Mozart, Bach or Brahms today?

WAITING TO BE PLAYED...

For the last 3 years or so, our piano has become a distinguished feature of the living room. Maybe it is this state of permanency that has given Kit the power to play it (or rather ape Kat and me) with such poise and ease? Whenever Kit gets a chance (especially when she hears Kat), she will overthrow anyone on the piano bench, seat herself, open her favourite piano music book (the one with pictures) and will start playing (she makes it a point to play with both hands so as to copy Kat and me to perfection) a melody while humming. All this is impromptu and the music and song have nothing to do with the open book as Kit cannot read music (yet!).

Last evening when a similar scene as above was enacted (Kit always likes an audience):

Kit: “Mummy, you like my song?”

Me (while clearing the room of toys, papers, dresses…): “I love it!”

Kit: “Does it make your heart come out?” READ MORE...

When Kat met dog...

It swells my heart with pride when I see Kat stroke any dog now. For someone on the outside, it may seem like the most obvious and the most natural thing but for her it’s been a struggle and she’s come through it – victorious. She’s finally achieved what seemed impossible a few months ago – Well done Kat! We’re so proud of you!

All kids are born fearless – the best age of all! Then creep in the insecurities where we as parents play a pivotal role I think and this is where the dog fear came in – I have this innate fear of four legged animals and they seem to sense it no matter how far they are! They are drawn to me instantly and maybe I behave strange because of this?

Kat must have sensed and picked this one from me (obviously!) to the point where she would not go near any animal (let alone touch it). She was terrified of them…but then came the huge problem…FRIENDS! You never want to be embarrassed in front of your friends, do you? So Kat decided one day (she gets this determination from me I like to think) that this was it – after sessions from her psychologist on overcoming fear (the fear was that bad!) and many nights with both of us talking about it before going to bed, Kat has done it! When she sees a pet dog on the street with someone, she goes up on her own and pats/strokes the dog (very confidently) and sometimes the dog does look fierce and I have to force myself to stay put on the ground and stop myself from shaking so violently! READ MORE...

Kumon Sisters

For all of you who are not familiar with Kumon, it is a Maths and reading program that has worked brilliantly with Kit Kat (so far). Kat started when she was four and as Kit tends to do everything that Kat does and having the second child syndrome makes it easier to some extent, she started at 3 years. Kumon is based on repetition and may or may not work for some kids but I like to think that it works for my girls. When Kat was younger, she took to it like duck to water but then came the nasty long divisions over and over again and then the fractions and she seemed to be stuck in certain levels forever! All said and done, Kat is over some difficult blocks but the most challenging job for all of us is to complete a sheet (and 2 for Kit as she does Reading too) every single day.

While Kit is always excited to do her Kumon (as hers is so colourful with pictures and large sized numbers – she’s only in Junior Kumon) and although Kat got a Kumon Golden Mathlete Star recently, she always has to be inspired to do hers (I don’t blame her!) The one inspiration that always works is if I get them both to do it together – from a work and seriousness scenario, this is not an ideal situation but is a win-win for everyone so I let them carry on…and this is how the sisters get on with it! READ MORE...

DON'T WE JUST LOVE IT? :-)

Is there a Gruffalo?

Meal times with Kit Kat are usually ok now. When it was Kat on her own, she was a bit fussy and picky with the food but since the arrival of Kit, there is really so much happening at the dinner table now, that even Kat eats her food without any complaints. Generally I think Kat has become a better eater too.

ARE YOU REAL?

Most days, I have to read the story of Ariel – The Little Mermaid or her daughter Melody. On the days that I am not reading, we have the story of an imaginary character called Megan and she is the bad girl. If you are the lucky mum whose kids eat all their dislikes without any distractions, then well done to you! Unfortunately, mine doesn’t and needs a good supply of both imagination & patience to swallow hers in between several minutes of detailed thinking (somehow Kit’s brain likes to think in greater, even slower detail when food is not of her liking and her mouth chews to match the pace…grrrh!) So here I am patiently weaving a story of Megan and the Gruffalo when suddenly she snaps out of it and says:

“There is no Gruffalo, is there? It’s all pretend. Come on, tell me”

READ MORE...

Thumb sucking - Yours or mine?

Official release of my pinkie today – Hurray!

Little Kit has had control of my little finger as a pacifier for sleep for the last 3.5 years and a full week of non usage of my pinkie as a sleep inducer makes me think I’ve won my finger back!

Why did I do it in the first place? All new mothers whose babies do not stop crying in the middle of the night or keep waking for whatever reason during night or day must have tried every technique from white noise to lullaby to ignoring cries to whatever works. Something has to work!

They (who?) say that mothers are wiser second time around…ok so here I am to prove that this might not always be the case (always an exception to the rule!). Kit would not sleep in any easy way and after much trial and even more error I figured the only way to calm her and put her to sleep was to let her suck my little finger. To be honest, it felt really cute and harmless when she was newborn and then 3 months, 6 months or even a year old. It even looked cute and everyone complimented on it as it would pacify her so easily without the need for a pacifier!

So far so good…Then came the problems – Kit grew and somehow we both started looking abnormal having my finger in her mouth at nap times! I tried to reason with her (she became more adamant) and then gave up. It even came to the point where she would only suck my pinkie (not even Papa’s) and that too in a certain position and some nights she would like to pick a particular finger! READ MORE...

Who is Baby #1?

All of you reading this and have one child, this is one time where you can surely be happy about it (apart from the obvious cost benefits!). At some point (or many points) in their juvenile years, these siblings (primarily the older one) will question your love over and over and over again to the point where you start questioning it yourself… grrrh!

For some reason, all these debates start in our house around homework or some other important task (do I see a diversion here?) so last evening Kat announced while doing her work that she thinks of Kit as competition (!) and without even knowing what the conversation was about Kit said “Me too!” (as anything Kat does, she has to Me as well)
Sensing a migraine coming on, I try to push the conversation forward –

Kat: “Since Kit has been born, all the attention has been going to her. Everyone says she is the cute one. No one bothers about me”.

I see big tears rolling down and the clock ticking away towards 8pm and I know we are here for long…. READ MORE...