has been peaceful this past year till the music teacher decided ... To teach the recorder again this year! And the hubs decided to teach Cheeky a life lesson to "waste not and what not"!! Cheeky pushed mom to find the recorder ofcourse at 7:45 on the day of music class! The recorder was no where to be found! Ofcourse!! 

Now a month later and no recorder I finally decided to take some pity on him and splurge! But not before I asked him "So what have you been doing the past few weeks at music?" 

Cheeky says "oh the teacher has me practice on a stick with markings"

"You think he will let you have it for 3$" I ask

"No" says Cheeky

"Well what about for 6$" ... Hey I don't have to hear a pretend stick right !!

Anyway 4 weeks later the money has still not been paid! This week we came close, in fear of Cheeky's wrath I asked a friend at school to lend him the 5$. She got it to him after Music. So until next week to convince Cheeky to buy the stick instead!

How old is old?? 3??

As I carried my daughter and walked towards Costco, Tootsie spent her time canvassing a movie she wanted to watch later. And then she let me in on a little secret. "Mommy I am old" says she, still stitting on my hip. "Really" I asked her "how old?"
"Old!!" came the reply... making her case to swipe my credit card at the store. And she is old.. 3 going on 13! I wonder what the future will bring!

And she has a plan! "When I turn 4  I will need to learn Dance, Jijitsu, Football and Swimming" says the diva. " At 3 I will just learn dance". Cheeky is all into MMA and UFC. So Tootsie wants to learn Jijitsu as long as it doesn't give her a "boo-boo". She might just whip out a contract here before we sign her up!

At school the little missy is learning to write her name. She misspells her name all the time, she repeats the same syllable over and over again. After weeks of correcting her and getting into trouble for it, we have given up. Every time we correct her she gets so mad at us! Whatever happened to parents admonishing children.. its the reverse in our household.

So the other day I went to pick her up at school and Tootsie showed me a picture she had drawn. Then she pointed to the rowdy syllable in her name. "See mommy I only wrote it twice" she said. Me being annoying me said "But princess you wrote it 3 times, see". The princess was mad! She walked out of school with a long drawn face with the dark storm clouds following us. To her credit she held herself till we got to the car and then let it loose at me "Mommy that's not fair! You and Daddy keep changing my name" she said! The troubles of my little princess are multifold indeed!

Christmas brought an interesting turn of events in Cheeky-ville. With a 9 yr old cynic and a 3 yr old believer, things sure got interesting here. Santa survived the trials and brought us the gifts. But not before we were no longer sure who was the believer and who the cynic. Just in case a trip to the mall was made, minus Cheeky who did not want "any part of the drama". [9 is officially a teen year now I think!] Tootsie all business like walked up to Santa and said "I want the Sophia toy. It is available at Costco".  She would have given him directions too if Santa hadn't distracted her asking her age. And then she launched into this long tale about how she was 3 but had to have a bday cake and a party when she turned 4. Only instead of the candles, she is just going to have 4 parties and 4 cakes! How convenient!!

Anyway, if you thought that Tootsie would not be satisfied, you are sooo wrong! Because then the mom had to be informed about the doll in Costco. And how it could be purchased day after Christmas. "And you have to pay before you can open it ok?" Yes Maam... we get the drift!

So as you can see between changing names and buying gifts, toosie-town is a happening place! Until next time.. Chao!!

Little Miss Attitude

It's been long since I stopped to write!! I have been lazy I admit!! In my defense my life has been turned tipsy turvy by a certain little missy. For the past year and it looks like for the rest of our lives, we have turned on the dramatics.

Talk about the other side of the grass. I always thought when Cheeky was younger that I missed having a girl. I thought girls were easier and mellow. Boy did I have my head turned around!! 

Today every small task involves dramatics and hours of negotiation. You skip a step or raise the voice a tiny notch... The drama begins!!! You will then find yourself dealing with hours of trauma and regret!!! So we have learnt the hard way!! 

A few weeks back I took Tootsie to an eye exam. They showed her slides with pictures. 3rd slide down she refused to tell us anything. After a lot of probing and cajoling we were informed "but I already said all that"

Her teacher had the kids gluing skin colored faces and features to teach them body parts in Spanish. They missed arranging a Indian colored face... So Tootsie told her teacher "I can't do this, it's not my skin color". She has duly informed me that she is browned!!

It's been eventful needless to say.. The little miss stamps her unique personality on everything including art. Here is a self portrait of her highness!!

Meanwhile in the elementary world Cheeky is fast growing and never fails to remind me he is almost a preteen!! The cheekiness stays on much to my relief!! This week he has been tasked with writing a scary story for a creative writing contest. His story has werewolves and graffiti. But was scared me most was the werewolf crawling through air ducts letting off carbon monoxide bombs in the cafeteria. And there was green fumes filling the place. Now should I rejoice the creativity or worry about the devious plot?? I wonder!!

Amanat - A treasure really?

For the past few days I have been reading about Amanat, the Indian girl who was raped brutally and left to die in the streets of Delhi. The people of India gave the government a wake up call this time. Protestors marched the streets of the country and forced the government to sit up and take notice. Last night Amanat breathed her last. She had been battered to the point of death, this was bound to happen.

For days we have been debating this in our household... what can be done to stop this crime. We talked about capital punishment, castration and public humiliation. Nothing seems sufficient. Rape is not the only henious crime either, in general law enforcement in India has become a standing joke!

Protestors crowded the streets of Delhi. Many expressed their anger and anguish yet I have not seen the names or pictures of the perpetrators. Are we protecting their identity? The government promised swift action and the country will move on like we always have. Yet there have been so many other rape incidents in the news this past week. What about the 14 yr old in Ahmedabad or the 18 yr old in Patiala both of whom attempted suicide. The latter died.

I think back to the days I roamed the streets of Bangalore. My friends would laugh at my paranoia, but I never felt safe in the streets. Every time I worked late and returned home at night, the company bus would drop us off at a street corner a mile away from home. We would have to walk across a little hamlet to get home. I always checked who else was working late before I made a decision to work late. I always made sure I had company returning home alone at night. That is the true state of the country. My independence was never complete. Today I sit in another part of the world and worry about my kids getting home safely but thats a story for another day!

A few years back I visited India and travelled to many citites on a sight seeing vacation. I travelled by train a lot, roamed the streets of Delhi and other popular cities. I went devoid of jewellery, my eyes constantly on the look out for trouble. And I found them lurking around every corner. The guy who keeps staring at your breasts, the other guy who walks too close aiming to brush his body against yours. There was this guy who followed me the length of a railway station looking, staring! I turned to glare and he moved back a few inches. I walked towards the police force guarding the station and the man ran away. I later realised this guy was probably a chain snatcher. My mangal sutra went into the afe at home and stayed there for the rest of my trip. This my friends is the true state of India.

We call her Amanat, the name does not roll so easily from my tongue. For we failed to treasure and protect her. We mourn her death and vow to ensure it was not in vain. But we failed as a nation. So what do we do to make sure this does not happen again? I dont claim to know the solution but I do have a few ideas.

Every Indian, man or woman needs to go sign up for a self defence class. Teach your kids the value of humanity and respect. Teach them to stand strong and fight back, teach them to be brave and yet not foolhardy. Be armed and forewarned. It could be a pepper spray, or a taser but it will prove useful. Vote for the right leaders, we dont need puppets and pupeteers, we dont need corrupt politicians, we need visionaries and true leaders. Clean up the country, it is your responsibility and mine.

Weilding a gun! Your right or another's threat?

It was another Friday at work. Being the week before Christmas I was decorating my cube to make it look festive. I went to check my email and there was nothing festive about what I read. I sat there miles away from the tragedy but a mom nevertheless. I felt my breath leave my lungs and could feel the sadness engulf me. A colleague looked ashen white and another couldn't get herself to eat food. These people had nothing to do with the tragedy, but they had one thing in common with the people in Newtown. They were moms, parents and they knew what the parents in Newtown were going through.

This weekend as I went about my regular activities there was a shadow cast on it. My thoughts kept going to the parents who had to bury their kid. Who had to deal with losing a child and who had to live with it for the rest of their life. If you are a parent, you went through this too. Today my husband and I talked about how to tell this to our children. How do we prepare them for that crazy guy with a gun. For if it can happen in Newton, in Colorado and in Virginia it can happen anywhere! Many parents are thinking the same things today.

Yet there are those that say gun control is not the answer. There are those who claim an armed teacher could have helped. We call ourselves a civilized society yet we argue that we need to bring a gun to a school in order to take out a maniac? There is a reason we have cops and law enforcement. And to me the point is lost if anyone can pick up a gun and defend himself. So when the kids get caught in cross fire it would be justified? Because someone was trying to save them?

I read an article today about how Australia, Scotland and Finland learnt the hard way. After mass massacres they brought in gun control laws. 

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/politics/121217/sandy-hook-newtown-shooting-gun-control-australia-scotland-finland-changed-gun-laws-after-shooting

Yet we stand here after yet another tragedy, not the first one we have seen in the past few years and talk about the right of wielding a gun? I dont have to make any arguments the facts speak for themselves

Fareed Zakaria of CNN posted recently : "From GPS: The sheer number of guns isn’t an isolated statistic. The data shows the U.S. compares badly on fatalities, too. The U.S has three gun homicides per 100,000 people. That’s four times as many as Switzerland, ten times as many as India, 20 times as many as Australia and England. Whatever you think of gun rights and gun control, the numbers don’t flatter America."

To me it is neither these facts, nor the arguments for and against gun control that sway me. It is the fact that ever day my child goes to school, everyday a loved one goes to a movie theater, or goes to a mall to go shopping I will worry. I will worry because terrorism is not from countries foreign to us, but stems from those within us. Every third person in my city holds a gun. Do I need to ask for mental research or that he put that gun away? I choose the latter!

Put it away. Put your kids ahead of everything else. Gun control!!

ToodleDoo from Tootsie Town!

Its never quiet at Tootsie town. Be it preschool or the Christmas wishlist, the Tootsie style gives us some laughs and the much needed relief in our otherwise mundane life. Oh well, there are days when the relief is all the yelling, screaming and drama. But other days like these, is what makes life as a parent worth its while. For kids do say and do the funniest things!

The latest preschool tale we are being told is still about Nafan (oh yeah thats what the little boy is called, and you dare not correct her!! I do hope the boy's parents dont read this blog though, after lovingly naming their boy they now stand corrected?)

So Nafan was asked by Tootsie
"Whats your name Nafan?"
"Nafan! Whats your name Tootsie" he asks
"Cutie Pie" says the little minx. And you dare not try calling her anything else "Me Cutie Pie" she corrects her mom. Hey little pixie I named you remember?

And then there is the Christmas tale. Cheeky has been getting early Christmas gifts by the hour. Because he claims he doesn't believe in Santa. So now all of a sudden he doesn't need to wait till Christmas to open his gifts? Boy this is getting exhausting! Meanwhile a guilt ridden mom tried to do right by Tootsie who seemed innocently unaware. So mommy asked "Tootsie do you know who Santa is"
"Yes" said Tootsie excitedly.
"Do you know he brings gifts to good kids?" asked Mama
"No Mama, Toys!" says Tootsie emphatically
"Yes toys" says the foolish Mom "What do you want for Christmas Honey?"
"Barney" says Tootsie and immediately bursts into tears "Where is Barney??" she cries.
Boy did I not tell you.. I am slipping in my parenting skills. So mom and Cheeky went online and ordered a Barney Plush toy. Cheeky in a moment of magnanimity (is that even a word?)  offered to buy it for his sister as a Christmas gift. Days later the Barney arrived. Cheeky and Dad could not hold the surprise, so here we were in the 2nd week of December and Tootsie had her first Christmas gift. A Barney singing "I Love you". The smile on her face stopped the protest on my lips. Till she declared in about an hour's time. An hour for which Barney sang I love you, non stop and she danced to his tune. An hour later she held him up and said firmly "That's enough! Go Inside the TV". And she insists that Barney go back inside the TV where she can watch him!
Sigh! We had to sell the plush toy up! Marketing and Advertising has things to learn from our family. So now she hugs the plush and watches Barney on TV!

What about Christmas you ask? Well I have my next gift planned and ordered. And hopefully I will be smart enough to hide it this time! The other day when I arrived with Tootsie at school she took me over to the toy kitchen in her classroom and I was thrilled. I lucked out, Tootsie is going to get her heart's desire. I had to share my joy and told her teacher. She assured me that Tootsie would love it for she spent her days at school at the toy kitchen. And whats more she spent her time multi-tasking while her left shoulder held the phone to her ear! I shared this tale with Cheeky and he said "So does she have a Tootsie clinging to her feet too?". Cheeky has not lost his touch!

He is blogging now.. my little baby is all grown up! http://coolcheekytimes.blogspot.com