Vocabulary

These are the recent new words in Anirud's dictionary

'This is not fair at all'

'I am very cross with you'

'I will not be your friend anymore'

Year 1 Boy!

Yesterday was the first day of the new academic year for Anirud. Can't believe that he is in to year 1 already and now has a bunch of kids at school younger than him.

As I dropped him off at his school gate, there was a young kid who was just starting at school and was in tears. 'She must be in Reception Class appa. Crying is bad. I didn't cry on my first day. She is very little', commented the brat. Overnight, he has become a big boy and now he has got at least one class younger than his. As I watched him go inside, I couldn't believe that he has moved in to Year 1. Had few words with his Head Teacher who echoed my thoughts. Time flies past so quickly. I do hope that he has a good ride this year like the last one.

Rajendra Chozhan's Summer Holidays

Anirud had six weeks of summer holidays this year. Despite our best intentions to take him out for a decent short term holiday (our initial plan was for Belgium, which was downgraded to Wales or Lake District), we couldn't do it due to many reasons. Number of children of his age in our neighbourhood has also come down this time, as a result of which Anirud spent most of his time indoors. Thanks to the rains and miserable weather in between, he couldn't even cycle around our apartment. To his credit, he didn't complain much and as always was at his creative best with the building toys in doing various different stuff. In the first five weeks, all we did was to take him out to the park few times, a movie (Toy Story 3) and to a play area nearby.

To make up for the lost opportunities, we decided to go to Birdworld during the August Bank holiday weekend but weather gods intervened again. Not wanting to give up, we suddenly changed our plans and drove up to Bournemouth beach, although we were sitting in the motorway for a good 2 hours due to traffic. Beach was fun. We were there for about 4.5 hours or so and every moment of it was enjoyable to the core. It was such a joy watching him play in the sand and it did rekindle our memories bringing back the days when we as children used to play in the sand building castles, tunnels and what not. Anirud had a go with the 'Walk on the Water' ball as well.

While building up two sand hills and a castle on its top, suddenly Anirud's face brightened up.

'Appa, what is Rajaraja Chozhan's son's name?' (Thanks to my constant reading of the book Udayar, he has heard about Tanjore Big Temple and the King who built it).

'Rajendra Chozhan'

'Ok, now. Lets pretend this way. You are Rajaraja Chozhan and I am Rajendra Chozhan.'

Pointing to the sand hills, 'This is your temple and this is my temple. Lets build a road connecting them'...

Once started his imagination, as always started to run wild. So, he made plans to build a road connecting them, decorate the temples(!) with stones, filled the tunnel with water and what not.

Some pictures of our very own Rajendra Chozhan, working hard on his masterpiece.

Bringing water for his castle.

Castle on the hill - upon completion

Looking for his tools

Inside 'Walk on the Water' Ball

Alarm Clock

Anirud wanted to have an alarm clock for sometime and we bought him one. We made sure that the one we bought rings out really loud, as it will save us a bit of time and lot of energy in the morning when he has to get ready for school. I think he had seen it in films where people (or kids in particular) wake up to the ring of the alarm. As he is still in holidays, we set it up to ring at around 8 in the morning and we were safely out of the bedroom when it rang. Seconds after it went out, he switched it off and came into the hall, flashing a victorious grin - showing all his tooth, with the satisfaction of having achieved something. Isn't it sheer bliss to be innocent?

Blood Highway

Ever heard the term 'Blood Highway'? Don't worry, there is nothing gory about that.

Blood travels all over the body, right? In the hand, it travels like on the road and that is called Blood Highway. You can see the design of that highway on your hand. Yes, look at the lines on your hand (கை ரேகை) and that is what Blood Highway is about.

Where on earth, do these kids get their darn ideas from?

Acquittal

Couple of days ago, Anirud was in a very cranky mood and he was feeling very sleepy. It didn't help much when we asked him to tidy up his toys when he was not in a mood to comply with anything sensible. As my wife and I were having our lunch, we decided to ignore him while this brat was loudly ranting to no one in particular. He went on like 'All of you are upsetting me'. As his eyes fell on the picture on the wall, he felt that he was wrongly accusing someone. Suddenly, in a mellowed down voice he continued, 'Not you, Pillayar. Not you'.

Insurance

These days, Anirud is casually dropping off words like 'credit', 'insurance', 'bank statements' etc during the course of conversation. I believe he has picked up these stuff either from us or from the telly. In an attempt to corner him, I asked what he knew about 'insurance' and he offered this explanation.

'If you lose something, you don't need to cry whooooooooooooowwwooo (pretends to cry). If you call the insurance man, he will give you money to buy that thing'.

We were stumped. That is a decent, no-frills explanation of an Insurance. Isn't it?

Cassiobury Park

Ever since Anirud's summer holidays started, we haven't been able to take a decent break. We had planned quite a few things for his vacation, but all our best laid plans went haywire. During one of the exceptionally good sunny spells, we went to a place called Cassiobury Park and Anirud did have a ball of a time there. Some photos.

Quote

"Appa, I love you and Amma all day except when you hurt me, scold me, frighten me, shout at me, order me or hit me. Also, I don't like you making rules. I make the rules. You should never be harsh at me. Always be soft and nice to me."

Had someone heard the way he said it, it will definitely make him/her believe that we are torturing our only kid mercilessly. For a moment, I was thinking if we had been dealing with him in any inappropriate way until he said, "Fun-ku sonnen pa" (I said that for fun!). Bugger!

Award

The first academic year for Anirud drew to a close today with the school closing down for summer holidays.

Being the last day today, they had the 'Awards Ceremony' celebrating the success and achievements of the year that went by. For a person who has spent all of my school life in India, the kind of categories of the awards were very surprising. During my school days, prizes were mainly for academic achievements and extra-curricular activities (various competitions). Here it was very different and few interesting ones include Perseverance Award, Hidden Talent Award etc. There were two prizes in each of the categories - one for younger children (Key Stage 1) and another for older children (Key Stage 2).

As the Head Teacher distributed the awards at the Assembly, she also made a 45-second elevator talk about what the award was and why it was awarded to the particular individual. When it came to ICT Awards, below is what she had to say,

"ICT Award was for children's interest and curiosity about technology in general and computers in particular. This particular young man was not only at ease in handling things like laptop and communication equipments like white board etc, but also had the confidence in trying to fix them when they are broken. We present this award to this lad for showing great interest and taking the lead in technology at this young age.... and this award goes to ANIRUD".

Yes. Anirud was awarded with the 'ICT Award' (ICT = Information and Communication Technology) that comprises of a certificate and a little shield. Upon hearing his name being announced, he was gobsmacked and collected the prize in a state of shock amidst applause. Although we were notified about this award last week, we were requested not to tell him about that. Since then, we were wondering what it could be for and half expected it to be for his academics, as he is at the top of the league.

We are not sure what he feels about that, as he is still in school as I type this. But as parents, we are mighty pleased. As we left the school, the Head Teacher said 'It is a great start for him. Isn't it?'. True. Can't agree more. It is certainly God's grace.



It is a shame that the photograph didn't come out very well, as we were sitting at few yards away and that the flash was not very powerful. He collected the award and ran back quickly for me to click another one.

Sports Day at School

I can't believe that the academic year is drawing to a close and that Anirud will be moving on to Year 1 this September. Coming Friday, sausages will sizzle and Tuesday next week will be the last day of the year before the school reopens on September 2nd. Yesterday, it was Sports Day at school. Anirud was in the Green team and they were placed second it seems.

Wifey attended the event and clicked some photos. The thing that I noted is that he should be wearing a t-shirt of right size.

Beehive Montessori - 20th Anniversary

Before starting at his current school, Anirud was attending the pre-school at Beehive Montessori that turned 20 this week. They had invited all their old students for the celebrations on Sunday and we made sure that we attended the event. Anirud attended the school for 4 terms and it was this school that brought out the best in him and helped us know a lot more about him. Children loved going there every day and one has to drag the kids away from school when it was time to leave, which reflected the success of the set up. We wanted Anirud to have a great start and he had it there. On that count, we owe a lot to Beehive.

Anniversary day was an opportunity for him to meet some of his old friends, all of his teachers and more than that, he simply enjoyed being there. They had arranged for a magic show, a pony ride and few other stuff as well. There was a corner where they had kept photographs of all the children who attended that school. If you call Anirud's feeling as excited when he spotted his photograph in the pile, think of the people who are now in the university and did exactly that. They even made the kids paint on the masks and kept them as souvenirs (having seen the results, I don't envy them at all for keeping the masks! :)) On the whole, a great day out for us despite the hot weather and the added bonus was the feel good factor.

Some photos..
Birthday Cake

Putting the Tractor to good use

Pony Ride (rather, it is a Pony Walk)

Catching up with friends

Checking up the 'Alumni' Photographs

The Mask!

Helicopter Parenting

When we got a call from Anirud's school reporting that he got slightly injured at school, we expected him to make a big fuss about it and prepared ourselves for a whiny evening ahead. He had some visible minor bruises on his forehead and on his nose. Apparently, he was swinging on his chair upside down (not sure how he did that, but I didn't want him to give a demo) and fell down with his face ending up in the ground. For some reason, he was quite pleased with himself for trying out these monkey tricks. We neither offered any consolation, nor any piece of advice - as we know that it will be as effective as telling a monkey not to jump / climb. In short, we ignored it. We do think that he is a very cautious bloke who is quite aware about the general hazards. So, we let him be what he is and face up these little things so that he'll learn to come out of it or live with it in due course.

Few weeks ago, Anirud hurt his elbow when he fell down on a hard surface as a result of running fast. I kept telling him about the times we fell down as kids and told him not to whine about it. Most of the kids raised in India in 80s will definitely have dozens of scars to show off from the numerous misadventures they had. Those were the times when helmets and kneecaps were unheard of. Going by the current day standards, we definitely lived in an age when toys could possibly kill you with no rounded corners or moulded plastic or warnings or disclaimers or whatever.

Personally, I feel that as parents we are very protective of our kid. It is not only the time, but also the country you live in shapes your mindset to a certain extent. A 5-year old living in India will probably be exposed to more realistic trips and falls, than his/her counterpart living in the West. I don't want any kid let alone Anirud to get hurt unnecessarily, but just trying not to get in to an extremely protective mode. Where do we draw the line?

P.S.: While typing this post, I bumped on this website (http://freerangekids.wordpress.com) and came across the term 'Helicopter Parent', which is explained as "It’s a sort of disparaging term for parents who believe their child is so vulnerable — to injury, to teasing, to disease and disappointment — that they have to sort of hover (like a helicopter) over the child, ready to swoop in if anything remotely 'bad' happens."

Dreams

அப்பா, கொஞ்ச நேரம் முன்னாடி மைண்ட்ல ஒரு வீடியோ பார்த்தேன். அது படமெல்லாம் கிடையாது. நீயெல்லாம் அதை பார்க்க முடியாது. நானும் தூங்கும் போது தான் பார்க்க முடியும். கண்ண ஒப்பன் பண்ண, அந்த வீடியோ ஸ்டாப் ஆயிடும். டிவி-எல்லாம் கிடையாது. அது மைண்ட் வீடியோ.

'Appa, I saw a video in my mind sometime back. It wasn't a movie. You can't see that as well. Even I can see it only when I am asleep. If I open my eyes, that video will stop. There was no TV etc. It was a mind video.'

Well... that was how Anirud explained his dream.

Letting Down

Every morning I drop Anirud at his school before proceeding to work. On our way, we will normally find other children and parents walking along towards the school. As the school nears, Anirud will watch out for any of his friends walking along and (probably) wave at them. Sometimes, we'll wait near our car for his friends to catch up and then they'll walk towards the school, although it will only be few yards from where he gets down.

This morning, as usual I parked the car closer to his school. While I got down and ready to walk, Anirud was still sitting inside looking backwards. I didn't see any of his friends on the way and also that we were running a bit late, so I asked him to hurry up and get down fast. He looked up at me and said, 'Appa, don't tell me to go faster now. Then I will badly let down my friends'.

'Huh? Letting down your friends? Why?'

With tears welling up his eyes, 'If I don't wait for my friends, I will be letting them down pa'.

I managed to convince him that there wasn't any one on the way and he wouldn't be letting down anyone after which he went into the school, quite happily.

Initially when I heard this 'let down' word from him, I thought he is just making something up with no meaning. But, he was clear in his words and he meant what he said. I was surprised by the kind of emotion he was holding. Do children of this age think of these stuff? Or is it just word play? Honestly speaking, I am taken aback.

At School

Last Friday, Anirud went to the Whipsnade Zoo along with his classmates as part of the 'school trip'. The place is a bit familiar to him as we have been there before couple of years ago. He had the additional satisfaction of seeing the tiger, which we weren't able to see last time. When I dropped him off at school in the morning with a small backpack containing lunch, the excitement was in the air. When he got back as a tired boy in the evening, he promptly narrated us about the animals he saw and even wrote down their names in the order in which he saw.

As England played against Slovenia in a do or die match in the football world cup yesterday, his school had arranged for the match to be watched at school premises, for those who wish. When the final whistle was blown, those of us waiting outside could hear a thunderous 'Wwwwheeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyy' celebrating the English win (1-0). Anirud came out grinning telling me the score and the name of the guy (Defoe) who scored the lone goal. Apparently, he had had a great time watching the game with his friends. No wonder he loves the school so much.

Apart from visiting the zoo and watching footy, I have a rough idea of what he is up to at the school. He probably takes off his shirt, gets that inside out, throws it in the mud and jump over it few times before wearing it again. How else could you explain the white polo that looks anything but? I can understand the dirt and the stains outside, but how does that happen inside? Oh yeah, I am sure he removes his socks and wears it again after filling it with sand, as we see lots of sand good enough to build a house. We only hope that the school doesn't charge us for smuggling the sand home.

Star of the Week

Anirud's excitement about Switzerland continued when the school reopened. Seeing the way he had bragged about the trip, his school asked us for some photographs which I put it up on a Powerpoint presentation. That was then shown to other children with a bit of 'expert comments' from the brat, that fetched him the 'Star of the Week' award. In all fairness, it should have been given to me. hmm.. When do schools start to have 'Star Parent of the Week'?

Look at the way the paper has been handled.

Swiss Trip

Our four day vacation to Switzerland was fabulous to say the least. Anirud enjoyed every bit of the vacation, which was all the more satisfying. More than that, we were very pleased that he was very well behaved all through the trip and was never fussy about the food or the long walks. We got him a fridge magnet of a fluttering Swiss flag - as a souvenir for the trip and we do hope that he'll remember this one for a long time.

Although every day was phenomenal, the highlight of the trip was when we got to sit in the VIP seat (the position where the driver of the train normally sits) of the Golden Pass Panaromic train. Anirud was on his own there and we got to sit few seats behind. That seat gave enviable views from the front and after a while, he started chatting with an old couple from Australia. When the trip was over, the old man said 'your son seems to be a boy of information. Seems to know lot of things'. Not sure if that was a compliment or an euphemism for 'ask him to shut up'.

Well... here is a collage of some photos.

3 is a magic number

'Three is a magic number. Isn't it?', asked Anirud. Thinking that to be another of his rubbish theories coming out of conversation with his school mates, we ignored him for a while. Being a persistent bugger, he kept asserting 'Three is a magic number' several times, punctuating with 'Do you know that?'. As we were in the middle of something, this 'three' thing was easily pushing us to the point of annoyance.

Unlike what we thought, it was a song that is being played in his school. They are preparing a big float (that will be set on a huge truck) for the carnival few weeks away. The theme for that is 'Recycling' and there is a song that goes on like

'Three is a magic number
It really is a magic number
....
Reuse - Reduce - Recyle
....
Three is a magic number.'

That one apart, seems that his school has explained the recycling concept very well to the children, as Anirud explained that to me with practical examples. Whenever such moral concepts are told, he will take a vow only to forget it few minutes later. This occasion was no exception, as he vowed not to waste any food or water. Also, he promised to *help* us in taking things to the recycling centre. Hmmm... that is more than enough for asking about three being a magic number.

Switzerland, Here we come!

Seems that Anirud now has a better idea about the Golden Pass panaromic train in Switzerland than those who operate it. As we are gearing up for our trip to Switzerland, he has played the promotional videos of the said train service available in the internet several times already. Further, he is super excited about the broken chair in Geneva, cable cars in Grindelwald and the Rhine falls at Zurich. On the other hand, what is he NOT excited about? Already, half the people at his school know every detail of our trip. Pity how they would feel after we come back.