Communications Redefined

My sister was on a business trip to Minneapolis for a few days. The kids were reluctant to stay just with Dad but it could not be helped. Dad is definitely more strict and does not take to manipulation, whether it is in eating meals, showers, brushing teeth or getting ready for school and he has really high standards for all of this stuff. Simba gets along with him like a man - listening to his shouting and fighting and them promptly forgetting all about it. But Beth is a typical female and she simply cannot let go a slight on a man's part.

So, in the evening approx at the time when the kids would have finished their dinner and shower and my brother in law would have some breathing room, my sister messages him in Whatsapp and says 'missing you'. Promptly she got the response - 'me too', followed by 'don't let me alone again'. Now this was very surprising, one for the spell check and more importantly for the reference to 'again' because they knew that it was one of the numerous trips she would have to make to Minneapolis. She was pondering over it when she got the third message 'Papa is so bad and is always fighting with me.'

It turned out that Beth was answering her dad's messages on Whatsapp. She saw her mom's message and in the complete confidence in a parents love, she took it for granted that the 'missing you' message was for her and not dad.

And I was in hot soup for teaching her the intricacies of Whastapp.

Think before you choose

Simba has always been creative in playing with normal stuff (the pouffe is can a be a car or a bridge, never something to sit on). He loves his small tiny cars and has around a hundred of them which become different things at different times - ranging from the mundane parking lot to a more exciting 'field trip' with the 'teacher cars' facing the 'student cars' and leading the way. He is sure to find an appreciative audience in me for all his antics. So, it is quite common for me to suddenly get a FaceTime call with a clamoring of 'Maiya (both kids call me Maiya) look what I made' as soon as I answer and before I can even greet him.

The other day, it was something made from legos. He was excited that he had made a cop car (as with all kids, he is fascinated by the police and fire department). For once, it actually looked like a cop car (generally he has to explain his creations and once he explains you realize that it was, in fact, very intuitive). After he took me through all the features, to show my extreme appreciation of his artistry, I said that his car was so nice that I wanted to be a "cop uncle" just so that I could ride in such an exciting thing. His response was immediate -"No Maiya you CANNOT be a cop uncle". I thought that he was cleverly pouncing on the fact that I said I wanted to be a cop "uncle" instead of "aunty" and since I was female I could never be an "uncle". So, I asked him to explain, giving him the platform to showcase his cleverness.

But as usual, he did not react as you would expect him to. His explanation was- "When you were a kid, you chose to be a 'Maiya', now you cannot change and say that you want to be a cop uncle. You have to be what you chose as a kid."

He seemed quite pleased with my grasping abilities when I agreed with him saying that 'Jai Bhagwan' gave my sister the two kids only because when I was a kid, I CHOSE to be a Maiya and now of course I couldn't change my mind now that I already had two kids to whom I was the Maiya.