The CAR collection

I think they are 54 in all!

Wordle

Created by Wordle, cute!

Kids have built-in clocks

Time and again I have been re-assured that kids have built-in clocks that tell them exactly what time it is. I could imagine, they have a neat digital clock inside their lungs that alarms them of events , something like " Ring!..Ring!.. time for snacks", you get the picture?

Right from the day of the birth, they know when its 2:30 AM and mom is sleeping soundly and "Ring!..Ring!...wake up mom for a quick feed" or when its 2 minutes past a diaper change and "Ring!..Ring! Time to poo!" till their toddler days when its 6:30 PM and "Ring!..Ring! Time for the Tom & Jerry show". They don't need any clocks to look up; toddlers can't even read clocks. Their inter-lung-digital-alarm clocks support them all the time. I am quite amazed how these kids know exactly what time of the day it is. And so far, I have always maintained a bitter taste for these inter-lung-digital-alarm clocks, I see them as tools the kids use for Anti-Mom activities.

But recently I was surprised to see that my toddler has finally put them for a cute cause. One fine day, Pratham requested that I wake him up before I leave for office (He is usually asleep while I leave for office). I didn't know the reason for his request, when I questioned him he said, "Oh, I just want to see you before you leave for office!" . Such cute/sweet intentions this fellow has! I assured him I will wake him up just before I left for office, however deep in my mind I was thinking "There is no way I am going to disturb him from his less than 9-hrs sleep".

So the next morning I was gearing up to leave for office, Pratham was deep in sleep. As I gathered my stuff and started to move, I heard Pratham call me out "Mummy" with a smile!
He woke up on his own, and waived me good-bye. Bliss! Surprise!

...and I know exactly which clock he used to set his alarm!

Concern's

Its not quite often that I drop off Pratham to School since I leave for office quite early, usually my dad will drop him off to school every day. I have no idea what all events happen from the time he wakes up till the time he enters school. Whether he throws a tantrum while getting up, does not eat his break fast or cry while leaving for school etc. is unknown to me.


The other day I had to leave for office late and got the opportunity to get him ready for the school.
Well, it started quite well, he woke up with a smile, no tantrums to my relief! It turns out he was happy to see mama's face when he woke up and that too on a weekday! wow! The first thing he checks with me is whether he too has a day off in school like mama has? I say no , you have school baby, but guess what ? Today I drop you to school. Wow! that will be great mama!


So, I assumed he will start with his potty/brush/shower routine...but no.. he needs milk in bed! That's the first thing to do! OK! I get him his breakfast in bed. Time is running by so I ask him to hurry up, but to him it is taking time to adjust to the fact that "today is mama's home day, yet I have to go to school and even hurry up my breakfast!" . he is getting fast though. OK, breakfast over, shower ready, I get ready to give him a shower. but wait! hey mom where are my toys to play! You always give me toys to play while i take shower. I say, no honey today is not a weekend, and which means you have to rush to school, which means you don't get time to play with toys in your bath. Another bolt! First he has to go to school when mom is home, and then he has to bath with out playing with his toys!! This is getting tough!

But, the good boy that he is, understands and takes a quick shower. By the time we are out of the bath room, my lovely dad has the school uniform, the bag, the socks , his batch and shoes layed out nicely on the bed! ( Thanks dad! you make every thing easy for me!) So, I just put every thing on him, all dressed up and ready to head to school.

We are about to leave, just then, Pratham stops, and asks me, "Are all my home work books in my bag? yes. Did I finish my home work? Yes. Are enough pencils in my box? Yes. OK lets go to school now.

The school is just a block around, and there are two paths that one can take, I take one and set out. On the way, Pratham says, we usually don't take this path, we take the other path to school. I say "oh! Never mind, we will use the other path on our way back from school, OK?" OK.
He enters the school gate and just walks off without a bye, I don't even have to drop him off to the hall way! wow! My boy is grown up!

On the way back home after dropping him, I was wondering all the things that I know as his mother but don't!

• He takes his breakfast on the bed during weekdays only, unlike on weekends with me
• He thinks if mom is home, it means he too gets a day off, just like weekends!
• He thinks if mama is helping him have a bath even on a weekday, it means he gets to play with his toys, just like his weekends
  
• He thinks if he wakes up and finds mama by his side, its either a holiday or a weekend!(gasp)

And the most interesting part:

• I should be checking whether his home-work books are in his bag or whether he has pencils in his box, etc. !( How on earth do i call myself a mama?)

But I was really amused by his concerns before leaving for school, I mean which 3-year-old kid, checks whether his school bags have all the necessary things and recalls whether he finished is school homework or not??
I didn't for sure!

Lightening McQueen

The Lightening McQueen craze continues, day by day there are more items entering the home with McQueen on them. Here are the ones so far..

• An 1:55 cast iron model of the car itself from Disney
• Mack, trailer van set from Disney
  
• A Pencil box
• Stickers
• Rakhee
  
• "Cars" DVD
• Watch
  
• Bowl/Plate
• Spoon and Fork
• T-Shirt
• Back-pack

Thanks to Aunt Pinkey for the last four items. I am sure to be missing some items here, cannot recollect all, probably I will post a picture of all these items.

Cars

McQueen ( via wikipedia)

Pratham is big time into cars. Did i tell you he is BIG big big time into cars?He lives, eats, plays, sleeps, dreams cars. I am not sure from where he has developed this fascination for cars, cause i don't own one, and nor does he travel into cars on a regular basis.
And here is proof to my statement above:

• His toy box has around 100 small and big cars (Honestly, if i had kept the ones that had their doors/windows broken, the count would be double. Out of 100 odd, 2 are RC operated)
• He is gifted a car by his Grandpa, Mother, Grand Ma, relatives, even neighbors once a week at least ( hence the above point)
• He wants to own an Electrically charged Toy Hummer, which he has seen at the departmental stores( It costs a Bomb! but I have promised him he will get it on his B'day)
  
• His Priceless possession till date though is the DVD of Disney Pixar's "Cars", cause here he can actually watch a live race happening in California for the Piston cup
• He wants to own a Driving License right away, cause I once told him he needs a license to be able to drive a car on the roads ( Yep! he wants to drive a live car on the road when he is not even 4 years old, and i am sure this thought sets his pulse racing!)
• When I ask him what he wants to be when he is grown up, he says, he wants be become a car racer and has to reach California as soon as possible and win the Piston cup, and then on conquer the Grand Pix and F1 circuits
• Yes, he watches the Grand Pix and F1 races on TV, and no one dares to switch the channels when the race is on( He has the channel no. memorized, he somehow knows it when its time for the show and switches on TV at that exact time. This phenomenon also happens when the "Tom & Jerry" show is on)
  
• With his play-mates, the only thing he plays is a pretend car race
• Apart from the cars, his toy box has only one Piano and a puzzle game!
  
• His favorite character is "Lightning McQueen" from the movie cars, he has a T-shirt, bowl, and even got a Rakhee with McQueen on it and also wanted me to apply him a heena tattoo on his arms with "McQueen" written on it!

Now, with all this car craze, I can imagine what happens the day he turns 18. For sure, I can imagine on his 18th Birthday, there is no party happening, but he is standing in a queue at the RTO office awaiting his turn to test for the driving license.

The Teacher

Last night before bed time(actually, way past the bed time), Pratham was at his highest energy levels, which is usually the case. He always has every thing to talk about and every car to play on his pretend Highway(which is the bed) just before bed-time. I see it, of course as a way he tries to procrastinate bed-time. Its a task getting him to sleep everyday.

Anyways, a little conversation with him around this time had me in splits!

Me: Pratham, you did your homework today?
Pratham: Yes, finished
Me: Say, how is your teacher, Miss G, is she very strict? ( out of curiosity)
Pratham: (nodding his head heavily from left to right ) Nooooo
Pratham: (comes to me and whispers in my ears) You know what? She always calls me "Hi Handsome!"

I was in splits at this cute-honest answer. I am assuming he likes her a lot and does not feel Miss G is strict in any way. And probably she is not!