Before I go any further, let me plug the lovely e-book the ladies at Indusladies.com are bringing out to mark the occasion. The e-book is supposed to be an, I quote, “elegant list of all Indian Mommy Bloggers”, that will be sent to all the members of Indusladies.com as well as their Facebook & Twitter followers. What a lovely idea, ladies!
So, dear reader, please link up, join in and spread the word.
And so, to Mother’s Day. There’s something I would like to discuss with you, my readers, on the …

I realised I haven’t done a Mintlet post for a long time now. She is keeping me so busy that I rarely have time to get off my toes and do anything constructive. Most of the time I am doing damage control, running behind this child.
I chanced upon a few photos taken in the beginning of this year, when she must have been seven months or so. And it jolted me to the core, how small and babyish she is looking. Compared to the hellion she has become at Month …

My ickle baby girl turns a year old! I am in shock! How can it be? She was, in the words of a friend, trying to sit up straight and failing dismally!

P: Did you see the movie XYZ?
Me: No baby. Why?
P: Kian saw it. Said it was a turkey.
Me: *gasp* You know what a turkey is?
P: Of course. A really awful movie. Did you know what a turkey is?
Me: er, yeah.
P: oh ok. When I become big and have my own son or daughter, I will teach them what a turkey is.
Me: *wheeze* Son / daughter?? I thought you did not want to get married / have a girlfriend / have babies?
P: Nah. I changed my mind. So how old should …

Pratik’s learning about animals and their habitats at school. He was asked to take a book on them yesterday to share with his friends. So I asked him what he had learnt. Conversation ran thus:
Me: What did you learn about animals then?
P: Did you know that some animals are awake only at night?
Me: Uh-huh.
P: They are called noc-tur-nal, they are.
Me: Very good. Do you know what the animals that are awake during the day called?
P: Normal?

The Mintlet, trying to read (or eat!) her brother’s carelessly dropped copy of The Hamlet.

So my son asked me today, when I was feeding his sister:
“Cows and goats eat grass to give milk. So do mums eat grass too?”
Who wants to answer?

I read this article in one of the blogs I frequent and it touched a chord in me. Mainly because I had aired the same view a few times in the past. It has got to do with parents needing to lead a life of their own, without letting their children be the “be all and end all” of everything. Or being “selfish”, as the author of the post, Melanie Lynne Hauser puts it. Why?
“Because some day, you will be sitting at home on a Saturday night watching reruns of …

So P got his first ever certificate yesterday. He has been attending Kumon maths for the past couple of months. His dad and I were surprised when the teacher told us couple of weeks back that P would be taking his current level test. A test? After just 7 weeks? Oh well, we thought, nice experience.
Imagine our pride when he aced the test! Woo-hoo! So yesterday, he got his ‘Achievement Certificate’ and got his picture taken with it. It was hilarious watching him play to the camera. Now that …

So we had the first scan today, at 12 weeks. I was apprehensive about it for two reasons – any possible anamoly and more importantly, the requisite full bladder. Keeping a litre of water in for more than an hour, when I know my bladder is full is a feat I have never attempted before. My bladder generally works on a ‘see water, will go’ principle. The time I had to sit in a half-day long training with the coffee machine going ‘drip drip drip’ less than two paces behind …

Ever tried selling one of the stories from Ramayana or Mahabharata to a child today? Especially one raised on a PG or U certificate rating anywhere else but in India? Hair-raising, I tell you. For one, the stories are all way too gory for their bland tastes. Tell them so-on-so chopped the other bloke’s finger or head off and watch young eyes turn into saucers. The whys and whats and loud gasps would take days to stem, leave alone the increased Nightmare Alert.
If your child is not raised on an …