#StressedPreschooler

Manya woke up with a rash all over her body - no other symptoms except a minor cold and cough. So we are driving to her doctor and en route...

Me (trying to go over my google knowledge): Manya you are sure the rash is not itchy right?

M: No mom.

Me: Is it hurting if you touch or press the red dots.

M: No mom.

Me: And your ear or throat is not hurting?

M (very irritably): Nothing is happening mom.

Me: That's really strange. I wonder how the doctor is going to diagnose anything.

M: It is nothing mom - I could have just gone to school - maybe the stress caused the rash.

Me: (wtf) Stress what stress?

M: All the stress in my life!

Me: (muttering) You don't even know what stress is. Pls explain stress.

M: I'll tell you later.

We visit the doctor and of course with no definite accompanying symptoms she just puts us on a wait and watch.

M walks out shaking her head dismissively: I told you it was nothing. Just stress.

Me (with a deep breath): Looks like Manya you were right, as always. I have heard ice cream is great for stress, let's both have some!

----

Fingers crossed that the rash is just that - stress - and then I need to figure out what stress means to a four year old! 😳🙄😈

Presenting Manya's Frozen...

#talesthatkidstell

(P.S. Manya has watched a few minutes of the popular movie Frozen. She loses interest every time she sits down to watch it but thanks to Disney marketing she's quite obsessed with the brand in terms of material possessions and does know the characters and the story, largely, that's what i thought. Only today did I realize her version is, well, more interesting. )

M: mommy, I want frozen multivitamins.

Me: Manya, you don't even eat gummies, you won't like them.

M: you are buying multivitamins for me, so I get to choose which ones, it's only fair!

Me: sure, don't you dare waste them. And what's with frozen these days anyways, you don't even know the story!

M: (very offended): ofcourse I know the story! It's very simple. Elsa leaves her palace after her parents go on a vacation because her sister gives her no privacy. She makes a frozen castle of her own and lives happily. Meanwhile Anna marries some random stranger Chris and Elsa says this is not even a marriage. Who marries a random stranger anyways. Then Anna thinks she must make it up to her sister so she tries to visit her with Chris but Elsa tries to block her way. Finally, Anna learns how to ride a horse and Elsa thinks that thank god my sister has learnt new skills and not just doing wrong marriages. So she forgives her. The end!

Me: that is absolutely great manya. Can you please repeat it slowly so that I can type it out to share with others who may not know this story....

The sun, sand, and sea make a great family vacation!

The three of us spent the last week in Maui to celebrate our 10 wedding anniversary. To leave the gloom of the Portland winter was a welcome respite and Manya just jumped right into the touristy feel of the place. Her whole gait itself changed from normal to a swaying, dance like form. She had smiles and waves for every passer by.

Having only dipped in the cold water of the Oregon beaches, the warm lushness of Hawaiian waves won over her tiny heart many times over. With flowers in her hair and 24/7 beachwear she beat us in the fashion quotient for sure. Quite a trooper with almost all days spent outdoors and odd and long hours of travelling from one end of the island to another, she didn't even once complain. 

Personally I felt, Maui was a great choice - it had everything and February was hardly crowded. We did the gorgeous beaches, Road to Hana, Haleakala at sunset, the submarine tour, whale watching (we saw whales breaching and what a delight!), and the aquarium! A wonderful week! Can't wait to visit the other islands!

We have a beach babe!

Vish and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in the beautiful islan of Maui in Hawaii. There are enough brochures and online sites to give you all the details of this toutist extravganaza. But the biggest takeaway - Manya is in love with tropical sunshine, sea and sand. She had a blast and was the best travel companion ever! Here's a toast to many more beach vacays with our travel savvy babe!

Mean mom! Oh no!

#ParentingFail #EarnedMyFirstMeanMomBadge #MilestoneinParenting

#LongPostAlert

Me (at the brink of insanity): Manya you have not been listening and you have been really acting up, I am sorry but your screen privileges for the rest of the day have been withdrawn.

M (at her cruel best): That is not fair. You are being a mean mom.

Me (trying hard to keep it civil at my end): Well, you do admit that you have been giving me a tough time today. I warned you not to push my buttons.

M (in complete earnestness): You are not even wearing buttons - I never pushed anything. I use my words.

Me (trying hard to keep a straight face): Pushing buttons means annoying or troubling a person till they lose their cool.

M (the devil is back): So are you withdrawing my screen privileges because you lost your cool.

Me (fumbling): errr, umm, errrmmm, no. I am withdrawing them because you were having an unnecessary tantrum. You tell me what should I do when you are not behaving yourself - you don't like me raising my voice, you don't accept timeouts, now you don't want me to take away your privileges.

M (in that absolute adorable face): You can hug me and kiss me.

Me (trying to not get dissuaded by this put on innocence): That is always how I start but you refuse to listen.

M: Then continue hugging and kissing me.

Me (trying not to melt): That's not fair Manya - you know you don't come around easily.

M (the horns are back): Withdrawing privileges is not going to help. Screen time is not even a privilege.

Me: It is. You don't get it, you earn it to deserve it.

M: Okay, I will earn it back. How?

Me (finally beginning to feel back in control of the situation): That's the spirit. Here let me put up a chart for you. Every time you are being exceptional, you'll get a + and when you are being really difficult, you get a -. Get your +'s up.

M (with complete dismissal): This is nonsense.

Me (she did not just say that): Watch your language Manya.

M (in great accusatory tone): Fine. But if I had to withdraw your privileges, I don't even need a chart - you would only get minuses for your bad mommy behaviour.

Me (given up on sanity): I don't see that attitude helping the chart.

M (in utter defiance): I will change it if I need screen time.

This 4 year old is going to ensure I really lose it. While at it, can we also get over with teenage already. Just in case you are still reading, I have not given up, not yet.

Snowed in!

It has been a snowmageddon in Portland this year. We have had almost 10 inches of snow. Multiple snow days. An adventure in the snow with being stuck on the road for 3-4 hours. 

Chains on wheels, forced for almost a week indoors with mommy going crazy 24/7 food and snack support, sliding on sledges on the side walk and spray painting the snow and ofcourse making a cool snow dude - we have really had it all!

And ofcourse, the one who has derived the most joy out of all this is Manya. She hasn't once complained about the extreme weather. Actually, and I might have to bite my tongue sooner than I know it, but M is quite the sport when it comes to disrupted routines and plans gone haywire. Her maturity at this age in handling disappointments actually surprises me many a times. 

Also, it is such a joy to watch her growing up enjoying all the seasons equally. I hope she remembers these days with great fondness...

#NotJustaHeartbeat

In a rather loving and cuddling mood;
Me: Manya you are my heart beat.
(I literally feel the warmth evaporating ...)
A rather indignant M: I am not your heart beat - I am a human being - I talk, i dance, I think. (And then in the most contemptuous tone ever) I am not just a heart beat.
Me: oh heart. ❤️💔❤️

May the force be with us!

Manya has picked up a new obsession these days - Star Wars! Considering I am an illiterate at the subject, Google came to rescue when she was throwing terms and characters at us left right. (How did one parent before the Internet age, I have absolutely no clue.)

Well, we bought her a story book that would be more age appropriate. She picks up tons form the library too and is fascinated by the dark side really :). I have told her she needs to wait a couple of more years to start with the movies. The written word seems to satiate her till then! She is even considering becoming R2D2 - her favorite character form the series - for Halloween - but a lost changes in 10 months!

Moana

We had to abandon Moana in the theater after the first 30 mins or even before because M was inconsolable. She was not scared of Maui or the waves but the helplessness of Moana. In Manya's words, "This is so sad. Why are we watching sad stuff?". Awww....

In house vet

Manya has beens saying consistently for more than just a couple of months now that she wants to become a veterinarian when she grows up. She wants the entire Doc Mcstuffin kit for Christmas. And according to her she is practicing everyday to become a good vet. All her soft toys at this point have bandages, have been operated on multiple times and she has even helped her toy dog deliver puppies.

On a serious note, I really think she'll make a great vet. She absolutely loves all members of the animal kingdom - including reptiles, bugs and what not.