Aah.. sports day turned out to be not such a sporting day. In my previous post I had mentioned that I was in two minds whether to take S for her sports day or not since the hubby was not there, and it would involve getting up far too early in the morning. Anyway I decided to push myself and make the effort to take S. My colleague whose son is one month older to S had his Sports day just the day before and my colleague said he really enjoyed himself, so that basically clinched it. I had these visions of S running in the race and being delighted to spend time with her playschool friends outside school (especially since she talks about them so much!)
That was not to be. I woke up S at 7:15 am, a whole hour ahead of her usual waking up time of 8:15-8:30. She was most reluctant to drink her milk so early and after a lot of pestering and running behind her she finally drank her milk, got ready and we were out of the house by 8 am. Her bad mommy had not planned adequately and S was the only child there not to be wearing the school T shirt. I had left it behind in the other house, and when I enquired in the school about buying a new T shirt for the sports day they said they were out of stock and it would take a couple of weeks to get another one- too late! Anyway I put a brown T shirt for S- as close to a yellow T shirt as possible which is the colour of the school shirt, but she still stood out like a sore thumb. I only reassure myself that she would not have noticed it- I mean how often do you look down and see what T shirt you are wearing? And also the other kids are not big enough to point out that S is wearing a different colour T shirt!
We reached the venue and the other kids from her playschool were already sitting in a group. I tried to persuade S to join them- mentioning the other kids in class whom she chatters about, and even the teachers stepped in, asking her to come join them, but she was to have none of it. She clung to me and refused to go near her playschool group. I was a bit surprised since she usually rushes off inside her playschool without a backward glance, but I guess this was firstly a new environment (sports field) and also it was early in the morning for her and she may have been cranky! I don’t know what exactly she was afraid of, but she clung to me for the next half hour.
The LKG class started with the March past- it was more of ribbon waving than march past but all the kids were excited, the parents were even more excited and even S was riveted watching them. Then it was time for the playschool races. The parents had to stand on one side and the children on the other side (with the teachers) and run from the teachers to the parents. I took S to the start line and made her watch the first two races (they were of the afternoon batch of the playschool) so she would get an idea of what was expected of her. She seemed enthu enough, but when her name was called for the race she again clung to me and refused to go to the teacher at the start line, I tried to persude her that her friends are standing next to her, and mummy has to go to the opposite side and she is to come running to mummy, but no there was much of crying and stomping of the feet at the thought of mummy going away so I had to run in the race alongwith her! After the race, we went to the other side of the field where some of her playschool friends were and she spent about ½ hour running around the field and generally watching what they were doing. One of the boys tried to take her hand and make her run with him, but she was more comfortable being by herself and generally running around the place. She ran onto the main track a couple of times, where the senior kg races were going on, and had to be retrieved by the teachers/or me.
Finally around 10 am the certificate and medal ceremony happened. A good thing I liked about the sports day was that there were no prizes for first/second etc- all participants got a certificate and gold medal. They were called to the dais and the teacher gave them the certificate and put the medal around the neck. S of course screamed loudly when they put the medal around her neck, so I had to quickly take it off. S gets really uncomfortable when people (including me and the hubby) try to put things on her- a brooch on her shirt, or a necklace around her neck etc. She must be the least dressed up girl I know- no clips, no jewelry (ears also not yet pierced- I was too scared when she was young, and now she’ll pull at it, so will have to wait till she’s old enough to ask for it!). So a befitting ending to a cranky first sports day.
I used to love sports day at school- I used to take part in everything (was quite the enthu cutlet), hardly used to win any prizes (maybe a third in a race where there were only 5 participants) but I used to still enjoy taking part in all the track events. Hopefully S will enjoy the sports days more as she grows up. Or maybe she takes after the hubby, who is completely disinterested in all sports- both watching and participating!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
A quick update
S has her first sports day tomorrow. Yes she is less than 2, and people can ask (like my boss) what sports do 2 year olds play, but I think it will be fun for her to interact with her playschool mates, and more fun for me as mom to watch S run around all over the place. While the hubby has been teaching her to run fast and come first in the race, I think it would be a great achievement if she runs in the right direction and reaches the end line without getting distracted. The big question is whether to go or not. The hubby is off to Sri Lanka for four days for some office offsite, and I would need to manage all alone. I know this sounds like I am a helpless damsel and cannot manage S on my own without the hubby, but now that I’m in the 8th month everything is so much tougher, and I understand from the teachers that the playschool parents would need to get actively involved in the races since the kids will be too young to understand properly. And I don’t want a situation there where S is the only kid whose parents are not running in the race since a) Daddy is not there and b) Mummy cannot run…Also it starts at 7:45 in the morning, we are all so lazy that we wake up only around 8 am so it means getting S out of bed early, and getting ready fast instead of lazing around the house on a Saturday morning. But on the other hand it would be so cute to see S participating in her first Sports day, and I don’t want her to miss out because I’m pregnant/too lazy. Will think over it tonight…
Separately S has started interacting with her cousins much more post Diwali. We skype both my brothers once in two weeks and S is totally thrilled when her cousins show her their Santa Claus outfits /stockings/tree etc and keeps jumping up and down in front of the laptop. We also skype my sis-in-law who doesn’t have kids as of yet, but she and her hubby keep S well entertained with a collection of stuffed animals.
We have also started taking S swimming as much as possible- roughly translating into once in two weeks since the club we are members of is about an hour from the house. We usually go on Sunday morning, have a leisurely swim- S has her floaty boat where she can put her legs through it and float around in the water. There’s also a kiddies pool there which is much more shallow where she can walk around, and if we remember to take any of her bath animals (pufferfish, Nemo, frog, fish,penguin etc) then S usually runs around the kiddies pool playing with them. Good fun. There is a nice park also in the club, and after her swim S usually plays in the park for some time. Then depending on our enthu levels we either have lunch at the club itself (easier since S can run around in the big lawn there while we wait for the lunch) or we’ll try out some new restaurant in town. Anyway by the time we get back home its usually 4 in the afternoon, and all of us crash out till about 6 in the evening! So a simple swim turns out to be a day long affair. But S really enjoys it so its worth it.
Am having second thoughts about changing S school from January onwards when I’m planning to take my maternity leave. We will move house and the current playschool would be pretty far from the new house, so I signed her up for a new playschool which is much closer to the new house. It would be difficult to take her to the old playschool since it would take half an hour to get there, then the session is only for two hours which means if I go home, I need to again leave in an hour to pick her up, and there’s nothing for me to hang around there doing for two hours, and the total travel time for me would be two hours – and when I’m supposed to be relaxing on maternity. But S really likes this school- she keeps talking about her friends in this school- she knows some 5-6 names, and last week when the baby maid took off, I left S at school from 9:30-1:30 everyday, as against 9-11 only and she attended the second playgroup, and had her milk and snacks with the teacher without any complaint (and was reluctant to leave when I went to pick her up)-so she’s pretty much well settled here and she would need to get all settled again in the new school. Also the new school is a Montessori and focuses more on learning, and doesn’t have as many toys and playground stuff like slides/cars etc as this school and S really loves them. Wondering what to do!
Separately S has started interacting with her cousins much more post Diwali. We skype both my brothers once in two weeks and S is totally thrilled when her cousins show her their Santa Claus outfits /stockings/tree etc and keeps jumping up and down in front of the laptop. We also skype my sis-in-law who doesn’t have kids as of yet, but she and her hubby keep S well entertained with a collection of stuffed animals.
We have also started taking S swimming as much as possible- roughly translating into once in two weeks since the club we are members of is about an hour from the house. We usually go on Sunday morning, have a leisurely swim- S has her floaty boat where she can put her legs through it and float around in the water. There’s also a kiddies pool there which is much more shallow where she can walk around, and if we remember to take any of her bath animals (pufferfish, Nemo, frog, fish,penguin etc) then S usually runs around the kiddies pool playing with them. Good fun. There is a nice park also in the club, and after her swim S usually plays in the park for some time. Then depending on our enthu levels we either have lunch at the club itself (easier since S can run around in the big lawn there while we wait for the lunch) or we’ll try out some new restaurant in town. Anyway by the time we get back home its usually 4 in the afternoon, and all of us crash out till about 6 in the evening! So a simple swim turns out to be a day long affair. But S really enjoys it so its worth it.
Am having second thoughts about changing S school from January onwards when I’m planning to take my maternity leave. We will move house and the current playschool would be pretty far from the new house, so I signed her up for a new playschool which is much closer to the new house. It would be difficult to take her to the old playschool since it would take half an hour to get there, then the session is only for two hours which means if I go home, I need to again leave in an hour to pick her up, and there’s nothing for me to hang around there doing for two hours, and the total travel time for me would be two hours – and when I’m supposed to be relaxing on maternity. But S really likes this school- she keeps talking about her friends in this school- she knows some 5-6 names, and last week when the baby maid took off, I left S at school from 9:30-1:30 everyday, as against 9-11 only and she attended the second playgroup, and had her milk and snacks with the teacher without any complaint (and was reluctant to leave when I went to pick her up)-so she’s pretty much well settled here and she would need to get all settled again in the new school. Also the new school is a Montessori and focuses more on learning, and doesn’t have as many toys and playground stuff like slides/cars etc as this school and S really loves them. Wondering what to do!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Catching up with old friends
Lately with managing a full time job, looking after S, and also being pregnant (and putting on too much weight which means I get much more tired more easily, and it takes me 5 mins to do what I could earlier do in a minute) I’ve been getting the feeling that it’s the same old routine on the weekdays and rest/doctors visit over the weekend and no time to meet friends, have a night out and generally see what the world is upto.
With my mom coming over for two weeks (due to a maid exigency, I fired one of the baby maids in a sudden burst of irritation- she had come on and off for the last 1 week, after taking a 10 day holiday, and was acting pretty strange saying she’s unwell and cant tell when she can come to work, though she seemed perfectly fine on the days she did come) I took full advantage of having a grandparent at home and finally managed to catch up with some old friends and we also managed to fit in a movie.
Friday night was dinner with old colleagues, some of whom I had not met for more than 2 years. Good fun cribbing about old bosses and catching up with what people are doing now. Our old team in office used to be quite close knit, we used to step in for each other quite a bit, and go out quite often. The team was a new one, and I guess we were all learning together. We went to Da Vincis which is an Italian place and has excellent pizzas! Only thing is that it doesn’t serve liquor, and while I did not mind, the other people in the group has second thoughts about leaving and going to another place!
Saturday night was a bachelors party for a friend who is getting married next month. It was largely college friends, and some people from my friend’s workplace. We met at Hard Rock Café and for once I found myself in the funny position of being the only person in the group not drinking. And the funniest thing is- most of these people either never used to drink at campus, or used to have just the token drink. And frankly Hard Rock Café is not the place to be if you are not drinking, because the music is really loud and you cant have a conversation, and the food is not great either. But the music was nice and a couple of our college friends had landed up early and requested for some old college classics such as November Rain, Dire Straits etc. We also quizzed the to be couple about each others favourite things and managed to pull my friend’s leg quite a bit. Though we couldn’t complete it since the music was so loud we could hardly hear each other. I had to leave early around 11, since I was tired. Somehow the travel to the place, the loud music and the chairs made me feel quite uncomfortable and by around 11 I was really tired and ready to drop. Hope this is only a pregnancy thing and not a sign of me growing old! I have never usually been the first to leave a party, especially with college friends!
The next weekend, I met up with colleagues from my old workplace for lunch. We went to this really nice Italian place called Café Mangi. I’ve been meaning to try out these new places for some time, but my hubby is not one to experiment with new places, and usually waits for others to go and then recommend them. I strongly recommend this place- both the pastas and pizzas are amazing, only thing is that the restaurant is small and the seating is slightly cramped. The last time I met these ex colleagues was 2 years ago and then I was carrying S- they must be thinking I’m constantly pregnant. They were quite disappointed that I had not got S along- but it was her nap time and she had not been sleeping properly the whole week so I thought better if she gets a good nap at home, and I would also not be rushed to finish early. There was another girl of about 4- the parents are now based in Dubai, and the lunch was actually to meet them on their annual holiday from Dubai; she was quite disappointed at having no company and spent the afternoon going under the table from one parent to the other. But was otherwise extremely well behaved, no running around the place, tantrums etc. Wonder whether S would sit so still when she is older!
Anyway in Dubai, I believe that they make kids take written entrance exams to join nursery there! Quite a strain for the parents (in teaching the child) and the child- in taking an entrance exam so early in life! I think the purpose of such a thing is quite silly- the school is supposed to educate you, if you are already supposed to know stuff when you join, then what is the purpose of sending the children to school? Towards the end of the lunch another colleague landed up with his 14 month old son. What a cutie, and he actually ate mashed potatoes that his parents ordered for him. Till date S has never eaten anything which has been ordered for her in restaurants, except the odd French fries which also she gets bored of within 10 mins. Was chatting with the mother who said she’d just finishing her one year sabbatical from work and would be resuming work in January. One year sabbatical sounds good- her son is not so dependent on her anymore and she also is keen on getting back to work. She plans to drop of her son and maid to her uncle’s house everyday, and then pick them up on the way back. Sounds like my busy schedule- drop S of at school, rush to work, then pick S up from school and drop her home, then rush back to work, then home for lunch and then back to work, and finally wind up by 6:30 – 7 and go home and meet S in the park. Why is it that the women only have to adjust their work timings to look after the kids, I wonder. …
Finally the hubby and I managed to catch a late night movie- Kurban. I don’t particularly like either of the main actors, and agreed to go along just because we hadn’t seen a movie for some time, but was pleasantly surprised with the acting and the plot. It is a similar terrorist husband plot to New York, but is much more realistic and facts are not glossed over like in New York. It comes as a real shock to the wife when she realizes that her husband is a terrorist and only married her for a visa to enter the USA Quite different from New York where the wife pretends she doesn’t know her husband is a terrorist. Hello- surely you would notice if your husband disappeared at all weird hours of the day and seemed secretive about his activities. Anyway this will probably be our last midnight movie with S in tow- she woke up around 12:30 and refused to go back to sleep. She ended up watching the bomb sequence and kept saying bad man/policeman/bomb etc. She still remembers it and says” That day, bomb, bad man” so I don’t think it’s a very good experience/influence on her which should be repeated.
The pregnancy is getting quite tiring now that I’ve entered the third trimester and also put on tons of weight. I have another month or so in office and then I plan to take my maternity leave and prepare for the next baby- more like I will need some rest as I cannot imagine working and looking after S in the 9 month! Last time I worked till the last day, but this time I feel I am getting very tired already- by the evening my stomach and back are both out!
With my mom coming over for two weeks (due to a maid exigency, I fired one of the baby maids in a sudden burst of irritation- she had come on and off for the last 1 week, after taking a 10 day holiday, and was acting pretty strange saying she’s unwell and cant tell when she can come to work, though she seemed perfectly fine on the days she did come) I took full advantage of having a grandparent at home and finally managed to catch up with some old friends and we also managed to fit in a movie.
Friday night was dinner with old colleagues, some of whom I had not met for more than 2 years. Good fun cribbing about old bosses and catching up with what people are doing now. Our old team in office used to be quite close knit, we used to step in for each other quite a bit, and go out quite often. The team was a new one, and I guess we were all learning together. We went to Da Vincis which is an Italian place and has excellent pizzas! Only thing is that it doesn’t serve liquor, and while I did not mind, the other people in the group has second thoughts about leaving and going to another place!
Saturday night was a bachelors party for a friend who is getting married next month. It was largely college friends, and some people from my friend’s workplace. We met at Hard Rock Café and for once I found myself in the funny position of being the only person in the group not drinking. And the funniest thing is- most of these people either never used to drink at campus, or used to have just the token drink. And frankly Hard Rock Café is not the place to be if you are not drinking, because the music is really loud and you cant have a conversation, and the food is not great either. But the music was nice and a couple of our college friends had landed up early and requested for some old college classics such as November Rain, Dire Straits etc. We also quizzed the to be couple about each others favourite things and managed to pull my friend’s leg quite a bit. Though we couldn’t complete it since the music was so loud we could hardly hear each other. I had to leave early around 11, since I was tired. Somehow the travel to the place, the loud music and the chairs made me feel quite uncomfortable and by around 11 I was really tired and ready to drop. Hope this is only a pregnancy thing and not a sign of me growing old! I have never usually been the first to leave a party, especially with college friends!
The next weekend, I met up with colleagues from my old workplace for lunch. We went to this really nice Italian place called Café Mangi. I’ve been meaning to try out these new places for some time, but my hubby is not one to experiment with new places, and usually waits for others to go and then recommend them. I strongly recommend this place- both the pastas and pizzas are amazing, only thing is that the restaurant is small and the seating is slightly cramped. The last time I met these ex colleagues was 2 years ago and then I was carrying S- they must be thinking I’m constantly pregnant. They were quite disappointed that I had not got S along- but it was her nap time and she had not been sleeping properly the whole week so I thought better if she gets a good nap at home, and I would also not be rushed to finish early. There was another girl of about 4- the parents are now based in Dubai, and the lunch was actually to meet them on their annual holiday from Dubai; she was quite disappointed at having no company and spent the afternoon going under the table from one parent to the other. But was otherwise extremely well behaved, no running around the place, tantrums etc. Wonder whether S would sit so still when she is older!
Anyway in Dubai, I believe that they make kids take written entrance exams to join nursery there! Quite a strain for the parents (in teaching the child) and the child- in taking an entrance exam so early in life! I think the purpose of such a thing is quite silly- the school is supposed to educate you, if you are already supposed to know stuff when you join, then what is the purpose of sending the children to school? Towards the end of the lunch another colleague landed up with his 14 month old son. What a cutie, and he actually ate mashed potatoes that his parents ordered for him. Till date S has never eaten anything which has been ordered for her in restaurants, except the odd French fries which also she gets bored of within 10 mins. Was chatting with the mother who said she’d just finishing her one year sabbatical from work and would be resuming work in January. One year sabbatical sounds good- her son is not so dependent on her anymore and she also is keen on getting back to work. She plans to drop of her son and maid to her uncle’s house everyday, and then pick them up on the way back. Sounds like my busy schedule- drop S of at school, rush to work, then pick S up from school and drop her home, then rush back to work, then home for lunch and then back to work, and finally wind up by 6:30 – 7 and go home and meet S in the park. Why is it that the women only have to adjust their work timings to look after the kids, I wonder. …
Finally the hubby and I managed to catch a late night movie- Kurban. I don’t particularly like either of the main actors, and agreed to go along just because we hadn’t seen a movie for some time, but was pleasantly surprised with the acting and the plot. It is a similar terrorist husband plot to New York, but is much more realistic and facts are not glossed over like in New York. It comes as a real shock to the wife when she realizes that her husband is a terrorist and only married her for a visa to enter the USA Quite different from New York where the wife pretends she doesn’t know her husband is a terrorist. Hello- surely you would notice if your husband disappeared at all weird hours of the day and seemed secretive about his activities. Anyway this will probably be our last midnight movie with S in tow- she woke up around 12:30 and refused to go back to sleep. She ended up watching the bomb sequence and kept saying bad man/policeman/bomb etc. She still remembers it and says” That day, bomb, bad man” so I don’t think it’s a very good experience/influence on her which should be repeated.
The pregnancy is getting quite tiring now that I’ve entered the third trimester and also put on tons of weight. I have another month or so in office and then I plan to take my maternity leave and prepare for the next baby- more like I will need some rest as I cannot imagine working and looking after S in the 9 month! Last time I worked till the last day, but this time I feel I am getting very tired already- by the evening my stomach and back are both out!
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