Bye-Bye First Grade

Today was the last day of school for the 7 year old. We're going to miss this wonderful teacher, but at the same time we're looking forward to the unscheduled days of summer.

Overheard in the Playroom

Spent the morning folding laundry and other household chores while the kids played with a neighbor friend. From upstairs, I heard these snippets of conversation...

"Yeah, but I was the most powerful-est".
"Ok, I'll pause the game."
"And then you saw one of the good soldiers disguised as a cat".
"And I disappeared into my world of soldiers".
"We must destroy the good guys".
"Try to, my son".
"And you thought you saw a red mark under my bangs". (Harry Potter reference)
"So, that is your secret".
"Sanjay, we cannot talk to you 'cause we're up in heaven, but we're not dead".

And, then Bartee came home from golfing and I heard this...

"You were. That was your tent. You'd better put that up or I'll tell Mommy".

He's just one of them, only in a grown-up body that occasionally drinks beer. :)

So You Think You Can Dance

In the spirit of my favorite summer TV show returning for the season premiere tonight, I dug up some old video of the little guy. Well, the truth is I was importing all my videos and came across a really funny one of Sanjay at the lunch table that I wanted to share with you all which also happens to showcase my incredible singing voice.

The boy has always loved music. Even confined in his car seat at 8 months old, he'd find a way to squirm around to the beat of his favorite Indian song. We used to queue it up whenever he started fussing on long drives. Today if I dare try to drive around town running errands without the radio turned on, he'll call me on it. He once asked Katy while riding in her car, "Do you ever play music when you drive?" or something to that effect. If he starts to doze off on a long drive, I'll turn down the volume so he can sleep peacefully and he'll pop up and say "turn up the music".

One day when he's famous for something musical you can proudly say "I knew him when...". Now sit back and enjoy this video montage of his early years in music.

Proof That Our Son Is Hard-Headed

On Saturday, the kids were playing in the car (don't ask... Daddy was in charge). Sanjay was in a particularly rambunctious mood. He was literally jumping up and down, bouncing all over the place and generally full of energy. So Bartee is busy removing the ski rack from the roof of the car and hears a loud thump followed by Sanjay's cries. He bumped his head so Bartee is comforting him and from the back seat he hears Priya say, "No Daddy he broke something". Bartee looks up to find this:



Here's what it looks like from outside the car...



I remembered a rock chip that happened over the winter and came to the conclusion that surely he must have hit it there where the windshield was already structurally compromised. But, indeed I was wrong... Sanjay's head is really just that hard. It is solely responsible for the damage. You may be wondering how his noggin fared in this little accident? Yeah, he's totally fine.



(Click on the photo for a closer look)

Scraps of Paper

So many things are supposed to make the blog, but they end up instead on paper scraps in my purse or in the car or on my desk. Little notes to trigger my memory of something that happened days, weeks, even months ago. I am compiling a list of some I recently found which does not in any way imply that they happened recently. :)

This one happened a long time ago... possibly a year or more.
Sanjay: “Who's Aunt Jeanette?”
Mom: “You know... Aunt Jeanette and Uncle Chad.”
Sanjay: “oooh... it's our persons... and Nana... and Pappy”

Sanjay: “Just like gondolas, cars are... when we are in them we don't feel the wind.”

Sanjay climbed in bed with Daddy around 6am. Later that day, I got this explanation from him...
Sanjay: “There was a big rat and there was thunder and it got him.”
Mom: “It hit him?”
Sanjay: “uh-huh”
Mom: “What happened to him?”
Sanjay: “He was gone.”
Mom: “He disappeared?”
Sanjay: “uh-huh”
Mom: “And that scared you?”
Sanjay: “Yeah, and that's why I went to Daddy's room and had a sleepover.”

Still hasn't figured out the concept of time...
Sanjay: “Can I take a short nap, like 2 minutes (long)?”
Mom: “Well, more like an hour.”
Sanjay: “oh... an hour? Hehehehe, that's really short. Ok.”

While watching American Idol...
Sanjay: “Are you ever gonna be on Biggest Loser?”
Mom: “I don't think so. I hope not.”
Sanjay: (looks over at the TV then back at me trying to clear up any confusion) “No, not on American Idol. I know that you can't sing.”

Sanjay: “I love this book. It's my best.”

Idioms can be so confusing...
Daddy: “Sanjay just hit the nail on the head.”
Sanjay: “What nail?”

Trying to figure out adverbs...
Sanjay: “Daddy, you hit me too much hard.”
Sanjay: “I like this song more more more mucher than the other one.”

Sanjay: “Can I get a train farmer? One of those things that changes into a car? (He was, of course, talking about a Transformer.)

Sanjay: “I'm really feeling hot on my foreward head.”

Sanjay: “How did they make this bowl? Maybe they found all the black pieces at the factory and put it together with the specialist glue ever.”

"No, Priya. Lambert is his next name." - Sanjay, while watching American Idol, talking about Adam Lambert.

Something I've been meaning to write down that's been etched in my memory since it happened is when Sanjay was just old enough to start playing with his cars. I cannot recall how old he was, but he was young... just beginning to talk. He was on the floor sliding a matchbox car around and from the kitchen I heard him say, "Come on, lady" with a hint of frustration in his voice. I had to totally crack up because I'm sure he'd heard me say it 100 times and made the association between that phrase and driving. The things we inadvertently teach our children. Oops.

Priya occasionally still says something that's worth noting down. I especially liked what she said the other week while we were watching Star Wars and she discovered the magic of science fiction movies.

Priya: "I like how there are things in this movie that aren't real cause it takes us to a whole different world."

And, let's not forget the big guy. He says a lot of things that make me laugh, but unfortunately I haven't written so many down. The most classic example which happened soon after we first met is still the best. He sometimes uses different English words and phrases just because that's how he was raised. They always make sense... but to me they may sound funny. In our early days together, he said, "The tips of my legs are cold" and I just won't let him live it down. To this day, that just cracks me up.

Not too long ago he was explaining Winter Solstice and how it affects the length of the day. He told the kids, "Winter Solstice is the smallest day of the year". The silence in the back seat of the car told me they were seriously trying to figure out what it means when you say that a day is small. Will it fit in a shoe box? In his defense, "shortest day of the year" doesn't make much more sense but it's just what we are used to hearing.

Before I colored my hair last time, he was at a very close distance staring at my roots. He drew this conclusion, "Honey you have a LOT of gray hair". I shot him a little evil eye and he quickly came up with this, “Not an old lady... what do they call them? Distinguished, you're distinguished.” It's too bad distinguished doesn't start with an "S" or I'd add it to my blog title.

Hat and Lunch Day

The preschool has a designated Hat and Lunch day each year where the kids pack their own lunch. It's such a treat for them to dine with their friends, and as a bonus, they get to wear and show off a special hat too. Last year, my pictures captured snow on the ground, but luckily this year it was warm enough that they enjoyed their lunch outside.

Here is Sanjay with his lunchbox and baseball cap ready to celebrate this fun day:

Priya's New Look...

will include glasses. She's been squinting for some time now and I finally got around to getting her eyes checked. Those darn school screenings have come back with normal results for 3 years now giving us a false sense that everything was alright. Unfortunately, as it turns out, reading an eye chart is not an accurate measure of vision according to our eye doctor. In fact, several states have banned the school screenings for the simple fact that it sometimes gives parents a comfort level that prevents them from getting their child's eyes checked by a professional.

Evidently, children's eyes should be checked before the age of 3... that's right, age three. The brain and the eyes are communicating and trying to work everything out from 18 months to 3 years, so that by age 3, the brain has already made adjustments to correct for poor vision, thereby sometimes causing irreversible damage. With each passing year, the development of the visual system is more complete and cannot be changed. I don't really know if this applies to your basic near sightedness and farsightedness but there are other vision problems that can certainly be repaired if caught early enough. Wow, this is maybe the first time that I'm actually educating my readers, all two of you that actually have children young enough to benefit from this fabulous advice. :)

It's hard to tell how Priya feels about being the only other person in her class to wear glasses. The other little girl is a friend of hers from Kindergarten, so today she went to her for advice. The girl shared with Priya that glasses can sometimes get caught in your hair when you put them on or take them off and also, she said, "They make you not look beautiful". I really hope that despite the fact that her two closest friends don't want her to get glasses that her new look will be accepted and even embraced by her peeps. She did go with their advice of staying away from frames that were too round. Let's see... I think overall she's excited about wearing them even though she's convinced the people in her class will no longer recognize her.



It was fun shopping for the new eye-wear with Priya, especially after we returned Sanjay back home because he just doesn't know how to behave well in public. The glasses have been ordered and will be ready in about a week, but here's a sneak preview and summary of our shopping: