Reading Race

                                                 Books I checked out from the library

Books Saumya checked out from the library

Tired Of Doing Those Chores?

After Saumya comes home from, our usual routine revolves around talking about her day, my day and then she chooses some work to do while I make dinner. Few days back I did Saumya's laundry but didn't get a chance to take the basket to her room. Upon seeing the basket spilling clothes and her favorite teddy, she said, "Mamma, you washed everything today, Thank you" She does this every time I wash her clothes and her gesture does make me think that I have never thanked my mom for washing my clothes. Yes I was a brat like that but one day, this recognition from my 5 year old, made me call mom the very next day to say thanks for everything she has done for me. Better late than never! It did feel good but mum really couldn’t understand the fuss. Back to the laundry though, she requested me to put her clothes on her bed so she can sort them.  I never thanked my mom for her laundry services and I make my five-year-old put away her own laundry. How mean? If only my mom made me participate in chores like this, I would have also realized back then how much work all this is and would have also learnt to thank her along with many other people who made sure I get things when I need them!!  Oh wait, this certainly doesn't sound the way I mean it to, now I come across as if I am saying I am a better mother than my own mom. Yikes! 

Instead of wandering aimlessly let's go back to our laundry, yet again. Saumya took a long time sorting her clothes, making separate piles for socks, tights, leggings, shirts, dresses, undergarments, night suits, pants...I just went back to the kitchen hoping she finishes by dinner time. Once dinner was ready, I called her to come downstairs so we could eat and what I hear back is this "Mamma, I will take more time because I am organizing my drawers"

"Which drawers?"

"I am organizing my sock drawer, undergarments drawer, and legging drawer. It becomes very hard to find things"

Ahem. Gulp. Ahem. I frantically started organizing stuff in the kitchen drawers, you can call it parental pressure, err, a habit that runs in the family.  And a thought just kept on hitting me "As a parent I am supposed to set a good example for my child and here I am learning from my daughter's example" Was I embarrassed? Not one bit! In fact, I was a happy mom in those moments, taking pride in the environment we provide her at home, in perfect marriage to what she gets at her Montessori school, that is helping her develop a sense of order, a sense of responsibility and an appreciation for the effort that people around us put in everyday mundane chores. 

Saumya came downstairs with a big sigh of relief, a face shining with satisfaction and beaming with self proud. Getting ready for school is a tad easier when we are not going berserk looking for a pair of socks that match. And because she organized it, she makes every effort to keep it that way.  I checked off another thing from "everyday to do" list, I do not make Saumya's bed. Yeah, life is sweet by not doing stuff. No really, I strongly believe in "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime" , what it means is we can only help someone so far and self reliance is the key to survival. Being able to go through one's day independently boosts a person's confidence and shows him enormous possibilities of things he can achieve. Each parent gets to hear this in early childhood years "Don't do it for me, teach me do it myself" And we don't cater to this desire of self dependence, we get brats like me who do not care to thank their mom for doing their laundry. First few days Saumya didn't care and just went back to the "unmade" bed. My signals seemed to go nowhere but one day, while she was at school I prettied up the bed in our room, changed the sheets and the bedspread with the fancy ones to make a statement, to make it look different than usual, to get it noticed. Upon return, she immediately noticed and commented, "Your bed looks pretty, how do you do it so nicely?" "Yes, I am good at it because I have been practicing it every morning" She went straight to her room and few minutes later, she comes back jumping with joy "I have a surprise for you, close your eyes and hold my hand and walk to my room" Tadaaaaaaaaa! The unmade bed got made, comforter neatly tucked in from all the sides. The trick worked! Every morning before heading downstairs for breakfast, she makes her bed. 

 Doing her laundry is a pleasure now. Are you saying “yeah right!!” ? But really, all I  do is bring the clothes to the laundry room and Saumya put them in the washer, I put the detergent and then she puts them in the dryer and then I bring them back to her bed which I didn't even make and still be a proud mother *evil laughter* muaahhahahaha!!

Now only if I can take care of my own sock drawer, life would be perfect.


image courtesy : google images

No batteries required

If you have little kids at home there are very good chances that you have various kinds of batteries stocked up. Every little toy we see on the store shelves needs batteries. Either I am too old or too slow because this whole electronic toy phenomenon has failed to catch up with me. Shoes that light up, trees that speak, flowers that squeak, soft toys that talk, dolls that light up when wave a wand, tea kettle that sings songs when you pour tea, bowling pins that shriek when hit all. a story reader that reads to the child. Is it really better for the child to listen to an electronic voice reading to it rather than a parent or a sibling sharing the book and making lifelong memories?  I miss the days when dress up fun was not limited to Disney princesses and pirates, when pretend play included being real day to day people like a mom, a dad, a doctor, a teacher, a mailman, a carpenter, a builder but today you are not a builder, you are Bob the builder and your tools talk to you and your imagination can take a backseat because all you have to do is follow the show. Why? What are we trying to do?

 Is it really better to score another level on Wii, rather than be out in the yard and smell the air, touch the grass, feel the mud, observe the birds and know the neighbors?  Is it really more gratifying to listen to the beeps and sounds of battery operated kitchen set which make "real" frying sound rather than being with mom and dad in the actual kitchen and take part in rolling the bread, chopping the vegetables, sharing stories of your day, making a mess and eating a real meal at the end of it?  So many disapprove the idea of the little ones cleaning their table after a meal, or picking up crumbs using a dust pan but are so delighted to buy them a toy vacuum cleaner that has eyes and nose and a mouth to talk.  Kids, like grownups, want to be able to do real things in real world rather than just pretend. Maria Montessori helped us understand that individual behavior is shaped through interaction with the environment i.e. learning through experience or 'experiential learning', which means learning by doing, learning through effort and action and gaining satisfaction and pleasure. Imagination gets fostered when we are in real situations and interact with real life.  No batteries required.

Do we need Women's Day

Some ask me why do we need Women's day, why not celebrate being a woman throughout the year. If you think like that, I would say you are from the lucky lot. We as a society have come a long long way in terms of women's progress but there is no way we can say that every woman on the globe has equal rights and is not a victim because of being a female. This is a day to review and look back at our struggle for equality and development. If we see the corporate world, companies boast gender equality policies but on average women receive about 40 % less compensation than men for the same work. 

I am so glad to be a woman in 2010 as opposed to say 40 years back when women were largely expected to be docile and could only demonstrate her knowledge and skill in the kitchen.  Everyday, in normal households, a sister is expected to cook and clean while her brother goes out to play, daughter in laws are expected to eat last, after the men in the family. And still a women’s worth clings to her womb, as they say "motherhood completes a woman", What is an incomplete woman??? And then, is there something that completes a man? Oh wait, that is never the question. Boy's mother is superior to girl's mother, so the latter has to keep trying to produce a boy to make her position. At a wedding, words from groom's parents cannot be ignored while bride's parents need to quietly serve.  Till the time all this looks appropriate to our society, there is a need for women's day.

 Till the time our wish lists look like this I wish ,  and till the time, our society doesn't see us beyond our gender, we would need women's day.