Tag Archives: Children

Catching up with friends

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On Sunday evening, we went to my inlaws place for haldi Kumkum and it was a fun evening. BB & GG got to meet up with some old friends whom they hardly see these days since they’ve moved away and are in different schools. At one point there was so much noise, we couldn’t hear ourselves talk – there were about 9 kiddos in the house, including two little ones. It was funny seeing how they split themselves gender-wise – the boys playing with their cars in one room and roaring with laughter at bodily functions, something that only little boys are capable of finding humour in and the girls playing god knows what but which included loads of shouting, dancing and singining in one room. The two little ones shuttled between both rooms, somtimes scared as they saw the noise levels there.

Image source - Wikipedia

It was really fun catching up with friends like this and we have decided to do it once again soon (after the exams). While talking about the different activities our kiddos do I was stuck by something. Most of their friends who came visiting on Sunday were learning Indian things (classical music, classical dance etc) since they learn they non-Indian things in school, something which every self-respecting tambrahmkid does, but BB & GG are different. BB & GG have been

Image from Wikipedia

learning Indian classical Carnatic music for about a year now and GG as a counterpoint to this has been learning Ballet since the time she was around three years old. She enjoys ballet, but is not very good at it. It’s not something that she’ll be doing as a career, but it is something that gives her pleasure. I enjoy this dischotomy and it gives me pleasure that GG is blending the traditional with the modern, just like this world that is all hers!

Now I have to get BB to take something that complements what GG is doing – but BB is alll boy and so I am unsure if he will enjoy it. Well, there’s always hope. Next year, when they go to Primary 3, they need to take up some compulsary Co-Curricular Activities. Since BB is always at home – on the iPhone, on the computer or on the TV, both S and me want him to take up some physical activity like soccor, wushu or chookball!

Little Girls…or Miniature Women?

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Ok, here’s a warning, rant coming on, so leave now if you want…

On Friday night, BB & GG had their music concert, which I wrote earlier. There I realised that most people found it very normal to put on make-up to their little girls – some as young as three and four!

My view about this is fairly straitforward – GG gets to wear make-up when she turns 15. If there are compeling reasons to wear make-up earlier, it will not be anytime before secondary school (13 or thereabouts) and then too it has be something very light – maybe lipgloss when she goes out. I am not discounting the odd make-up when is forced to wear it (like a performance in school etc), but in situations where it is not needed, I totally dislike it on young girls. According to me putting on chemicals on their faces now will lead to many problems later on in life. Also they are children, not miniature adults! Is there a need to make them look like adults so soon? Let them enjoy their childhood first. Are the parents even aware what is in the cosmetics that they are putting on their daughters? Have they read labels? This has the makings of their faces looking older than their real ages by the time they reach their mid-twenties. Even if the girls ask for it, isn’t it our jobs as parents to not let them do it?

The show on Friday was a very casual one with just the children who learn from this particular teacher and their parents. I saw girls with full make-up (by this I mean eyeshadow, eye liner, blush, lipstick and nail polish) while the others did variations of the theme. I think GG along with just 2-3 other girls was sans makeup at all. The colours used were the real dark colours like dark red and burgundy.

Another thing which gets my goat is the same young girls wearing shoes with heels. The same rule that applies for make-up applies for shoes for GG, although she has been longing for heels. When heels are said not be good even for adults, imagine what it would do to a young girl’s feet even before it has had a chance to fully grow!

Ok rant over, we can all go back to our lives now

What do you think about girls being allowed to wear make-up and heels before they should?

Twins

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Do they look alike? ….. Do they have same/similar natures/characters?

These two are the first questions that most new acquaintances ask when they hear I have fraternal twins. So here’s a crash course on twins followed by some of the idiosyncrasies of BB & GG

There are basically two types of twins – monozygotic and dizygotic.

Monozygotic twins are otherwise known as identical twins and are always the same sex. This occurs naturally and anyone can become an identical twin mom. The incidence of occurance is about three twin births for every 1000 births worldwide, although some countries and cultures may have a preponderance for identical twins compared to others.

Dizygotic or fraternal twins come about when there are two seperate pregnancies which happen at the same time. This means that most fraternal twins are nothing more than siblings who happen to be born at the same time. They would be just like any siblings, except that they share a birthday. The most common fraternal twins statistically speaking are the boy/girl twins with girl/girl and boy/boy being the other types. Incidentaly, most people react this way when they hear about BB & GG – “Wow, so lucky and rare!” Earlier I used to explain to them about how statistically a boy/girl is more common at 50% but now I just smile and take it as a compliment. The chances of someone having fraternal twins is however higher if you do happen to have twins in your maternal side of the family. This gene for twins is passed on through the mother and may pass generations before it appears again. Also even if you are a fraternal female twin, there is no guarantee that your pregnancy will result in twins.

This is what happened in my family – my maternal grandmother had twins in her family and my mom’s sister had fraternal boy/girl twins. However, my cousin (the girl twin) had a singleton baby and the gene skipped her to land in me for our generation.

Here is a link to an interesting page about twin myths from across the world. Now on to

GG: My first born, older by 2 minutes because she did not show a lot of growth in the uterus. In fact it was because of her that I had to have a caesarean to get the babies out as my ob-gyn felt she may not be able to ‘survive the trauma of birth’ . She is bossy, opinionated and very strong mentally. She’s a very girly girl and loves her dolls, animals, plush toys and the colour pink. She loves dancing and is currently learning ballet. She also goes to Indian classical music lessons. She wanted to be a doctor when she grew up, but now on learning the kind of hand work you need to put in to get to medical school, she is evaluating her options. Her hobbies include playing with her dolls, reading and playing on my iPhone and the computer. Her current favourites are the Winx Club girls and she just started on her first crush on Justin Beiber! I’m looking forward to her growing up so that we can be friends….

BB: He was born after GG and she rarely misses an opportunity to let him know. Of the two he’s more easy going and will agree to our wishes, but these days I see signs of a temper emerging. He is stronger academically, but lazy and his handwriting is a cause of concern for his parents and teachers! He is also a bit less mature than GG, but hopefully will catch up soon. He is very mechanically minded and finds maths very easy. Like most boys he loves vehicles, mostly cars and planes. He wanted to be a pilot earlier, but now has revised it to being either a plane or a car designer. BB also learns Indian classical music like his sister, but he goes under duress! His hobbies include playing with his cars. watching TV and playing with our iPhones & computers. His favourite shows are those which have cars/planes as the central theme and he’s all set to watch the Singapore leg of the Grand Prix with his dad this weekend. Testosterone alert in my house!

Happy Birthday to you….

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Today GG & BB turn 8. Happy birthday sweeties!! The last eight years have been a fun-filled roller-coaster ride for all of us. We’ve had our share of sweetness and some sadness, but overall, it’s been delightful and I am glad that nature thought us worthy of the twins!

They’ve taken some sweets – Smarties to share with their friends in school. Tonight their school celebrates the Mid Autumn Festival and Family Day and we’re sure to have a blast there also. Enjoy your day darlings and we’ll continue our studies and work tomorrow…

Here are a couple of videos for your enjoyment!

 

This and That…A Khichadi Post

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This post is a khichdi of different things. First things first though – a khichdi is an Indian lentil and rice dish which is essentially a one pot meal. You just chuck in rice, lentils, vegetables with some spices and create a fulfilling meal! The image is courtesy of Wikipedia.

Yesterday I went for my annual PAP smear test. My ob-gyn has recently shifted his clinic and somehow even though I kept saying the correct name, I landed in the wrong place! I had taken BB & GG with me since I wanted them to see the man who brought them into this world! BB & GG were very excited about this! The test was a routine one, but the Fibroid that I have in my uterus has apparently grown by around 20% over the last one year. It is still small enough to leave it for now, but over the last four years it has grown by almost 250%! Hopefully it stops growing any more and I am saved from surgery…

I also realised that I am seriously overweight! My scale at home is broken and I have not yet bothered to replace it. I weight 92 freaking kgs! I really, really need to do something. I also realised that this weight is very close my weight when I was nine months pregnant with twins! No wonder in the last few weeks, more than one person have offered me a seat in the bus – they thought I was pregnant!!

While coming back home from the clinic, we were talking about the fact that in my side of the family BB is the only boy in his generation – my sister has two girls and other married cousins with children also have only girls till now – and I said, “Because BB is the only boy in this generation, the grandparents tend to pamper him a lot”. For some reason, this set off GG in a fit of giggles and she wouldn’t tell me the reason. Then later when the giggling subsided, we realised that she associated the word ‘pamper’ to diapers or Pampers! Cue to continue giggling whenever the word was used, and believe me she used the word in many ways during the 10 minute drive home!

I also heard some other piece of sad news yesterday – an ex-colleague of mine JS who was just about my age (give or take a few years) expired on Sunday. I am not sure of the cause, but I heard the words Heart Attack. Even though he and me were not close and in fact I disliked him a lot, here’s a prayer for him and his family and may his soul rest in peace. I know he is the only son and has aged parents with medical conditions. May God give them the courage to go through this tragedy. It can never be easy for a parent to see his/her child go before them, this goes against all the laws of nature!