Enough of outside, look inside!!

After a long time my niece's blogging tempted me to post one too. When I am writing this, we are all under lock down. Amidst all the negativity around, I seem to enjoy this time for certain things.
Is it God's way of saying please be calm and look inside you. Here is some looking inside me.

• I got closer to God and pray, scold and enjoy talking to God more. 
• I have my time in the morning to do yoga and keep myself fit. This im enjoying a lot. My vaasi, pranayama and my asanaas. i have improved.
• Waking up a little late than usual.
• Even though the allergy bothers me i sneak to take care of my vegetable patch. I dont know what will come out of it because i have a mixed up vegetable seeds there. Something didnt come and so i added something else. so now i dont know what is there and what is going to come out. I like surprises. 
• I get to wear comfortable clothes and dont bother to look nice. Just my way and who cares. My hair is all salt and pepper now. Who cares!
• What I enjoy the most is to clean my house often. The OCD in me kicks in.
• Best of all i dont need to pack lunch. Man i hate it. self serve mode is something im enjoying.
• I just dont need to race against time for my hubby and son and be a talking clock. They are on their time zone and im on my own. 
• Getting to watch lot of short films my new thing. As usual on my phone. 
• I get to talk to my mom and sis longer these days.
• Lesser close to wash now. 
• Working from home. wow!! no need to drive which helps with my shoulder pain. I am actually bothering less about my pain these days because it doesnt seem to bother me that much too. It works like magic. Let me start working is the abracadabra here.. voila and im at work. Let me go home is the reverse abracadabra and im back home in a second. No need to change dress and no need to carry bags. Just think and move away from laptop. It works like a magic. 
• Trying new dishes with what is in hand. It is a project by itself. I have cooked more in this lock down time. Made upma cutlet and got a pat from two of the world's first haters of upma - my husband and son. They were tricked and i enjoyed that little happiness of tricking them. Friends share and we try new things. My fav so far has been the mangalore churmuri. I like this better than its friend bhel puri.
• Grocery shopping at its best online. I dont need to pick the vegetables. Just order and someone picks and send to me. I like that. They even decide not to send something and send some surprises too.
• My math center is online too. I just had to email them the sheets for the week. I dont need to go there.
• Getting some work done from hubby that were long pending (like more than 5 years). What an achievement.
• Getting to learn new technology. R, Salesforce Einstein. 
• Closely connected to friends more than before. Checking on them. I see more faces popping on FB.
• Starting to BLOG again.

Smile on my face.

I want to call some friends of mine as lifetime friends because they are not just passing clouds or chapters in my book. they are travelling with me on my life journey with no plans to depart. we will grow up old together and as grand old people will still be holding hands and walking and laughing happily about sweet nothings. This very thought brings a peaceful smile on my face.

Public School Vs. Private School

We were debating a lot about private schooling vs. public schooling.

Public school

> Have to raise early and so comes back home early and is ready for activities. Goes to bed early. Early to bed and early to rise works well

> Home made food and so can make food that he likes and is good for him. Also tastes a variety of food.

> More time with parents and so we can teach a lot.

> Commutation -- school bus and hence it is easy

> Mingles with a lot of people and so gets to face the real world early.

> Lots of kids in the class and so has to work hard to get recognized.

Private school

> Fewer kids and so teacher knows the kids individually.

> Protected environment.

> Drop and pick up.

> Not so early school hours.

> Repetitive school food and doesn't get to taste variety. Stays hungry most of the time.

Now I vote for the public system and feel less stressed out about the same. At the end of the day, the teacher that your kid gets matters and how much effort we as parents put towards the kids education matters.

maamava bava saagara

My kiddo Arjun made me laugh with his ability to translate. He asked me for the meaning of "maamava bava saagara" and all i told him that all i know is saagar means ocean. Then came the immediate response from him "maamavaa thooki edhukku oceanla podanum?". I burst into a guffaw. I learnt a lesson "Never give partial meanings. Give the full meaning of a phrase"

My little horse fan

My son is all about horses. He wants to have horse as a pet. He gives me ideas of converting our garage into a barn to have horses there. The other day his teacher tells me that he was waiting near the fence with his friends. When questioned all of them were waiting for his horse to come and pick him up. My son made them all believe that I am buying a horse for him that day and will come in horse to pick him up from school.

The other day we went to a store to pick up some stuff. I told my son that he can get a horse toy. He was all happy and but I was waiting for a long time for him to pick one horse. He had too many criteria to pick a horse. Not so fat and not so thin. A horse with straight legs and standing. It should be a black and white. The head shouldnt be held down. Wow!!! Wow!! At last we settled for a horse which was closer to what he was looking for.

I wish we buy a real horse for him some day. He will be the most happy person.

Maadu meika thaan layakku

The other day we told our son "padikalainna maadu dhaan meikanum". Instead of getting upset about that he was all fascinated about that idea "Lord Krishna did that and so there is nothing wrong in that". Later he went on to his own world "I will have a farm with maadu, pasu maadu and horse. I dont have any problems in cleaning their shit. I will have a huge farm with a tractor. Vegetables and fruits. I will have a big house with barn. I wouldnt have a pig because it stinks." His imagination went on and on. He was really enjoying his imagination. I decided to think before telling him anything.

Mamava bava saagara

The other day my son asked me what does Mamava bava sagara means. I told him i dont know but sagara might mean 'Ocean'. Quick came the response "Why should we put uncle in the ocean?". I couldnt avoid a little smile on my face. Later told him "Mamava" doesnt exactly mean "Uncle". His translation made me smile but made me think as well. I shouldnt give him half baked information going forward.