Thursday, July 16, 2015

Let's 'Walk the talk' for our children!



The best person in the world to recognize your hypocrisy is your child. They see through you like no one else does!
I love the ad above by 'The Hindu'. It defines the hypocrisy we live in. We tell our teenagers and youth to behave themselves while we are not able to set examples ourselves. The thing though is we cannot start setting and example only at an older age. The new generation is watching us, they are listening to us, they are observing us keenly and absorbing every ounces of what comes out of lips and hearts. DH always says - 'If we cannot walk the talk, our kids will be the ones who point it out to us first!'


So in house we try very hard to empathize with animals. DH is a big animal lover. We started with one dog and in a matter of a year, ended up with two dogs and a cat. I am not a big animal lover, but I will not tolerate abuse to them. DH gets very heart broken to see abused animals. OR so we both think.

Of the two of our little ones, Ziva is definitely taken up after her father for her love of animals. Isaac likes them. You can even say he loves them. But I think, like me he is not very attached to them. Ziva on the other hand, talks them, hugs them, kisses them and occasionally pulls their tail. Me: Ziva, Pavam Danny-baloo (names of our dogs) They will cry!
Ziva (petting them): Ooo Danny, its Ok!


We currently live in a community where were facing a monkey menace. Its so bad that they DH actually purchased a sling and kept it handy along with some stones to scare the monkeys away from drinking milk and eating our garden vegetables.
Ziva: Appa .. Pavaam monkeys! They will cry!
DH: No Ziva ... monkeys are bad! They are eating our vegetables
Ziva stared blankly at him.

And then again one day, we find Ziva looking at a cockroach.
Ziva: ' Oh! So cute this cockroach is!'
Me: STAMP
Ziva: Amma why did you do that! Pavam cockroach.
Me: Ziva cockroaches are bad ... they spread diseases.

A few days later we saw some sort of creepy-crawly on the road
Ziva: STAMP
Me: Ziva, how can you do that? It was not even hurting you.
Ziva: Staring blankly!
But this time I read her mind and if she could use the correct word she would say 'You HYPOCRITE!'

We live in a tough world and raising children in a world where so many emotion are floating is hard. I don't think our previous generation thought so much about hypocrisy. But as we raise this new generation, I constantly fear they will turn around and question our motives.

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Pretty ... beautiful .... EARS ???

So my little boy Isaac has the prettiest little eyelashes. Just like DH they are long are curl upwards to touch the top of his eyelids. They are thick giving his eyes a dark and deep look. When he smiles ... his eyes smile too.
My little girl Ziva has the cutest and loveliest little cheeks. They still have their baby charm in them and her smile drives her cheeks backwards to a warmth that radiates around to everybody.



Yesterday as I watched them wake up from their afternoon nap, they looked like little angels and my heart got all warm and fuzzy. I picked up Isaac
Me: Isaac when God made you he put these pretty eyelashes and made them so special.
Isaac - 1000 watt smile
I turn to Ziva
Me - Ziva when God made you he put these cute little cheeks and made them so special.
Ziva rubs her eyes and smiles.
Me: Ziva - What special thing has God give amma?
I wait with baited breath to see what my child will notice about me
Ziva : Your ears!

And thats a wrap!

There are lot of blogs out there telling us not to draw vanity to your children by calling them pretty or beautiful. I really do not agree with it. While I would never call my daughter a princess or my son a king, I believe they need to hear from their parents that they have been specially and beautifully created. There is a fine line between self-esteem and vanity. We as parents are called to build our children's self-esteem while making sure it does not add up to vanity.

I believe parents should tell their children how kind they are , how good they are and how well-behaved they are. But they should also tell them that every cell in their body is beautiful. It teaches children to values their bodies and themselves. And my biggest fear is if my child does not hear it from me he or she make seek it from elsewhere.