MinnieMum

Kids can be real hard taskmasters. Your office manager may give you concession or a little bit of leeway but with kids they want you to dot the i's and cross the t's. So you have no choice but to do as they tell you, as and how they want it. So this happened on my mother's birthday. My brother wanted to surprise my mom and cut the cake at 12.00 midnight on her birthday. I and my daughter would be joining on video call. So he started the video call and woke up my mom. She was very and sleepy and about to cut the cake. And we were getting ready to sing happy birthday. Me - " Wish granny happy birthday" Daughter - " Mom, she has to  phoo  the cake, there is no candle.". Well she meant granny has to blow the candle and there was no candle on the cake. Daughter ´"Mom candle, I want candle ,candle..." Then she finally stopped crying when my brother used a matchstick as a candle and then my mother blew it and cut the cake. So finally my daugh...

Electronic devices have always caught the fancy of kids. The television and mobiles were favorites until the time IPAD was launched. With its user friendly interface it has  literally become a child' play. Since we bought the Ipad,  its  major user is my daughter and I have to actually hide and keep it. If she as much as notices it she wants it and to divert her attention is not as easy as it was when she was an infant. Now you may be thinking what she must be playing with the ipad.Well all she does is start Youtube and enjoy. Youtube with its user friendly 'suggested videos' gives such a control to the kids, her recently played cartoon is there and all she wants to watch is just a click away. Such a control is not possible either with the television or phone. So she will sit hours together watching mickey mouse cartoons. Once I even deleted the Youtube app but she found a way to go to Youtube via the browser and once via a game. So she now gets the Ipad only on wee...

Children pick up so much from the things they watch and you would be surprised at how much and how well they can actually repeat it all. So half the things my daughter does are inspired by the cartoons she watches.Most of the time she surprises me with these things.Its like every time she conjures up a new trick. This happened when she was not even three years old. Once we went to the washroom in a store. I was washing my hands and asked her to wait there. There was a small washbasin for kids there.  She went to the basin and tried to turn on the tap, but she couldn't. I was telling her not to do it, when she started looking at a lady beside her  and saying loudly "Help, Help" with such a sad expression. Before I could react, the lady looked at her and turned on the tap for her. She merrily washed her hands saying "Thank you"  to her and I was standing there stunned,surprised and shocked. 

Every parent will agree that,  as your child grows up, getting him or her to bed become a herculean task. Day by day you have to think of a new ruse of putting her to bed. So earlier when my daughter was an infant, lullabies and rocking did the trick. Slowly as she become a toddler we were playing "Tell me a story" game. Every night she would ask daddy for a story and then me.No excuses, however tired we were, we had to tell a story. Then I came up with a new story of Wee Willie Winkie. Its a popular nursery rhyme that goes like this. Wee Willie Winkie runs through the town, Up stairs and down stairs in his night-gown, Knocking at the window, prying through the locks, Are the children all in bed, for it's past eight o'clock? So I told my daughter, sleep soon or else Wee Willie Winkie will come. Daughter - "What will he do?" Me - "He will take you far far away." Daughter - "And then you will say quack quack quack?" ...

Today my daughter was reading her picture book with me. One of the pictures shows a baby washing her face all covered in foam. Daughter - "Mom, she is so silly, he he " Me - "Why is she silly?" Daughter - "She has put soap over her head like a hat! " :)

I told my daughter that if she smiles a fairy will come. So she was telling her dad about it. Daughter - "Daddy a fairy will come." Dad - "What  will she get for you?" Daughter - "She will not get anything for me." Dad -"Why?" Daughter - "Because she does not have a bag, only Santa Claus has a bag!!"

One day I gave my daughter a banana. She started eating it . Daughter - "Oooh Oooh Aaah Aaah" Me  - " Why are you making that sound" Daughter - " Mom  I am a monkey, Oooh Oooh Aaah Aaah!" she said holding the banana.

Counting is one thing that my daughter loves. If you ask her to count something, irrespective of how many things there are she will recite one to ten. I always ask her to count to 20 if I want her to wait, so instead of saying wait for a minute I ask her to count till 20. That works well for both of us. One day I thought I will teach her counting after 20. Me - Twenty one, twenty two .. Daughter - twenty three, twenty four ... She had caught the cue and was counting non stop Daughter - twenty eight, twenty nine, twenty ten , twenty eleven, twenty twelve....

My daughter wanted to watch TV and she was asking for the remote. Me - "I have lost the remote, I cant find it anywhere." Daughter - "The coin is so small and the lake is so deep,  how am I ever going to be able to find it." For two minutes I was just blinking at what she had said. And then realized that, she was saying this because I had said that I  had lost my remote. These are the lines from a Mickey Mouse clubhouse cartoon.

This was a little conversation we had when I was playing with my daughter.  Me - "You are so sweet"  Daughter - "Do you want to eat me? I am sweet”.  And this was asked so earnestly that I could not help but give her a big cuddle.

When my daughter was going to start nursery, I was thinking of starting work again. I was thinking a lot about it but hadn't made up my mind. Its a tough decision leaving your child away for a whole day. So in between I just absentmindedly asked my daughter.  Me - "Shall I go to office?"  Daughter - "No mama its daddy's turn. "  Now I didn't expect that. Well I found a new adviser :)

Its funny how kids interpret the cartoons and animation. My daughter was climbing a ladder. Me – “Don’t climb the ladder , you will fall and hurt yourself”. Daughter – “Then  will I  get stars?” For a moment I didn’t understand which these stars were. It then dawned on me, that in the animation movies and cartoons , stars are shown when someone gets hurt or bumps their head. I couldn’t help laughing at this. Similarly when I was kissing her she asked me ” Mom are you giving me hearts?” I said no I am giving you kisses. And then realized , if you actually picture it in an animation movie, when the characters kiss, hearts are shown.

My daughter who calls herself Mickey learnt the magic word “Please”. So anything she wants she uses her magic word and here is what happened when I tried to use it too. :) Mickey – Mom give me paint. Me – Not now we have to go to bed. Mickey – Mom give me paint please. Me – No Mickey – I used the magic word, now give me Me – Please Mickey we have to go to bed. Mickey – No its my magic word , you cant use it. Well you never expected this reply!!

When your baby takes its first steps you as a parent feel proud at this immense achievement and definitely its the happiest milestone in your life. But speaking is a gradual process and a wonderful journey for you and your child as you discover how a language is learned. You marvel at the way your child picks up words and are amazed when it forms complete sentences.  Its a lovely time when kids start speaking and each day is a discovery of amazing anecdotes. I am a mother of a 3 year old daughter who is big fan of mickey mouse. She calls herself Mickey and I am her Minnie and daddy is Goofy. With this blog  I would love to share her anecdotes with you all.