Musings of a 7 year old brain

K's casual conversation over morning coffee: "I would like my birthday to be famous... you know how everyone celebrates Christmas because it's Jesus Christ's birthday? It's quite simple really, I only need to start a new religion. I am thinking, maybe something to do with friendly ghosts...?"

Alternate ending with a twist

Remember little K's Star Wars phase which we thought was never going to end? I think it might just have ended. But before I could jump with joy and thrust my fist into the sky.... a new phase has started. He's obsessed with Harry Potter now. He has devoured the first 4 books (followed by the movie), and can only talk about Harry Potter characters and their back stories. As a parent, the good news here is that there's way less branded merchandise for Harry Potter than there was for Star Wars. 

So here's something that came up during dinner a few weeks back: if Voldermort had 'summoned' some nuclear bombs maybe he could've killed Harry in the first book itself? 

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was well-spent at the park (cricket, picnic lunch, some grown up time, some kiddie time). Would've been perfect if Singapore were a little cooler, but that's being greedy now.

A lot of Whatsapp messages were received on Mother's Day, and many Facebook posts were tagged. Not really sure if I'm comfortable calling myself a 'superhero' or 'an angel from heaven'. It's a bit intimidating, don't you think? I'm human, I make mistakes, I'm imperfect, and I'm a mum only because I love being one.

The Swan Lake

Reverse schooled (v): When a child introduces a 30-something parent to something cool and new, and the parent learns with wide-eyed rapture.

K came home from school the other day, and said he learnt about folk-tales in his language class, and would like to watch the ballet The Swan Lake. I had never seen a ballet before. I had watched Natalie Portman's Black Swan and I had watched my friends daughter's ballet recital with students under the age of 12, but never seen a proper ballet. So we googled The Swan Lake and watched it together on YouTube. Little K knew the sequence of the Acts and what happens in each Act, so he talked me through it as the story progressed. It was in the final act, that I saw tears welling up in his eyes as he said, "Now Prince Seigfried & Odelle decide they want to die together rather than live apart". His emotional grasp of the ballet shocked me. At the age of 7, I would've imagined that he would find an hour long ballet boring, but I was so wrong! He surprised me with the breadth of his interests - from Star Wars to Swan Lake it's quite a span! As for me, I learnt and saw something new yesterday. And it sure was pretty!

P.S. Here's me thinking in verses again:

Swans tiptoe across my screen,

As violins make their melody prance,

And a story unfolds of a tragic love,

Beautiful words that can be spoken only in dance.

I watch him tearing at the swan's despair,

Her hollow arched back and despondent gait,

As I watch my own swan's metamorphosis,

I am stunned by the moment's weight.

He has learnt a new language today,

Felt a stir in a new depth within,

Rooting for love he doesn't yet understand,

Unknowingly but not unwittingly, to win.

K's 7th

7 is the new 17. Seriously, he talks like a teenager, behaves like one, and is complicated like one. The silver lining, he still allows me to kiss and cuddle him (not in front of his friends though).

In the theme of his latest obsession, he celebrated his 7th birthday at the Army Museum and the most loved birthday gift was a book on World War II. There goes my hope of raising a Gandhian. 

The Steve McCurry Exhibition

The Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Singapore is running an exhibition of some of Steve McCurry's most famous photographs. These two were little K's favourites. Why? In the first photo, K likes how the little boy is running and both his feet are in mid-air. In the second photo of the shaolin monks, K likes how the guy can walk on a wall like Spider-Man, but what he really loves in this photo is the monk's hairstyle. Perfectly great reasons to love a photo, I say!

K's mom's school schedule

As I mentioned in my last post, little K has started going to a 'big school'. Literally. The school is huge and built like a maze and I'm constantly worried about losing K when I go to fetch him from school. But here's the most difficult part for ME about K's new school: Getting him ready on time! 

Chinese torture technique #1...take a 6 year old who normally eats a meal in 15 mins; give him 35 mins to finish his breakfast on a school morning; watch him procrastinate swallowing that first bite for 30 mins; then watch your blood boil while you stuff his face with the remaining food in the remaining time of 5 minutes! 

Ps: I'm so tired!

Little K goes to an American school now!

**holding my breath**

Nehru Planetarium

Did I mention that I went to the Nehru Planetarium? For the first time since I was 11 or 12 perhaps. And let me say, it didn't disappoint. Have I seen cooler science centers or space centers? Yes. But having said that, a child doesn't care about cool. All K could do was marvel at the science of space, and gape at the graphics (updated with a lot of cool Hubble Telescope images) & soak in what it means to be part of The Universe (which he now understands is "ginormous").

Roald Dahl Crazy

While we were in India, K picked up something unexpected from his older cousin: he is now obsessed with Roald Dahl books! Thought he would enjoy them a couple of years later, but he is loving them already (expect for The Witches, which fascinated him immensely but also gave him nightmares). Started with Fantastic Mr. Fox, and let's just say, he kept digging ;)

I'm so excited, we finally have a favourite author in common!!!

The Star Wars Party

Little K's 6th was more fun for me than him! Loved making the Princess Leia cupcakes, the Luke-Darth Vader cake and well, um, the very deformed Yoda parathas.

I don't mean that...he definitely had more fun than me :)

Raising a NRI child

It's a delicate balance raising a child in a foreign land. On one hand, you want him to feel part of the society he is growing up in...you don't want him to be that outsider looking in. On the other hand, you want him to know his roots enough to know what his native culture is about...you don't want him to feel embarrassed or burdened by his roots. There are so many little incidents where I'm not sure how I should react to little K on these issues. 

My niece, who is older than K & growing up in the US, got challenged (& felt ridiculed) by her friends at school about how she belongs to a religion that worships cows, and she wasn't equipped to handle those challenges. Her dad then got himself a "Hinduism for Dummies" & read up on their religion while telling her she was free to believe (or not to) in what she was reading. I love this story because my niece then went back to school & made a presentation on what she understood the Hindu religious beliefs were & busted a whole lot of stereotypes. 

For kids, being "cool" is increasingly being defined for them by media. And I suppose to teach them that theres a coolness factor in being proudly different from the herd, is a challenge...not just for NRI parents.

Little K & Star Wars

K has now watched the Star Wars Trilogy and I had a rather lengthy discussion with him on world affairs and it went something like this....

K: If the Rebels are fighting against the evil emporer for freedom, why doesn't the emperor simply make Luke Skywalker the king? Whats so special about being the emperor anyway?

Me: Well, for some people it's important to have power.

K: Like the guy in Syria?

Me: Um, yes, like the President of Syria.

K: Are the people who are fighting against him like the Star Wars Rebels?

Me: Not quiet. They are terrorists, they aren't good guys either.

K: So who's side should we be on? 

Me: Neither, I guess.

K: I support the rebels

Me: You don't have to take sides unless you agree with what they're doing.

K: What's the difference between Rebels and terrorists?

Argh, he is 5 years old & am I feeding him western media propaganda already?

Preparing for Christmas

Halloween

Halloween this year was fun because it wasn't me dressing up little K, but he was very much leading the discussion on what he would like to dress up as (there was a toss up between Ninja Turtle & Transformer, finally he decided being a ninja was more important to him than having cool weapons...what a relief!)

He still doesn't care about collecting candy, and that's another blessing I should thank God for!

Gullibility

"Mama...Zhi-Yu says her grandpa is the real Santa Claus. Do you think she is telling the truth?"

5 things little K has taught me

1. Nothing is worth rushing. And I mean nothing. Always take your time & the journey is as exciting as the destination. It's the screamers & worriers who eventually suffer the stress.

2. Holding on to resentment is pathetic. It's always possible to go from "I never want to play with you EVER" to "let's play together" in 10 minutes.

3. Everything is up for negotiation. The more you demand, the more you get away with! 

4. It's your curiosity which makes even ordinary things (like others' vomit or a dog's poop) seem marvelous. Sense of wonder is in the eyes of the beholder.

5. Don't waste your energy being politically correct. It's ok to say "did you seriously come here without a gift for me?!" if the underlying message is important to you. People appreciate the frankness & learn from it!

Happy Mother's Day!

So my Mother's Day card threw me off with respect to my son's perception of me. Threw me off by miles. I've always aspired to be a good female role model for him (always reprimanding him for saying things like "girls can't play fire-fighters, they can pretend to be princesses"; or reiterating to him that the girls in his taekwando class are good a him). Of course, in return, I was hoping that he sees me as a strong and smart woman. That he sees me as someone who "dresses up prettily" came as a shock :)

We are very conscious of not speaking of others' appearances/ clothes  or even our own, in K's presence. Where in gods name has he then ended up with this perception of "pretty dresser" being such a positive??!

Fathers have an unfair advantage in being perceived as "strong". I probably do as much heavy lifting around the house (and look fitter) but K holds on to the perception that his dad is this tower of power & strength!! Hmmph!

Happy birthday K

5 years old, dude. Growing up, becoming independent, getting more assertive, and more logical. It's making me happy & sad to see you enter the next phase of your life. You're closer to being my best friend, but farther from being my baby.

Not yet an adult but not a fascinated-by-everything baby/toddler either. A phase where you believe you're equal to an adult but the adults around you don't share that belief. Your life is going to be tough for the next few years. A lot of your arguments have already started sounding like "...but you do this, so why can't I?", and a lot of my responses already go like "...because you're still a child and I say so". Now hand over the iPad please.

The mom-son trip to Japan

K & I went on a 10-days trip to Japan. He is almost 5-years old now & at an interesting age - he enjoys travel, but hates sightseeing; we share great conversations, but he has to pick the topic; he is great at experimenting with food, but decides whether or not he wants to try something new based on how it looks. It was a special trip that I'm going to cherish forever (he will probably forget all about it in a years time).

My top 5 favourite K moments of the trip:

1) We walked along the sakura-laden 'Philosophers Path' from the beautiful Ginkakuji temple in Kyoto, when K asked me what philosophy meant. After having digested my loose definition of philosophy, he posed his own philosophical questions. 

2) I forgot my expensive Nikon camera in a taxi in Kyoto & was almost in tears when I realized it's lost. Sensitive to my mood, K put his hands around my legs & comforted me with a "It's ok mama, it was a mistake. Just say sorry to me & you'll feel better."

3) While at the ancient Samurai home in Nijo Castle, we experienced our first snowfall. It was a light snowfall & we didn't get to witness any snowy landscapes, but it was something to remember. For the both of us.

4) K was keenly looking forward to travelling in the Japanese Shinkansen (his love for trains and all things high speed is unequivocal). Having stepped into one though, he was quite disappointed. "This feels like a normal slow train. Why are we not moving like a bullet?"

5) The day we spent at Nara Park was his favourite day of the trip. The town is full of wild deer - they're everywhere! Not unused to humans walking amongst them, the deer can be quite brave sometimes snatching food from your hands. K had a great time feeding, petting and shooing away the deer.