Memories

I’m often aware of how fast the kids are growing up, how quickly the memories start to blur. There are so many little quirks and expressions and habits that are worth capturing on film or on tape or in words. So I’m going to stem the tide from today.

A typical morning with Jiya:

When Jiya wakes up in the morning, she usually has a big smile, gives me a kiss and announces, “It’s morning time!” Then, for whatever reason, she neighs like a horse. Soon thereafter, she demands her morning milk bottle (doodoo in hindi, which sadly conjures up images far less cozy than a warm bottle for anyone who grew up in America). We have a brief negotiation, which she always wins with the final statement, “I’m coming wit you.” I stumble down the stairs with Jiya in my arms, or possibly holding my hand and stubbornly making her own way down. In the kitchen, I fill up her bottle — her “pretty bottle” if it’s clean — as she reminds me “I want too much, Daddy, too much.” I follow along and fill the bottle to the very top. 45 secs in the microwave and we’re almost ready. “I want to put the topper on!” Of course you do! She usually turns it the wrong direction (maybe because she’s lefty?) while singing “turny turny turny”. I finish off the turny and plop her down on the brown sofa, bowing to her final demand: “I wanna watch little bit Dora.”

Meanwhile, back upstairs, Karam is still usually snoring away despite all three of us hollering, tickling, licking and generally annoying him.  Eventually I drag him out of bed and plop him on the toilet for a pee, where the *real* moaning begins:

“I don’t want to go to school!”

Daddy: “Well, if you’re so tired, we’ll put you to bed earlier tonite.”

“I’m not tired! I’m just comfy in my bed!

“I’m sick of school!”

“I’m cold. I wanna crawl back under my covers!”

Then, as resignment sets in that school is inevitable…”I want a big breakfast, a really big breakfast.”

Just an example of what happens in our house most mornings.  I’m sure there’s a re-run playing in millions of homes across the world every day…