milestones

My babies are learning to write. For the past two years, I have watched them scribble and color and scribble. On paper, books, walls, doors. Ever since they held their first magic slates in their hands, they have been fascinated by being able to scribble. They learnt to hold a pencil/crayon early on, by themselves. I have spent countless hours drawing pictures for them to marvel over/colour in. And then suddenly, yesterday, A takes out one of his school books, and starts writing 1 in the empty boxes. He finished the page in a matter of minutes, and I only needed to erase two of the boxes for him to redo. I was stunned. When did he learn this? How did he get so responsible? 

Later in the evening I was playing Ruzzle on my phone. M took the phone from me, wanting to ‘play’ as well. And he started sounding out the letters to me. I spent a few frustrating months earlier trying to get them to read out the alphabet, but they never cooperated. Their nursery teacher assured me they knew their letters, so I just let it go. 

Suddenly, I find they know their numbers and letters, they are beginning to write, and they can finally color pictures without going out of the boundaries. Wow! I am thrilled and proud and grateful for all these milestones :))

kinds of smart

Reading this post on different kinds of smart made me laugh. It reminded me of the first time I had to apply for a travel visa.. i was going to Egypt for undergrad, and I nearly went to the embassy without my passport, because never having made my own travel arrangements until then, i didn’t realize the visa application needed to be submitted TOGETHER with my passport :P

That incident raised a lot of laughter, especially from my dad. It was funny, and it did not make me not smart. I lived in Egypt for four years, did a whole lot of other stuff, and I never felt not smart. Until I moved to India. The first time I used an ATM here, I had no idea that I had to remove my card immediately after sliding it in the slot, in order for the machine to function. So I just stood there with my card inside, like I would in HK and all the other countries where I had used ATM machines. The situation did not incite laughter, but just comments on how I did not even know how to use an ATM machine. There were many other such incidents, all of which left me feeling quite low on self esteem. Even today, I think only my twins see me as an authority on anything, and their certainty is great soul balm :)

Alhumdolillah for the twins, and for the small online community (work, friends and family) that keeps me sane and my self esteem topped up!

Speaking of the twins, their smartness and the way their minds work totally fascinates me. My conversation with one of them yesterday-

M: Mumma, are you old? [old right now refers to people the age of his grandma]

Me: Not so old..

M: Will you become old?

Me: Yes, slowly, not right now..

M thinks for a minute, then suddenly gets a little panicked, and says: No, don't become old, if you become old, then who will be my mumma??! 

i love my boys :)

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ramadan kareem

Ramadan is one of my favourite months, and this year, i am setting a few goals for myself. Just three simple things that I need to work on generally; what better time to start than Ramadan, the month of blessings and mercy.

- I need to be more patient. With my kids, family, myself.  This whatsapp forward made me smile:

‘patience is not about how long you can wait, but how well you behave while waiting’. i can wait awhile, but am usually quite sullen about it! Also, some time ago, the church nearby had its quote as ‘patience is the best prayer’.

-I can be nicer. There are many times when I react too fast, when the moment would be served better by just smiling and remaining silent, by being nice. So, whenever I want to shout, I will try to smile instead :P

-Reading more Quran. I used to be so regular with this, and it is time to get back on track.

Three small things. Inshallah!

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thank you versus sorry

 

i love this cartoon! i came across it from a comment on a blog post about apologizing too much and found it lovely. a good way to be more positive and to impart some agency to others, instead of taking it all on yourself.

i use 'sorry' a lot, many times as a way to say 'excuse me' or 'if you don't mind'. in many of those instances, using 'thank you' would work just as well, and so i should try it. it would make me more assertive i think, which is sorely needed!

water fun

over the weekend, we went to a small resort nearby that had pools and a few water slides. the twins had a ball, as did i! whooshing down the slides with one twin lying on top of me was such FUN :)) the last time i was on a water slide must have been when i was in school! it brought back fond memories of water world, hk's only water park that did well for a number of years, but eventually had to close down due to its seasonal operation unable to cover costs.

there were all kinds of people frolicking in the water, from teens, to parents to toddlers and grandparents. i was particularly pleased to see a couple of grandmas thoroughly enjoying themselves on the water slides in their salwar kameez. it made me want to bring my mom along the next time she is in india! the strict dress code that is the norm in pools elsewhere doesn't seem to apply everywhere in india, which is good. it is nice that people can enjoy the water without being restricted to wearing something they are not comfortable with. yay!

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book club

i have never been part of a book club, but i always thought it sounded like fun.. a group of people meeting up over coffee to talk books and whatever else, yay :)

over the years, i have had various friends i discussed books with. i never found a book twin; all these persons shared some of my book tastes, but not all. that was fine though, as just talking books was important. and variety and difference meant new books/authors to check out.

in the last few years though, the number of persons i talk books with has dwindled to ONE. how sad is that?! at the same time, my friends number has also been dwindling. when someone suggested a book club as a way to meet new friends, i randomly messaged my nursery moms group to ask if anyone was interested in a book club. two replies later, we set up a three member book club, and are now reading our first book, david mitchell's slade house! i am so impressed and excited. two new friends, two more people to talk books with, two other moms to talk kids with and have playdates with, woohooo :))) [fingers crossed that everything goes well, since now that i have blogged about this, what are the chances that the whole thing gets jinxed!??!]

the only problem that i foresee, is choosing books to read, as the three of us have quite different tastes.. 

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instructions

some things come with instructions. i really like instructions. i read them, and follow, and hey presto, something is working. i like recipes too, although i find that my end result does not always turn out the way it is supposed to/i expected it to.. but i still follow recipes, as i just don't think i could cook anything without a recipe at hand. i follow rules too. (which is quite a handicap living in india, the country where rules are only meant to be broken.)

is is thus very unfortunate that life, twins and relationships don't come along with their own detailed instructions. i know people who barely read through instruction manuals.. some of them just pass the task on to me. others read recipes for some background, and then proceed to create their own culinary wonder, without any hiccups or disasters. yet others seem to breeze through life, just knowing what to do in any given situation, how to deal with a particular set of circumstances.

given the lack of instructions, i read. i read on parenting, on twins, on marriage. i can't help but wonder though, how is it that i am so clueless, while other people are not?? 

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