Happiness Post #4

1. A close friend of mine just started dating an awesome guy.  She has gone through quite a bit in her previous marriage so this guy is just unbelievable.  I am so happy for her and sharing her happiness makes me even more happy.  Praying and wishing only the best for her.
2. Went out to buy project materials for Sonu.  He has to produce evidence of purchase since the project cannot exceed $20.  It was challenging and fun to buy materials within budget.  Felt happy when we got what we wanted.
3. Made paneer paratha for kids lunch box.  Was a surprise for them and seeing their happy face in the evening made me happy.
4. The lawn was mowed and cleaned.  Made me happy to see a clean front yard.
5. Looking at my parents photos. One taken 50 years back and one taken recently.  Showed it to kids too.  They could not believe their grandparents looked like that in their younger days.

Happiness Post #3

1. 5 mile walk/run. 10,000 steps achieved.  Really happy to get started.  Have a long way to go
2. Quick dinner prep work.  I am always happy to spend as less time in the kitchen on week days
3. Long chat with Nattu on the puberty topic that her school covered yesterday.  Answered some questions.  Happy that she wanted to share everything with me.  She is working on becoming my friend now a days.  Happy for that thought.
4. Sonu planning to buy earrings for Nattu for her birthday.  His school has a project where they have to create products and sell it to make most profit.  He is making candle holder.  The kids had to get their prototype approved from teachers and the project is due next week. Another friend of his had made earrings with Harry Potter theme.  He said he will buy them for Nattu for her bday.  I was happy he thought of her and wanted to get something for her.
5. My parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary!  Happy to call them and wish them on their milestone. 

Happiness Post #2

1. Nattu's birthday card for me.  That girl had written a personal note in the card that made me very happy.
2. Sonu's tight hug to wish me.  He made sure he gave me special attention.
3. Accessories that I bought on sale.
4. Clean house.  Cleaned it after a few weeks due to hectic schedule.  Clean bathrooms, organized closet all made me very happy
5. Wishes and calls from the ones who care about me.  Made me happy.

Happiness Post #1

I am writing after a loooooooong time. A lot has happened in my life in the past few years that has completely changed how life used to be for me. I was thrown into fire and I am still coming out of it. Got burnt, was broken to pieces and I had no clue how to put my life back in place. I like the comfort zone but there was none. It was hard not to have anyone to fall back on.
I am still recovering and don't want all this feeling masking the moments of happiness I get everyday. It is mostly because of Nattu and Sonu. Wanted to capture some moments that made me happy today.
1. Nattu calls me everyday after reaching home from school. In her call today, she was talking to me in a sing-song voice. I had kept guacamole for her lunch and she sang a song on guacamole that she learnt at school. She was in a cheerful mood and that reflected in her voice. I had a smile throughout the call. At the end she said 'now that I have entertained you enough, I will put the phone down. See you in the evening'. I could not control my laughter. She does bring a lot of cheer in my life.
2. When I reached home in the evening, Sonu came and gave me a tight hug. That was wonderful.
3. Both of them got ready for their swim class with minimum prompting.
4. Recalled some pranks that they did when they were small. They laughed so much. It filled my heart with joy.
5. Nattu enjoyed her dinner and appreciated it. Made me happy.

Confused..

Nattu came back from school yesterday and said: Amma my friend told me that I will grow to be a werewolf.
Me: (Surprised) why did she say that.
Nattu: A boy told me that amma. HE said that because I have too much hair on my legs and when I grow up I will have hair all over the body and will look like a werewolf.
Me: (Shocked) A boy told you that
Nattu: Yes it was a boy. Can you remove all the hair from my legs amma.
Me: (very angry by now) You should have told him that its none of his business
Nattu: (in a whining tone)But I still want to remove the hair from my legs amma
Me: Well you cannot be doing everything just because somebody commented on something. Tomorrow somebody will come and say 'why do you have long hair?' then will you cut it off. You have to live life on your terms Nattu not because someone will say something.

Nattu became quiet after I mentioned the long hair part. *moment to preen* Nattu has hair till her waist and is trying to grow till it reaches a little below her butt. She saw my childhood pictures and wanted to grow it that same way I had when I was young. Now that I hardly have any hair and losing it in bunches is not the question here. Everybody appreciates her thick hair and she takes pride in it. So when I told her about her hair she kinda left the topic.

But I was mad that a boy would mentioned this to her looking at her legs. She is in first grade and I did not expect kids of that age to be paying attention to such stuff. It was a warm day yesterday that is why she wore skirt to school.

Came home and told G about this. He said I should have told her she will lose the hair when she grows up. I did not want to say that because that is not the truth.

I never thought I will have to deal with these things at this young age.

Nattu-isms

Been sometime since I posted about Nattu. She is one witty girl whose response time to things is in microseconds. We at times think... 'How does she come up with such responses'. Here are a few instances

Scene 1:

I cut watermelon and give a wedge to her.

Nattu: What should you tell me amma
Me: (thinking 'shouldn't she be the one telling me thank you'): what should I tell you
Nattu: you should tell me 'enjoy your watermelon nattu'
Me ???
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Scene 2:

I do something for nattu which makes her so happy..

Nattu: you are the second best mommy in this whole world
Me: (feeling jealous and sad) who is the first best then?
Nattu: Oh! that would be your mommy
Me: (no arguing on that point)

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Scene 3:

Nattu did not want to go to school one day. Since she had not missed even one day of school this year I tell her: 'Only three more weeks of school. You will get a certificate on the last day for perfect attendance.'
Nattu(crying hard): 'All we will do is to hang the certificate on the wall. What am I going to gain from that?'
Me: ???

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Scene 4:

I pick Nattu and her friend A from daycare and come home. I go upstairs and change into my regular pajamas. Nattu sees me coming down the stairs and comments to A: My mom is hot.
A who is couple of years older than Nattu tells her: Thats a bad word, you should not use it.
Nattu to me: I am sorry amma, I didn't mean it.
Me: ???

Why..

..is it so hard for you to appreciate but easy to find fault.
..is it ok for you to talk to your mom everyday but is not OK for me to talk to my parents.
..is your job more important and mine has no value.
..should I always be the one to bend my schedule to match yours.
..is anything to do with kitchen work is my job and yours is only to eat what is dished out from there.
..is any talk on equal rights from me is blamed on the blogs I read.
..should you shy away from holding hands in public or any PDA because you don't want others to see you and you are living in USA.
..is talking to my BFF bothers you so much.
..is my mind so muddled when I think about our future.