Parenting my Parents...

Have you sometimes noticed that our parents can be such a source of frustration...I don't mean it in a mean way.
I love my parents to death and ,like any other doting daughter ,think that they are the best thing since sliced bread.But even I have to admit that sometimes getting"through" to them is as complex of a process as it is getting into the mind of a hormone-raging-muddled-rebellious teenager.
In fact , it's almost amusing to see how we sort of start acting all parenty on them once we reach a respectable adult age, and think now we know what's good for them.

I've been going nuts over the past week trying to figure these guys out ( it's an annual pasttime)...and still have no clue. Is it that one merely gets more stubborn as one grows older, or is it a fierce show of "I'am still your mom/dad and I know what's what"??

O.K so we are all here on annual vacations...kids are going wild, chores have increased ,any semblance of order and routine has gone disarray..naturally one's temper can sometimes get the better of oneself. And it frustrates me when I see my parents fussing and clucking around us ( hey..I should be fussing around them!)

My dad is the kind of guy who is, in short modern terminology , hyperactive. The man cannot sit still( knock wood)!! Infact vivid childhood memories of him consist of a blur,fast as lightning, darting from one end to another-cleaning, helping mom out in the kitchen,gardening,fixing,washing-you name it and he has been there ,done that.

I get it....there are tons of people who are like that, esp the older generation(which gives them another reason to call us a lazy bunch of sloths). However I always assumed this darting around would slow down a bit as age caught up. But apparently my dad thinks he has the stamina of a 20 yr old( which is good..Dr. Oz would be proud).However,I want him to realize it's sometimes o.k to sit back and let others do the work for him. I mean , let's face it, it is a little embarassing when you have your dad still iron your clothes for you coz he loves ironing( of all things...why didn't I inherit all this from him..on the other hand..ehh..no thanks!) .
Although I guess I should count myself lucky that I have such great parents ..and I know they are fantastic, generous, spirited people. But I wish they would stop doing so much for us..and know that it's fine sometimes to accept ,instead of giving and giving..
Hurray though for such parents..what ever would we do without them..?!

Who am I to Complain??

I have a confession to make..and no, it's not hard for me to come out with this. In fact ,it's not even probably a secret,it's so damn obvious.
Simply put, Iam a whiner.Grumbler, complainer..and all of that..
I dont even remember when I first noticed this habit..perhaps it was always lurking somewhere within my personality. And, I say lurking because I do know that I never grumbled this much back in school or even college...and yes..I'am going to come out and say it--it manifested itself in all it's glory after I entered marital bliss. Having kids over the years just gave it further momentum and now it's a full time hobby. But I will say in my defence Iam not your typical whiner...I find complaining about mundane things boring. After all who cares if the next door neighbour didn't smile at you( "How rude!! I just gave her a ride the other day!") or if the househelp didnt clean the corner of the bathroom well enough. See what I meant by mundane( although other fellow whiners might object )!
Not for me these frivolous issues...I have bigger battles to fight!!I t usually starts with me glancing at the front page of the newspaper only to see the current state of the world. I will deplete a solid 30 minutes worth of energy in moaning about corrupt politicians, starving children, wars, world peace and the state of the environment...I can't help it.
I'am the only mom in the apartment complex who doesn't ever sit down and relax with other moms ,tired after a busy day.You'll find me standing like a guard near the kids,watching out for bullies, rash drivers and safety hazards.
The worse part is I don't have an audience!!!! What is wrong with this world? I talk about crazy madmen driving on our roads...noone bats an eyelid. Concern about chemicals in food and hyperactivity in kids...yawn. That horrible story on widows and orphans in Iraq...."ya..so sad..so what's for dinner?". I test them once more...."I missed the IIFA awards".......and suddenly Iam flooded with hysterical outbursts, condolences, looks of sympathy. AARGGGHH...
My husband, once fed up of my yakking(in his words!) , asked me why I had to have such complicated compaints..why couldn't I have simpler, more "normal" ones?!!After all..there's nothing much I can do about these, is there now?
So I figured it's probably better I try to stop complaining altogether...dunno if anyone has heard of these, but you actually get these "complaint free bracelets" which are supposed to wean you away from grumbling every time you look at them. And they are free apparently and delivered to you....so i happily sent them a request to send me some...i'ts been a year..and now Iam complaining about complaint-free bracelets. Oh, the irony of it all...

Bedtime stories, anyone?

OK,so my chores are all done, lights are out except the one in the kids room,every last minute whining, complaining, requests for water,candy and going on the see-saw(?!!) have been swiftly and duly dealt with...and you think I can call it a day?
Nope...not until the younger one has had a bedtime story read to him. Now, anyone with young kids knows a bedtime story is the most cherished time for the child..a time for bonding, if you will. Great..I get it, I really do.On those occasions when Iam feeling mighty lazy(which is more often than not),the thought of getting up and getting a book is killing. You see, with me it's not just about picking up any random storybook from the shelf..it almost inevitably ends with a bright-eyed child(who was suspiciously sleepy a while ago) excitedly jumping from one book to another,undecided and overwhelmed.That process of decision making takes another good half hour, so I skip the book part altogether. And announce rather pompously that I'll make up a special story!!
So, there we are all curled up in bed, and my kiddo looking all excitedly up at me as though Iam the next J.K Rowling(lady, you have made the rest of us look unimaginative and dumb!)..and my mind going around and around trying to think of a wow tale...o.k, what about the little blue birdie(oh,wait..I said that yesterday..I mean how many times can a kid listen to a story about the bird with blue eggs, flying up to the rainbow...of course I could always change a few details here and there such as the colour of the eggs maybe? Nah..he's too smart for that!).
So , for lack of ideas, I turn autobiographical and tell him about my routine that day..all accompanied by adequate 'oohs' and 'aahs'...and somehow it manages to lull (or force) him to sleep.
The worse part is when you hand this duty over to someone else..your hubby or a grandparent.Don't get me wrong, my husband is a great guy..but storytelling skills..negative!
It's not that he has a dearth of ideas..it's just that till today he has not been able to complete a single story without having fallen asleep first. All I hear is my son pleading"daddy, then..what happens?" , followed by...loud snoring!!
Once I overheard grandpa telling his grandson a "good"night story....the standard jungle theme, with all the usual suspects-the lion , elephant and a whole parade of animals. But the story was taking a nasty turn with animals being chased, hunted down, barbequed and finally extinction!
I might never know the effect that had on my son, going off to sleep dreaming of his beloved Simba-like lion gobbling up a baby bunny!
Oh well...we'll just have to do with stories lifted from popular movies, tweaked a bit here and there...atleast until they grow up and better sense prevails.
Grandpa better pray he doesn't get sued for emotional torture!!!
Gnite.....

Is" vacation time" truly one for a mom?

I actually am sitting here typing like a crazy woman because I know my 3 yr old , though asleep, is not really "sleeping" if you know what I mean...he is programmed and wired to sit up and start wailing the moment I get down to serious stuff...is that normal..I mean how can any human being, in the midst of blissful sleep, zoom into a state of awareness, all in the span of a fraction of a fraction of a second? Hmm....
My status everywhere proudly proclaims that I'am on a vacation but dont let that fool you..no siree...Im working full time and how! What is it with holidays and motherhood..They seem to be juxtaposed against each other.
Anyhow, I would rather not complain...atleast there is no school..which means less of harried mornings..which is a good thing, right?
Speaking of harried mornings, since schools in India are up and running...I have the front row seat to see other moms running around..I must admit, I have become a tad sadistic in deriving pleasure from seeing others going crazy instead of me, for a change. You know the breathless, red faced parents honking in front of the schools, nonchalant kids who don't give a damn ..ah, the beauty of it all! It would be quite hilarious but for the fact that I know it's tough for us...but I seriously have to calm down a little. I hope to dear God I don't look like that breathless looking lady who's ready to pop!
Are there other moms out there who dream up all sorts of rosy dreams about the routine they are going to follow during the holidays..I don't know what it is that makes us think our kids are going to go along with what we say, when it never, ever happens during the rest of the year!! In my dreams, my school going son was waking up late, allowing me to sleep in, brushing his teeth without being told a 100 times, doing his holiday H.W, eating all his veggies and coming along with me enthusiastically to wherever it is I asked him to come....and being nice while doing all this!!! Think Iam going to faint!!!
News flash...dream on!!!!If anything he's more of a slouch..ok I give up..!!!
And my younger one just got up with great timing..gotta go..
If my dreams had their way..my younger one would be waking up with a big smile and saying" Don't mind me, keep Blogging mummy"....
Ya , right!!!!!