Shaurya's Chronicles

Jumpy Jumpy !!!

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I guess joining Shaurya's play school as a coordinator myself was one of the wiser decisions that I have made in recent times. Being able to be with him or around him while he is busy with other children and doing his own thing gives me an altogether different window to his growing up years. 

The time that he spends in the play school would have otherwise been a closed shell and I feel lucky at times to be able to have a first person account of his new pranks now and hence it is but natural for my posts to now talk about things that my little champ is learning at school. Honestly, considering his age, I really never thought that he would be doing so many things in school, but as it turns out, my angel is picking up new lessons and new tricks with every passing day.

At times it feels so exciting to catch a glimpse of him in his class that I hide behind the wall and peep through the glass windows. I know, I might be sounding a little too protective or maybe a little too obsessed here but then one has got to experience the joy of watching your child interact with other children and learn his lessons the way they come to exactly appreciate what I am living here.

Well, there are endless things that are done in the class. And out of them, one is their prayer which they say right after they all are there in the class and then before meals. According to his teacher, Shaurya is the only one who says the entire prayer, (but then in his own language) and the time the children say ‘Thank you God’, he says ‘Thank you Ball’. I have tried getting him to repeat the correct version after me almost a hundred times the whole day, but without success thus far.

Another thing that he has been enjoying lately is jumping on a small mattress that the children use to sit on when in the school. He normally calls out ‘Jumpy Jumpy’ and goes crazy and funny when he does it.  He does it alone at home, with me joining in occasionally. But then at school, he invites the other kids to follow him and keeps saying ‘Aao’ to call in everyone around him to join him in his prank.

I won’t say that he’s learning all good things, because in all class there are all kinds of children. I don't normally interfere with his natural progression and I am certainly not denying him his rightful share of being naughty and allowing him to make his mistakes. But given the fact that as a mother I might be biased at times, he still comes off as one of the better students and more sensible than others in his peer group at times and I feel glad to bask in the glory of his sunshine days with him, by his side.

The Song and The Mud

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I remember the excitement and anticipation that annual functions and sports days in schools used to generate for us as kids. Well, it was time to relive all that excitement once again as Shaurya attended his first Sports Day at school last Sunday (February 1st, 2009). Since his class were the youngest lot in the school, I was asked to be with him for the march past and races.

Shaurya was not as excited as I was, maybe because he is still young to understand all this. He missed his March Past, as he got up late, but then we were in time for his songs routine.

Their class had to stand in a semi- circle and clap and act on the songs to be sung by the teachers. I stood behind him in the ground and kept singing all that I remembered of the lyrics. He kept on clapping like the other kids initially, but then something came upon him and he sat down to play with mud. While all other children were busy clapping and doing their actions, my little hero was busy with the plain joys of life, getting his hands dirty. He got so excited after a while and naughty as he is, he started throwing mud on himself and on the kids around him. It was funny to see him play on and be busy with himself and the dirt on the ground as children around him clapped on with the song.

Well I could not be with him all through the day, as I was one of the organizers, but I could see him sitting on his dad’s shoulders all the time. Seeing him in his Yellow Sports Day Dress I realized how fast the time went by. It was just two years back that he used to be in my arms, and I wanted him to run around, talk and play and here he was taking his first steps on the roads of learning and education.

As ever, I stood by his side, watching him and doling out my love for him in little ways he understood and carrying dreams for him which I hope, he would understand with time. And as ever, my heart swelled to see his antics with a joy that I guess only a mother would understand.

Love you, Son.

Happy To You....

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I know I have written after a long time. Well if the wait has been long, the post has to be a special one and what better than one about my Hero's birthday celebrations as he enters the age of 'Troublesome Two's'.

His birthday was on January 8 and was attended by a few close friends and family members at a Pizza Hut outlet in GK-I. There were no kids his age as he still has no friends around but I am sure he did not mind that and really had a great time, as there were so many of us to pamper him and dole all our love at him - our little prince.

For the occasion, I dressed him up in a nice black coat, with a tie and a matching cap and I guess he knew it too that he was looking very handsome and he posed smartly for a couple of pictures that we took.

Now as soon as we got the cake and laid it on the table, he was all set to cut it. I was kind of surprised that he did not have to be told what to do and was all ready with the knife on his own. He readily passed the knife through the cake and clapped on his own and sang, “Happy To You”.. We all couldn’t help laughing and I was smiling at the fact that he finally is learning things at school. And even when we all were finished cutting the cake and having it, he still wanted to carry on with the knife and kept singing his "Happy To You" song.

The next thing he did was even funnier than his version of the birthday song. My hero caught hold of the match box which was used to light the birthday candles and in no time, he was playing with the match sticks and suddenly we saw him put a drinking straw in his mouth as he was holding the matches.

Well, for him it was just another prank, but for us, it appeared as if he was trying to light a cigarette. His activity continued for another five minutes and the only thing we all did was to observe his prank. We all started laughing and he was taken aback at our behavior. May be he just got surprised at the way we all laughed at his antics. I am not sure if he saw someone light up a cigarette before him and just aped the exercise or was it just some innocent child play. What ever it was, it just cemented my belief further that we as parents need to be very watchful of our actions and careful of the words that we use when he is around.

I guess I shall leave it to him about the choices he makes in his life and things and habits that he wants to pick up. Who knows if he would even care for my opinion then? But then all this while as I watch him grow and take decisions and make choices and mistakes, I wish to stand guard and protect him as much as I can..but then I know that someday I shall have to let go..but until then, I am all there for you son, whenever you need me.

Love you and God Bless.

Shaurya goes to Play School

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A mother is the first teacher a child gets. It is very important that the mother be open to ideas and is able to logically evaluate a situation and take sound decisions which can help her select and develop the right kind of environment a child needs to be brought up in. I guess during these early years, extrinsic factors play a pivotal role in channeling a child's energies and developing his interests which become instrumental in later years for him to pick the right career and a better life. 

We, as parents held different views at the notion of Shaurya going to a play school as young as he is. I was both anxious and nervous at the idea of his being out of the house initially. However, after many discussions and arguments, we finally agreed on sending Shaurya to a play school.

Luckily for us, we found a good place nearby which functioned both as play school and a day care. We were yet to know how Shaurya would react to the situation and were apprehensive if he would like it there, so we took him along with us when we went to seek information regarding the admission process and all.

My little champ, much to our delight was happy to be there and as soon as we went to check out the classrooms, his excitement knew no bounds. He kept running around and entered a class higher than his level and quickly pulled a chair, took a sheet and picked up a crayon and began drawing lines all over the sheet. Well, on a closer look I noticed that he actually tried using more than a single crayon on the paper and I am more tempted to call it as Shaurya’s first drawing than a spaghetti of lines. 

I guess all our apprehensions were put to rest that day and we completed the necessary formalities and had Shaurya finally admitted to his first school.

THE FIRST DAY: His first day at school got him even more excited. As soon as he entered the school gate, he went directly up the stairs to his room and then he wanted to be all over the place. I had to go downstairs to fill up his form and fees and all I could hear was Shaurya’s loud ‘Yeeeeeaaahhhhh', & ‘Woooooooow’.. which meant that he was having a great time.

He was given a school diary, a bright red book with his picture and our details inside, along with a round hand painting which read "Welcome to the Circle Family" and he was all happy and charged up about it. 

I was so excited to see all this and the only thing he did was to yell and cry to go back to his class. It was kind of difficult to get him out of there. Luckily one of his cousins was with me and could divert his attention and I could bring him back home without much cry & hullabaloo. 

I am glad that he has taken well to his new school and that he is all too happy to be out there and do his own thing, be with other children his age and play and learn new things. I really hope and pray that he continues happily so and in turn really cultivates an inclination for school and education and well...make me proud some day.

I as his mother, hope to stand by him, watch him grow and be a man of values and able judgement, caring and praying for him and all that is within my capacity for him to reach great heights.

"All the best, Son."

Mother's Panic, Baby's Ride

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At times life catches you unaware and turns the otherwise seemingly mundane events into frantic adventures. Well, I had one such misadventure lately and without offense to anyone this one goes as a lesson to all the mothers who trust their babies to babysitters and friends and others only to find them locked up inside their cars... yeah with keys inside the car.

Shaurya lately has started seeking company and often urges to tag along with anyone who passes by the main door of the house. At times he gets so aggressive to move out of the house that it seems as if he hates staying at his own home. He has made a few friends around and quite often loves spending time at the neighbour’s house. And it seems that he has a good time there too, may be because they have a dog or may be he gets too much of attention, and then comes back loaded with candies.

Very often our neighbour’s young daughter takes him over to spend the evening with them. Just yesterday evening, she took him along to park her car onto one side. She put him in the passenger seat and parked the car and came out of it to take him out from the other side and suddenly realized that she had locked the car and had even left the keys inside.

I was watching all this from the balcony and was horrified as soon as I realized that something was wrong. And to top everything she didn’t even have the spare keys to the car.

I was frantic and kept banging on the windows seeking Shaurya's attention and using all signs and all of ‘his languages’ to get him to pull up the lock on his own, but all in vain. My little champ was oblivious to all the commotion around him and busied himself playing with the steering wheel and the gear box and was laughing at the way we all were running around like crazy.

After having tried looking up for spare keys, searching for locksmiths and all things in the vicinity, we tried forcing the lock using a foot ruler but even this didn’t help. And all this while my little devil kept looking at us from inside, laughing and enjoying the circus around him.

I was beginning to get all tense and worried now and was on the verge of losing my composure and would have broken down crying had it not been for a good Samaritan who came over and helped us out and to my relief opened the door by forcing a stick through the window.

The interesting thing was that once the door was open and when I tried taking Shaurya out of the car, he was totally unwilling to get out of his play area. He had no idea of what his mother was going through and how worried I had been.

I guess this is how life goes. A mother would wail her heart out for his child and the child can be lost in his own world. Anyway, the only meaningful lesson that I could get out of the entire episode was to never trust some one you love more than yourself, to anyone else.

"Nai-Nai" & Here Y' Go

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So, one thing that my little champ has been fond of and which I still have not put in, is his natural liking for water and his eagerness to be in the shower.

I have, personally come across many a children who detest taking a bath like anything and it is usually an uphill task for their mothers to have them cleaned up without being audience to a huge uproar from them. Luckily for me, my Hero takes in after me on this aspect and loves to be in water - be it his bath tub, shower or when in pool with me.

Now the down side of his affection for bathing and water is that he wants to accompany everyone who is heading for a shower. He keeps chanting ‘Nai Nai’ which is his own term for bathing.

One has to see the smile on his face to understand what I am talking about. His happiness knows no bounds and he is his joyful best and keeps reciting “Ba Ba Black Sheep” and “Johnny Johnny” when in shower. I guess he really loves this particular time of the day.

However, the easier it is to get him in the shower, the difficult it is to get him out. I have to throw a dozen reasons for him to be out of his bath tub at times, luring him with toys and God, knows what.

And then the shower ritual has to be succeeded with a fixed pattern of post-shower activities. As a routine practice, I apply baby powder, lotion and hair oil to him after he has had his bath. He has now become smart enough to know that all this has to follow once he is out of the water and now asks for his 'cosmetics' by chanting "Here Y' Go" on and on. (I reckon he picked up this "Here You Go" phrase from me, as I used to say it to him when powdering him and stuff)

Anyway, it so happened that I was down with a backache a few days back and his Daddy volunteered to give him his daily shower. When it came to drying him, he had no idea that powder, lotion and oil had to be applied and he made Shaurya wear his clothes right away. I guess my little  prince was quick to point out that some thing was amiss and kept on chanting, "Here Y' Go"

His Daddy was just not able to make out what he was trying to say, and as it had to be after a while my baby started crying. All the commotion made me get up from bed and once I understood what the situation was, I could not help have a hearty laugh despite all my backache.

Later, in the day I was reminiscing about the incident and could not help wondering at my little bundle of joy. Maybe one of these days when I grow old and want things, he would bring me my stuff and tell me "Here You Go, Mamma" !!