Bubbles turns three

The Good

- He's a bundle of energy. No one can ignore his infectious energy. "Hi Everybody" is his favourite line
- He loves books . " Amma, palikalama(padikalama)" is the oft-heard refrain
- He loves to sing " theerada vilayattu pillai" on top of his voice !!! and beginning to get the fun in "Do-re-me"
- I am so proud that he speaks in tamil fluently most of the time. And I just love it when he says " amma, amma, nee enga irukkai". And "It's a secret. I love you "
- He really is a non-fussy eater but very rigid in his taste. He loves healthy foods - beans,idli,carrots,chapatis,milk) and just instinctively dislikes unhealthy ones (bread,cheese,biscuits ). I am the one who agonizes over his total lack of enthusiasm in trying new tastes .
- He doesn't insist on watching TV while eating anymore ( a habit I am to be blamed for since I just couldn't muster energy to run after him for his meals ). Instead , we read a book ( or at times, he will play with water on the dining table while I feed him . Oh well !!! )
- He loves puzzles, alphabets,shapes,colors,nursery rhymes
- he's 100 % potty trained. I thank my in-laws since they insisted on no diapers in the daytime since he was 1 and half years old.

The Bad

- the insistence for TV ( which we're slowly weaning him off ! ) . He's allowed 30 minutes of Dora in the evening and thankfully turns a blind eye when the ILs watch the evening soaps .
- the keen ear for bad language !!! ( i cannot curse in the confines of my car anymore knowing my words will come bite me in the butt later in the day )
- the separation anxiety still lives on. I leave my home for work every morning on cat quiet feet. He knows I go to office to work. But the sight of me leaving in my work clothes still upsets him. A few times, he's cried so much he's thrown up. So in the interest of his health ( and my bleeding heart !) , we've decided I leave incognito. Not perfect but will do for now !
- He absolutely hates coloring , crayons, painting. Yeah , you heard me right ! No Monet in the making , no Sir !



The Ugly


-the tantrums
-the inherited temper (from moi)
-the inability to concentrate for too long ( I agonize over this but am resisting evaluating yet since he just seems like a high energy child and I have had no problems teaching him anything other than coloring which he's genuinely not interested in right now .We'll see when he starts school in June)
-Not self feeding yet ( I guess part of the reason is lack of opportunity !! )



And now for myself !!!

Ooooh boy ! How am I doing as his mother ? Am I doing right by him and for him ?

The good -
-I make sure I spend time reading books, doing puzzles, stickers with him. I make sure his evenings are totally TV-free and spent talking to me about his day or generally goofing around. This also means we don't do elaborate meals or have a social life at all. Also means no time for exercise of any sort ( save chasing him around ) and I look more like the Goodyear blimp now than ever before!
-I have accepted ( hopefully gracefully enough ) that it's in my son's own interest to pick a little from every one in the family. I agonized earlier about the over-protective and over-religious influences of other family members alienating him from what I want for his upbringing. But I realize that finally , what matters is he's happy, safe and healthy. Everything else is secondary.

The bad -
- My temper and rigidity gets the better of me most times.
- I want a more cosmopolitan upbringing for him simply because it worked for me and I've seen the intolerance and rigidity that comes with being exposed to a single community, culture all the time. But my misgivings will be solved when he joins school and exposed to kids from all over the country and I don't have to fret over this , I hope !


The downright Ugly -
- The battles in my head if it would be better for him if I were not working. This one is never going to be resolved I think.