Blood, Flood, Fire

"Do not board the school bus today at 12, okay Ved?", Ravi reminded Ved that morning. This was different from Ved's norm of boarding the bus from his Kindergarten to his after school program. But on that particular day, I was going to pick him up early from school for his dentist's appointment.

"But Daddy, can you just write a note for my teacher because I might forget," said Ved. "I have too many things to remember."

"What do you need to remember, Ved?" asked Ravi, somewhat surprised.

"Blood, Flood, Fire", blurted out Ved. Seeing the surprise on our faces, he explained, "My teacher says that we should not interrupt the class unless there is blood, flood, or fire in the class. Sooooo, I need to remember blood, flood, fire."

If only I could think of such brilliant ways for Ved to pay attention!

Chick peas+lemon juice+sesame tahini+olive oil+salt+blender+kids=Hummus+oodles of snacking fun?

Ved and I attended a Wholesome Kids cooking class recently. Since Ved and I both love hummus and that was on the menu, I figured, why not?

So we headed to the class at Robert Wood Johnson Fitness Center in Hamilton, NJ. The instructors were ready to do their demo with roasted red pepper, cooked chick peas, tahini and food processor on the table. The kids quickly put on their neat little white aprons and gloves. Each of the kids then sat across from the demo station with bowls, spices, rolling pin, plastic mat and spoons in front of them on tables.

Ved and the other kids looked on eagerly as the demonstration began. First, the instructor threw in the chick peas, roasted red pepper and tahini in the processor and belnded them. The thick blend was then distributed amongst the kids and they were asked to add lemon juice, salt and olive oil to it based on their desired taste. Ved really enjoyed this discretion and mixed in a little of each ingredient and asked me to taste. 

Once the Hummus was done, it was time to make our own pita. The instructors had brought in prepared dough and it was up to the kids to flatten out their respective dough ball into a desireded pita shape. Ved loved using the rolling pin to flatten out his dough.....and he made quite a circle. The flattened dough was then baked for 3 minutes and voila, we had pita and hummus for our snack!
"Wow, Ved you made really good hummus...shall we take some for daddy to sample?" "I said.  "I didn't really make the hummus, I just blended it," said, Ved. "Well, we didn't have time but now that we know all the ingredients, we can make it from scratch at home...what do you think?".

"YESSSSS, I can make it for you and daddy," smiled Ved, happy on his new achievement. A great end to a great cooking adventure!!!!

Zippity Zippers Club, Terrific Tiers Club, and Marc's Club?

In order to encourage kids to zip up their own winter jackets and tie their own shoe laces,Ved's teacher started Club inductions into the Zippity Zippers Club and the Terrific Tiers Club. We found out about it only a month into the program when his teacher wrote about it in the Class newsletter. Of course, Ved was content with us helping him with his zipper and shoe lace, so he had not bothered mentioning about the club to us.

Ravi asked him the following morning, "So Ved, are you in the Zippity Zippers Club or the Terrific Tiers Club?" "Noooooo", answered Ved, but I am almost in the "Terrific Tiers Club." "What do you mean by almost?", asked Ravi. "Well, if you can make the bunny ear but not tie the knot through, then you're almost in the Club". clarified Ved. "Hmmm, I see" exclaimed Ravi.

"And I'm in Marc's Club," shouted Ved, excited at making the announcement. "What is Marc's Club?" asked Ravi, somewhat surprised at the coincidence that the club shared its name with Ved's best friend in school, Marc.

"Marc said that if I am his friend then I can be in his club." said Ved. "So, how many friends are in Marc's Club, Ved?" asked Ravi. "Me, Marc, and Jefferson." said Ved.  I could hardly believe that Ved was already part of a kindergarten Fraternity!

Silent Vacuum!

One evening Ved was creating a racket in the family room when Ravi came back home after work. As Ravi entered the room, he noticed toys scattered across the carpet: Lego, cars, and puzzles. Ravi sneaked a quick peak at the clock to see that it was time for Ved's shower. Using that as his excuse, Ravi asked Ved to "put away his toys."

Ved, as usual reluctantly started to put his toys away. As he did this, he pranced around the room, full of energy. After about 20 minutes, he had still not finished putting his toys away, so Ravi asked Ved "Can we have peace and quiet while you clean, so we can finish and go upstairs for a shower?"

"You mean you want me to be silent vacuum?" Ved asked. "What is that?" replied Ravi. "Well, my teacher says that when we clean up, we need to be quiet, like a silent vacuum." "Yes, can you be a silent vacuum?" Surprisingly, this worked and the next 10 minutes were the quietest, most efficient clean up ever.

What a brilliant terminology to get the job done!

Made in China

This encounter happened with Ravi...I merely witnessed it.

Ved, while coloring his Lightning McQueen poster, suddenly lifted his head up,"Why is everyhting made in China, Daddy?"

Ravi, who was pored over his iPhone while sipping his coffee, was somewhat taken aback by such a profound question coming from Ved. "Why do you feel everything is made in China, Ved?", Ravi asked.

"Well, my pencil case says made in China and my sweat shirt says made in China and my school bag says made in China," Ved pondered.

Ravi thought about how to explain this complex business phenomenon involving costs and profits to Ved. He started off with a basic explanation, "Maybe China is just good at making things for the world".

Ved was confused...."But Daddy, I thought, Trenton makes, the world takes"

Now it all made sense. The profound question that Ved had asked was really triggered by a BIG sign across the bridge over the Delaware river displaying the glory manufacturing days of Trenton, when indeed Trenton made and the world took!

Ingenious agreement!

Ved's teacher in kindergarten sent home instructions one day to make him read and understand some basic rules that he would adhere to at home and in school. She wanted the parents to read it aloud to their kindergartners and then have them agree and sign so that each time they broke a rule, they could be reminded and held accountable.

So, Ved read the rules out aloud that evening with Ravi listening along and explaining if needed.

"I will not lie"

"I will respect my friends, teachers and parents"

"I will listen"

and so on. After some deliberation, Ved signed the paper in big bold capital letters - AGREED TO BY VED.

The following week, Ravi caught Ved being not so truthful one evening. Ved had not washed his hands after using the bathroom, something that he sometimes forgets to do but is embarrassed to admit. He tried to slip in a "I washed my hands" but Ravi being familiar with his tactics, clarified, "I know you washed your hands before dinner tonight but did you wash after using the bathroom after dinner?"  Ravi reminded Ved of the rules that he had signed, "Are you telling the truth? Do you want to reconsider your answer?" 

Ved contemplated for 30 seconds. "I am telling the truth, Daddy.....I lied before and THAT IS THE TRUTH".
I smiled to myself, "Ingenious agreement!"

Its too Valuable!

Ved's "Show and Tell" was coming up at the Y summer camp last Thursday. On the morning of, as he was brushing his teeth, I enquired,"What are you taking for show and tell, Ved?"

Ved shrugged his shoulders to say he wasn't sure. After finishing with breakfast, I asked him to look through his toy box to see if he could find something to take to camp. I noticed that he was not having luck with ideas, so I suggested, "What about your fishing game?". "Mommyyyyyy, that's not interesting!!!!!!". "Okay, then how about your Spiderman puzzle?". "Booooooring", said Ved quickly.

I rounded up his swimming trunks and lunchbox for the camp while Ved continued to look through his toy box. As we were running late for camp, I blurted out my final suggestion,"Ved, what about your 3-D pictures and glasses. I think that's cool. Your friends will like that". "I can't take that to school: it is too val-uuuuu-ble", said Ved. "What do you mean?", I asked, especially having observed his stress on the letter u.
"Mommy, val-u-ble means important....Its too important. The Y camp kids won't know how to take special care of my 3-D picture", answered Ved.

I was amused because I recognized that Ved was essentially repeating my words which he had himself failed to follow, which was to "take care of his things". However, he had wanted to hold his friends to a high standard. "At least, the lesson stuck in his mind", I thought. Unable to come up with an alternative, he finally agreed to share his 3D glasses and picture with Y campers.

When I picked him up from Y-Camp later that evening, I learnt that he had only passed around his 3-D glasses to his friends that day. Apparently, he could not find his 3-D picture. It was safely tucked away in his backpack!!!