Proverbs 31 : My attempt!

Proverbbs 31 describes a 'good woman' or  a ' good wife'. While I cannot claim to being either, there are a few things in these verses I accomplished in 2013 and hope to keep going at a few  more in 2014 ... God willing!

2013 began with almost nothing. No goals, no real drive ... just a slow lethargic life. Then somewhere around May it picked up and its been a whirlwind since then. It got so busy that  someone asked me if I had more than 24 hours in my day!
In May, after Isaac had finished summer camp, I realized there was so much I could do as an adult too ... in terms of extra curricular activities. In July 2013, I attempted my first art activity. Dry pastels with Artsy Craftsy.!!! It went so well that I never looked back. The thing about doing something is .....when you do it well... you want to do more. My products at the dry pastel class came out so well that I wanted to do more.

Around the same time one of my neighbours posted an ad for stitching classes. Thank you Vishaka Ganjoo for setting up class and inviting us all to it. Stitching was a completely crazy class ...lots and lots of home work. Crazy Wednesday drives. A pushy teacher (by the way I realised I do better with people who push me!). And some lovely fabric. By November, when I pushed myself to finish off the course, I had stitched something for almost everyone I knew!!! Well yes that's an exaggeration but I think my sewing machine wanted to take the long tailors ruler and smack me on my butt!.

In the midst of all this I did more art. Coffee painting ... I never knew coffee could be used as a medium. It was more fun this time since I dragged along with me neighbours and enjoyed the company of other adults ... something I had missed for a long time.

In August, I got a fantastic offer. Working from home had always been a dream. I always thought it was impossible for a Medical Physicist to work from home since the clinic is our life. But God does work in mysterious ways and by the middle of September I was putting in at least 20 hours of work a week and feeling mighty pleased. It was good to put my knowledge of medical physics into use.

Somewhere in the September, a post by a friends - friend on Facebook inspired me to want to compost. A little civic sense and hopefully something toward the environment. I started dumping my wet waste into my pots outside the house. Life takes interesting turns and twists.

The dump from my kitchen exploded into a tomato plant. When the first flowers started to show up and I saw the excitement on Isaac's and Ziva's face as the fruits came in, I realized I wanted to do more of vegetable growing ... just to see their faces as the produce appeared at home! I ordered a Daily Dump composting pot set and began my journey toward organized composting. I bugged Aparna George the (friend's - friend) for seeds and was inspired by her drive to go 'Organic' for her kids!

In the midst of all this we were still schooling at home! It seemed crazy but my level of patience with the kids was far higher even though I was busy and crazy.  The say an idle mind is the devils workshop ...and I believe I was able to keep the devil out!

I ended the year 2013 with a big bang. Christmas Baking. This is something  I am inspired to do from my mother. Every year for Christmas, she would bake a bunch of goodies for our neighbours. Nankatis, cake, acchapam. We would put it on a paper plate and distribute it to the neighbours. I hated going to each house at that time. But now I think that was a fun way of saying 'Hello' 'I am sorry' or 'Thank you' to the folks who live around you. It gave the new year a new beginning. This year I baked for a whole week and came up with 40 boxes of goodies for my friends and neighbours. Thank to Lavonne I was able to make close to perfect cupcakes with yummy Italian meringue buttercream

Suresh added this message to the top of the box and it was perfect!

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Christmas Love

God gave us the greatest gift possible. We needed it the most and deserved it the least. Jesus was born to save us from the penalty of all our wrongs in our life. He paid the consequences of our wrongs by dying on a cross, so we may be free.

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. - John 15:13

May Christ be born in our hearts this Christmas.
May we know His love for us.
May we show His love to others.

Love               
Suresh, Rohini, Isaac & Ziva

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Here is a link to Proverbs 31.

Here are the verses that inspired me this year

¹³ She selects wool and flax
    and works with eager hands.
¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
    bringing her food from afar.
¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night;
    she provides food for her family
    and portions for her female servants.

¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously;
    her arms are strong for her tasks.
¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable,
    and her lamp does not go out at night.
¹⁹ In her hand she holds the distaff
    and grasps the spindle with her fingers.


²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them,
    and supplies the merchants with sashes.

²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household
    and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed;
    her husband also, and he praises her:


Well my children really do not call me blessed! But when I stitch something and show Ziva I always get a 'Wow Amma so pretty' and  when I let Isaac pluck tomatoes or cut spinach I always get a 'Thank you Amma for gardening!'  and more recently 'Thank you Amma for drawing a Tiger for me!'

Suresh is my balance factor. Encouraging me to go on with anything I want to do ... making sure I do it well and stopping me when I seem to go crazy. For instance I saw a bunch of kids going for Table tennis practice and I felt like joining TT classes. I got a  'Yes because you don't already have enough to do' from Suresh!!! :)

Now if only I could get these verses in my system and I would be golden ;)
²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity;
    she can laugh at the days to come.
²⁶ She speaks with wisdom,
    and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

Bye Amma - The Saturday after Dussera Camp with Creative Adda

October  2nd to October 11th .. 8 Glorious weekdays... where I did not have to wake up and plan school for the day for Isaac.

Thanks to Creative Adda for a fabulous camp.  It was a great time to realize that my son was independent. At least when he wanted to be - he could be on his own.
For 8 days I had the amazing feeling of what it must to be to send kids off to school. Not because I want to .... but it was just nice. I also got to spend 3 wonderful hours with Ziva... Just the two of us... Walking around the neighborhood... reading books her age and not having to split my hair trying to divide my attention between two kids.
Suresh dropped Isaac every morning by 10 am. His biggest complaint 'Isaac doesnt even say bye to me . He just runs off'
One of the days Suresh complained that Isaac saw Kuhu (Kanchan's older daughter about 7 years) and just ran off with her. Not looking back once. :)

Just to mention  ... my favorite thing about these camps are the range of ages  .. 3-12 years. It kind of strengthens my pursuit of homeschooling where a thought is not to restrains kids to one age group. Kids learn to mingle with all age groups. Of course activities are age appropriate ... but communication is across all. Expectation of discipline and behavior is uniform. They may not all comply but still ... More importantly kids learn a lot from older kids (Sometimes bad sometimes good). Just like Ziva has figured out a lot of songs just by listening to Isaac.

I would leave home about 12:15  and go to pick up Isaac, finishing off groceries and other chores along the way . Great schedule.

The changes we saw in Isaac during this camp were.
1. He did not want Suresh or me to hang out with him
2. He enjoyed the dancing this time  even humming the songs. Thanks Kreative Steps
3. We heard he was picking fights - I know this is nothing to be proud of ... but we had heard from a few moms in the park that he was not standing up for himself. So when Kanchan told me that he and a few other boys of the same age were forming a human pile I could not help actually saying 'Thank God'. Kanchan looked at me with disbelief and so I shared the theory about his lack of 'aggression', she reassured me 'Oh you dont have to worry about that' :)
4. Art, Craft and the general use of fevicol has been set firmly in his 4 year old heart - Thanks Artsy craftsy.

But the biggest victory of independence was what we saw the Saturday after Dussera Camp. I mentioned to Isaac on Saturday October 19th that if he ate his breakfast quickly and alone, I would take him to art class. I got a message from Kanchan a few minutes later asking to just start class in November (since I was planning to take Isaac in the middle of the week and join him up also for regular Kreative steps class).
Isaac started wailing ... protesting on how he wanted to go for Artsy Crafsty.
I messaged Kanchan ... pleading ... 'Please let him come today.'
And so at 9:50 we were at Brigade Metropolis. At the doorstep of Creative Adda. I was chatting with Kanchan about the week and asking about fees etc. Few kids trickled in and Kanchan asked them all including Isaac to got sit down in the room. A few more minutes of chatting and Isaac came and tugged on Kanchan's hand . 'Aunty you come in. Bye Amma!'
BOOM!
My mommy heart broke into a million pieces. My 4 year old did not need me to keep him company. At least not in the prescence of ART and DANCE.

The boy who never danced!

"Dance Isaac dance ... move your hands up this way .. cross your legs  one in front of the other ..."
And the only thing Isaac did was stand twiddling his fingers in one corner staring at her (Deepa) and the rest of the kids in class. It was then that I realized that I never really danced with him.

This was May 2013 .... the first day of summer camp! The picture below is taken about midway through camp with an over-enthusiatic Isaac!

When I spoke with Artsy Craftsy proprieter before Summer camp began she mentioned  'We will have Art and Craft , Story telling, outdoor games and Dance'
Me: ' What kind of dance ?'
Kanchan: ' Bollywood style'
Me : 'AAAAAA!'
Kanchan: ' Dance is by Kreative Steps and Deepa is really good!'
I was skeptical ... but I was desperate for some interaction for Isaac and Suresh encouraged me to go ahead! I do not regret a single 10 Km drive to Brigade Metropolis!

I did not believe in her. But today I owe Deepa an apology. After two camps with Kreative steps and Artsy Craftsy  (Now called Creative Adda). I am thinking ... I want to go learn a few moves. And its all thanks to Deepa Gandhi dance teacher and proprietor for Kreative steps.
Listening to the song that Isaac was dancing to .. Suresh says 'How does she find these songs ... they are so cute'. While I think its cute kids dancing to lungi dance ... Deepa has these 'finds' of super cute kids songs!
Tiger boo and  Hunny bunny hold special places in our hearts and wont get out of our heads!


Suresh and I love dancing... You do not have to tell us more than once and we are on the dance floor enjoying ourselves. But I realize somewhere between Grad school and a job and the stress of not having a child ... we forgot the joy of dancing! Dancing does bring in a lot of joy.
Once we had our little boy and then little girl ... we were too busy dancing to their tunes. We forgot to dance! We had lots of actions songs and rhymes ... but no dance!

I realized how much my children had missed dancing when I saw Isaac very reluctant to go dance along with the other kids. I do not think he was shy or had an inhibition standing there... he just was not used to dancing.
I flipped out and throughout the Summer Camp, Suresh and I kept doing steps of Tiger boo! that Deepa was teaching them. Deepa unfortunately had to leave midway through camp and Kanchan winged the rest of the dance class (very well!)

Between May and October ... everytime Suresh and I danced ... Isaac threw a tantrum. Ziva joined along just for the fun of it. I started patiently waiting for Creative Adda's Dussera camp. I knew Kreative Steps would be teaching with some new and cool moves.

One or two days into class I asked Deepa ' Deepa Aunty is Isaac dancing !'
Deepa: 'Of course! Isaac show mama your steps!'

He did not! But he did tell me the song he was dancing to and we looked it up on you tube and enjoyed it together.

One day after camp as I was picking up Isaac. .. he was being a little slow .. humming something and then I hear ' hunny bunny!'
That was his song from Camp. I was so excited to just hear him!

Then the best day came. Finale for the Creative Adda Dussera camp. I wondered as Kanchan messaged me saying there was going to be a stage and the kids were going to perform etc. Would Isaac Stand in front of an audience and do his steps!

What a moment of pride to see my boy standing there doing his steps ... not looking at me or Suresh ... just enjoying the dance and performing in front of a total bunch of strangers!

He was the boy who never danced .... till he enjoyed dancing! Thanks Kreative Steps .... and thank you so much Artsy Craftsy ... and looking forward to Creative Adda's next camp ... Can't wait!

What did you do this weekend?

On Saturday morning, the only thing I knew about dry pastels was that they looked like crayons. Even that I knew because I googled 'dry pastels'!
By Sunday afternoon I had produced these two.

Tree of life silhouette 

Meera 

No. I am not incredibly talented. But I found a very very very patient teacher. Very encouraging. Very talented. And ...very pushy. Now Kanchan is going to read this blog and say 'Pushy ... mein ... kabhi nahi'
But let me elucidate on why I needed to be pushed. You see I am not a person of details. I need to finish things quickly. I need to have a product ... feel it ...  hold it ... see it and post it!
Had it not been for Kanchan telling me 'Fill up the white ... darken the corner ... put a little yellow here ... put a little orange there .... here let me show you ... ', my 'Meera' would have been very plain.
Oh by the way ... I was the only one who needed to be pushed. If you see the paintings of the other two ladies ... they are intricate ... detailed and fantastic.
Class was supposed to be from 11-1pm on Saturday and Sunday. But we ladies were there till 2 pm both days. Kanchan even gave a freebie saying ... 'Dont worry ... if you dont finish ... you can come another day. Just call me!'
It was de-stressing and yet tiring. Tiring in a happy way - where you looked at the painting and realized you had done something! With a cup of tea and some biscuits at 12:30 ... Kanchan made sure she renewed some of our lost energy and kept us going.

Somewhere during those 5 - 6 hours Kanchan mentioned ... she didnt have an official certificate saying 'Professional Art Teacher'.
Who cares! If you can bring this out of me ... I wonder what all you can do in someone who is artistic and talented.
Very good ending to last week and definitely a happy mommy starting this week.

Ladies ... and Gentlemen. Kanchan and her friend Deepa have started something called
Creative Adda ... Unleash your creativity. I am a big promoter of small business and entrepreneurs. I encourage you to encourage these ladies by 'Like' their facebook pages.

Creative Adda 
Artsy Craftsy
Kreative Steps

Women Entrepreneurs

This blog, you could say is dedicated to Sridevi ... Yes the bollywood lady!. No she's not an entrepreneur in real life (At least I dont think so). But her character in English Vinglish can definitely inspire you to be one! An Entrepreneur. The ladoo making industry must have boomed after English Vinglish!

This blog is about three Indian Entrepreneurs I have seen very closely since I moved back to India. Whats common between them and me? They are all women! It inspires me!  You could say this is in order of physical distance from my house.

Mridula Velagapudi:
Her facebook 'About' says Self employed and loving it! When I first had a conversation with Mridula and asked her what she did, I did not realize what a big part of the writing world she had her foot in. 'Content Writing' she responded very simply, like it was a part of everyone's being.
'And whats that?' I asked naively (or rather ignorantly).
'I write content for various website' She replied. 'Companies send me stuff and I write it up so they can put it on their websites'
I did come home that evening and looked up content writing. I was part of oDesk already and had put my tiny foot into the world of blog writing. But as I searched content writers, I realized this world of writing I have never known about. Writing about a company you never knew or maybe just heard about can take a lot of skill. Especially, when by writing for them you are making the 'front face' of the matter they are trying to sell to world.
When I started writing this blog I asked Mridula whether she called her 'company' anything.
'No I am freelancer' she responded. But writes she does! From  - whitepapers, Case studies, product sheets, Newsletters, Company blogs, messages for Social media platform  - to the newsletter for our association - Mridula has done her bit of writing.
But for me the interesting part of this entrepreneur is ... I see her walking her kids to the school bus each morning and I see her pick her daughter up every afternoon at 1 pm from the school bus. Once Mridula mentioned ...
'Sometimes Ishanvi can get in the way of my work'... they way I see it - at least your home for her to get in the way of! Ishanvi is Mridula's 5 year- something little girl.

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'Do you work?' I ask Anjali as she holds on to one of her three dogs. This passionate animal lover is an entrepreneur. About 400 meters from our home, Anjali, her three dogs, one cat, fish, daughter and husband have made their friendly abode.
'I create home furnishing' She replied, still holding on tight to the all white Boxer. That's the dogs name, not his breed!
In my head, when you say furnishing I think sofas! But when I checked out Cannanore - a lore from a loom, I realized how creative furnishing can be. Someone once said that a house becomes a home when you put up curtains. That's whats Anjali's little basement based furnishing business does. With all her pretty colors and curtains she can make a room from pure to perfect!
Anjali is a big flea fiesta person. She can be found at all events around the Bangalore city displaying her pretty products. I keep promising her that when I buy my own house, I will definitely make a huge contribution to her bank account through Cannanore-a lore from a loom.
Again a home based business. But there is something about creativity that is contagious. Yes contagious. Anjali's 12th grade daughter Shradha has her own line of designer clutches. Now that's what I call - It runs in the blood.

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And then there is this enthusiastic entrepreneur about 10 kms from where I live. Yes Artsy Craftsy and its CEO Kanchan have found a special space on Dayenu the past several weeks.
You cannot miss the passion for art and craft in this entrepreneur. The living room of her house is filled with kids between 3 and 12 years of age and she still manages to get across the class contents and keep her sanity. Yet another home business!
Two things stand out in this entrepreneur.
One: she shares every thing. Her knowledge of art, her resources and details to her projects. She even has DIY (do-it-yourself) kits to get you started on your own craft classes. Of course she cannot share her patience and endurance towards the kids. Kanchan recently started Creative Adda. A place that encourages and builds creativity. I look forward to seeing this business boom too!
Two: She has a very supportive family. Her two daughters fit right into all the art and craft classes. Pihu being too little get carried off! But Kuhu all of seven not only tries the projects herself but is an excellent help to mommy! Ask Kanchan where you she gets her supplies from and she replies 'I dont know - my husband Pankaj gets it for me!' Now that's what I call a supper-supportive husband.
We were at Isaac's final day performance and Suresh and Pankaj got talking. In the conversation Pankaj mentioned 'I do my work for money. At least she (pointing at Kanchan) should do it for her passion'

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So women in Bangalore --- lets find a passion --- a talent! Lets become mini-entrepreneurs!

Lesson 3 : Artsy Craftsy : Don't waste your time being sad.

By week three the group of 16 kids had set into some sort of dynamics. I never knew kids could have such dynamics. There were sets of friends, the one single one left out, there were the ones dedicated to their work, there were the ones getting into trouble constantly. And then there were the moody ones. These were the ones who stood in a corner refusing to be part of the group. These were  ones who did not want to do what Kanchan said .. but had their own agenda. Everyone had a mood swing day. Surprisingly all the crazy characteristics came out in the last week. I guess we had all gotten comfortable with each other! In between all these sanguine, melancholic, choleric and phlegmatic personalities I found myself being very very cheerful. (Thanks to e-City NLF for introducing the personalities to me - I think there was one week where I was sure that 'sanguine' was the toilet paper word of the day for all the folks there!)
I think art does that to you. It bring you together in a strange way.  Or I just like hanging out with kids!
It was one of those days when Kanchan turned up her volume and said 'Why are you sad ... dont you want to have fun! Don't waste your time being sad!'
It was a life lesson right there. I don't know if the kids got it. But I hope they remember that line all their life ... because that is what life is about.
Lesson 2: Don't waste your time being sad .... there is so much to be happy and thankful for.
I had been sad on Monday morning that week. I knew this was the last week at Artsy Craftsy and while I knew I would be back for art class with Isaac, I knew I would never see the 16 kids together in one room again. As I spoke to 'A' a 12 year old on the last day ... I told her 'Oh I will see you again.. I am coming for Kanchan aunty's art class' . 'A' reminded me ... 'Aunty you will go for the adult class and Isaac will go for the kiddies class ... I will never see you !'
But with one sentence from Artsy Craftsy's CEO ... I was back and jumpy again. I had so much to be thankful for and I had learnt so much the past three weeks. Here is what week three looked like.

 

The younger kids made coaster of foam paper and old CD's. It was so innovative and an excellent way to recycle CD's. I always wanted to do something  with old CD's and here was the perfect craft project. While putting them together 'R' got especially excited .... 'Pizza he yelled out'. I said ... 'No R I think its  a flower' ... I hear a chuckle behind me and I realized I was so wrong. I look at Kanchan .... 'What is it then?' ...' 'Lemon and orange slices!.'

 The older kids worked on Jute coasters. One coaster was a Warli painting and the other was pretty flowers.

The magnets were my favorite. For the Juniors it was so simple and pretty. A smiley face and a strawberry.

Isaac gladly shared the strawberry with Ziva keeping the smiley face for himself.

The older kids had a little more intricately designed fridge magnets. Kanchan kept the finished products and glazed them overnight with Varnish! I never knew you could do that. They were so pretty the next day ... all shiny and looking very professional. It was almost like someone had fired them up in an oven.

One the third day, the juniors made folding cards with nice thick paper and pretty flowers.

The older kids drew a pretty tree with some blossoms and then folded them up into pretty fans.

Day four brought in some no-heat cooking with bread and vegetables. There was cheese too which got nibbled on the way and some never made it on to the plate.

Day five was yet another favorite! Two hangings ... and its hard to decide which was prettier! The Sunlight catcher by the little kids was so pretty and looks even prettier as it hangs on the door in our balcony.

The starry night hanging was very pretty with blues and gold mixed together.

  

And just like that ... summer camp was over. I came home to get online and check when the next camp would be and saw that Artsy Craftsy does camps in the Diwali and Christmas holidays too! While both Isaac and I may join regular drawing/ Art/ Craft classes ... there is something very special about a camp.

Is it that you spend three hours a day with  a few people?... Is it that you learn so much ?... Or is it that you make such nice friends that you can't stop talking about them?  Isaac woke up on Monday morning one week later and while speaking to Ziva promised her 'I will take you to Kanchan aunty's house Ok Ziva. We will go for summer camp  and do painting and coloring!'

PS: my two cents ... I dont think anybody can be categorized into one of the four-personality types mentioned in the beginning. I think our life circumstances push us to being being more of one than the other in each part of our life. So we are technically all four mixed together ... bringing out one dominant personality depending on what is going on around us .... my two cents!

Lesson 2: Artsy Craftsy : What do you do on a Vacation in Goa? Collect star fish!

You may think what kind of crazy lesson is that. Well if you want to me the crazy person who did collect star fish on her vacation in Goa ... Do go meet Artsy Craftsy's proprietor/CEO/teacher/Mam/Aunty - Kanchan Yadav.

When she pulled out a box of star fish during an activity of week 2, I thought she picked up from some craft store.
'No I picked it up in Goa from the beach. I processed it in xxxx solution. And then I dried it' Kanchan replied with a sparkle in her eyes and a smile on her face. I did not clearly hear the name of the solution she used because I was in a state of shock! Just kidding. I was too amazed by the star fish. It reminded me of the song 'Climb every mountain.... Ford every stream ... follow every rainbow ... till you find your dream'
It seems that Kanchan has sifted every grain of sand on the beaches of Goa till she found her 'star fish'.
Lesson 2: When you have a passion ... amazing things can happen.
I know I will be telling Isaac (and Ziva) about Kanchan's passion to collect star fish. I know I will be looking for something crazy to collect on my next vacation. I know I will not look for it in a shop. I know nature will carry lots of memories for me to take with me.

Shell Art

Week 2 started with a bang and lots of sugar.
First the bang! I had planned on leaving Isaac alone. I had him all prepped up. 'Isaac - no ones amma comes with them. I should not stay there ... its not nice '
He finally responded to one comment with a ' OK Amma - you dont help me at Summer camp OK'
I was all excited. I started dreaming about finishing my grocery shopping at the Namdhari's some 100 feet from the Summer camp. I walked in to a room full of kids and a few extra! Kanchan had this look on her face 'Please can you help me from Wednesday onwards with Art and Craft'
A family incident had taken our dance teacher out of town. So Kanchan was left alone to do Art, Craft and dance! I was a little confused and then very flattered. I had left  cell phone in the car and had to jog back to get it. I had 5 minutes thinking time. Yes of course I would do it. In all likelihood Isaac was not going to be happy at camp alone for more than 1 hour. So I would be back in the flat. My thought : I might as well learn something!

 

Biscuits and sugar - What fun time

The week began with non-heat cooking.  Non-heat cooking was done by Sharmi Komal from Neivedyam.  Lots of sugar and biscuits of all kinds. 

While the seniors had the patience to wait for a completed project, the juniors happily ate the biscuits before the icing was even put. 

                                                 Sugar coated biscuits

The Jelly beans  were a big hit and every  one was jittery at the end of one hour. A lot of fun!

 Chocolate spoons

And then it was the turn of the yummy chocolate spoons. Again so simple and so much fun. This time we managed to wrap the chocolate spoons and put it away before anyone got to eat them. After all you need something to take home from Summer camp. Isaac and Ziva enjoyed the chocolate spoons at tea time!

Tuesday was shape mobile day. Kanchan repeated the words shape mobile so many times that now Isaac will call it nothing but that - 'Where is the shape mobile Ziva?'

Shape mobile

We (Isaac and me) had to skip Wednesday for a conference in Hennur.

Chocolate signals

We are sad we missed the traffic signal - again with chocolate and some lovely chocolate hearts. Non-heat cooking seemed like a big hit on Wednesday

Chocolate hearts

Kanchan did a fabulous job of reiterating concepts with a puppet on Thursday for the junior kids. The puppet had a signal and a moving car. The kids were fascinated with the very real looking grey street and the bright yellow car ... Windows and all!

 Car puppets

The senior kids did a fabulous cherry blossom painting on plaster of paris. It was so pretty that I wanted to do one with them.

I was rewarded for my self-control. Kanchan gave me the sample she had drawn for the kids. It hangs proudly on the railings of my steps.
       

Cherry blossom - Kanchan gives credit to Mystic lady art

Friday was the day I was sure I had met the most crazy entrepreneur yet! It was shell art day. It was one common project for both the senior and junior kids. And boy they had a blast! There were so many pickings. Small tiny shells, large pretty one and then there were the pretty star fish! Hats of to Kanchan. Shell art hangs proudly on our fridge.

And just like that week 2 was over. I was exhausted! But I was very happy. Interestingly I yelled a lot less at the kids that week. I guess getting involved in something other than kid raising was good for me. It was also fun because I could do it with at least one of my kids. Next year Kanchan can expect three from the Joel- George household at Summer Camp!

The story of a heart

A few days into Summer camp at Artsy Craftsy, I heard the following announcement.
'Kids take the slip of paper for instructions on your first project'
In my head I was thinking 'Great - at 3.5 yrs ... I was probably going to be doing Isaac's project'
I wanted to shake Kanchan and say 'Why ... why are you spoiling camp? ... We are having so much fun!' . But I guess she has done enough number of these to know better than me.

I was very nervous.... I thought Isaac doesn't sit still for more than 5 mins. How will I get him to do this. I thought the project was for the next day and was all stressed out. I have now realized - Homeworks and projects are actually fun ... Its us parents that make it all stressful.

I took out the paper in the evening. Suresh drew the heart (per the instructions) and I divided it into three parts. 
I sat Isaac on the high chair and said 'Isaac color this part red' I opened his paint box. He finished it and went on 'Now this one amma' pointing to the next part.
Me:"Isaac you will need to wash your hands". He jumped off ran to wash his hands and came back. I gave him pink. 5 mins later. 'Now this one amma' . Me:'We will do it tomorrow morning Isaac'. 'No. I want to color this one'. We finished the 'project' in 1/2 hr. Isaac spent the next 1 hr showing it off to Ziva (20 months) and admiring it himself. 
Thanks Artsy Craftsy

Isaac's heart

Every school I visited the past few months, I kept asking is there homework. I wanted to make sure they didn't send back anything. I realized, had Kanchan not sent this home ... how would we parents know how much our child can do ... on their own. All they need is a little guidance and a lot of encouragement.

We parents ruin all the fun of projects and work at home (I do not like the term homework!). We either make it competitive or insist on a time line  ... which fits our schedule.

Arsty Craftsy posted Isaac's heart painting on her wall. I was super proud. Not because how pretty it looked or because it got xx 'likes' ... but because the caption said 'by Isaac (3.5 yrs)' ... He was just my little boy... If I could just let him enjoy his childhood!  I have all these plans of doing all these things with Isaac for the coming school year ...
But I promise to look at this heart and remember .. to let him enjoy himself!

Have a little heart.

Lesson 1: Don't be afraid of colors - Artsy Craftsy - Week 1

Well I got Kanchan's permission to talk about Summer camp. So the next few blogs will be about Artsy Craftsy!

So Monday May 6th dawned up. First day  of summer camp. I was prepping Isaac to go to summer camp and he  was having a lot of mood fluctuations ... yes I want to go to summer camp ... no amma I don't! Finally Suresh said 'Isaac there will be lots of painting'. Isaac smiled.
Suresh looks at me  'There better be a lot of painting!'
As I drove to Brigade Metropolis, I kept thinking - man this is far! We walked up the steps and rang the bell! The door opened to a smiling face 'You must be Isaac!'  It was great welcome.
16 kids sat in two semi-circles in a large hall devoid of furniture. I did wonder where all the furniture was and later found out that Kanchan pushed everything into the rooms inside - smart move with all the paint around!
We found a place near a sweet little girl 'M'. She soon became a favorite for Isaac to sit beside. Kanchan then asked Isaac 'Whats your favorite fruit?' Luckily there was strawberry tote bag left.

Yes tote bags - that was the first painting project at Artsy Craftsy's Summer Camp. While the kids began pulling out brushes on their cloth tote bags, Kanchan quickly called out 'Does any one know what tote means?'

senior tote bags

Art class and a little  general knowledge.A few seconds into painting and Isaac had paint on his fingers 'Amma --- paint'. Kanchan quickly came over and showed Isaac her hands full of color.
'Look Isaac - paint - don't worry we can wash it off. Kids - Don't be afraid of colors' : Lesson 1!

color on my hands 

We finished painting in about an hour. And I kept wondering - OK two more hours... I wonder what they are going to do next.
Snacks boxes were opened and friends were made. I realized that this was an excellent buffer for kids who were a little slower or those who needed more help. 

Junior kid pot holder

Next it was time for some dance. Deepa - the dance teacher - sorted them into their sizes and spread them out. I realized that I never really danced with Isaac. He kept looking at everyone and not dancing. About an hour into dancing everyone was exhausted and it was then time for Story telling. Kanchan has been reading to the kids form Sudha murty's books and I noted to myself on how it would make great reading even for me.  They are kind of like Aesop's fables. Perfect for a three year old.

It did seem like Isaac was bored since he was used to story time with books that had lots of pictures. This story time involved a lot of 'listening'. I was very happy to later realize that even though he never really paid attention to the whole stories, he heard bits and pieces. He was talking about a fisherman the next day on the drive to Artsy Craftsy. Small pleasures!! And just like that it was time to go home.

Make and play Shaker

In one week we made a wall hanging of a mosaic bird, a pot holder (which Isaac needed a lot of help in) , leaf print on the cover of a drawing book and a shaker with paper cups. All this was interspersed with plenty of dancing, outdoor games  and lots of stories from Sudha Murty's book 'The bird with the golden wings'.

Drawing book cover using leaf stamping - Junior kids

At the end of week one, Isaac was doing a fairly decent job of some coordinated steps at dancing. He was looking at the dance teacher on what to do next. He was not afraid of paint or glue or any other arty/crafty things.

 Senior Kid pot holders

He was making a lot of friends. More importantly his friends were not all aged at 3.5. There was the 11 year old M who dotted on him, the 11.5 year old A, who thought he was cute. There was the 7 year old S who got annoyed with his games. There was the 7 year old K who kept asking him about his dogs! His favourites are two little chaps R and H. The three of them act all crazy and drive Kanchan and the rest of the kids nuts with weird sounds, screaming and occasional rush of tears!

Junior kids tote bag

Many have asked me - Gosh you go all the way too Brigade Metropolis- Its 10 Km. You sit there for 3 hours.  etc etc..
It did make me feel like I wasted a lot of time or I was mollycoddling Isaac. But I learnt a few lessons and Week 2 brought in a surprise I never expected.
Lessons:
1. Stop worry about colors spilling over the floor. I dont think I was mollycoddling Isaac by being at Summer camp all time. But I was definitely teaching him to be paranoid when I kept yelling at home not to spill colors. A couple of times when I told Isaac - dont spill, Kanchan always reassured me 'Don't worry we can always wipe it' . She just about didnt show me her hands to indicate 'Dont be afraid of colors'.
2. Interaction helps a lot: Isaac became comfortable with kids of all ages in one week. He became less whiny during week 2.


Don't be afraid of colors!

For more Artsy Craftsy ideas visit the facebook page and 'like'. Most of them are very simple and can be done at home too.