The move! #kidsmoving

We recently had some close friends move out of Bangalore. It was a strange mix of emotions! Laughing about old fun times and getting mopey at the thought of not seeing them often.

Suresh and I have moved several times. In fact during the first seven year of our marriage we moved

2003 January 300 E Franklin #805
2004 May 300 E Franklin #1401
2005 October 1503 Irby Drive
2007 July Lodges at Seven Oaks
2008 January 2601 Barred Owl way
2009 January 1027 S Hanover Street
2010 January 1409 Pangbourne Way
2011 November MIMS Ardendale Bangalore

You could say that we had gotten pretty good at moving and settling and packing and moving in the first seven years. It was easy to move when it was just Suresh and me. Though we had plenty of furniture. It seemed like there was nothing in particular keeping us clinging to one spot.
The last move however took a heavy toll on us. It was a big move. It also was accompanied with a significant life change. Arrival of baby #2 'Ziva'. As we made the decision to move and as we ironed out the fine details of the movers and dates and other logistics, we had forgotten one small element. We forgot to prepare our 1.5 year old. It may seem silly! You may even think that 'What can a 1.5 year old understand?'. The move to Bangalore took a heavy toll on Isaac.

This was my happy and sweet boy a few weeks before we left. The first couple months in Bangalore was a nightmare. Not too clingy a boy, he suddenly had deep separation anxiety. He would cry every morning as Appa took off to work. This made the first half of my day miserable. I tried to keep pushing through it with the hope that dad would come home soon and rescue me.
At about two weeks past birth, Isaac smiled a big broad knowing smile. A friend, who was also a pediatrician, commented - 'You guys must have smiled a lot during the pregnancy'. 2 years and one big move later and Isaac spent a lot of time crying. Whining to be precise. There was a lot of tears all the time.
Nap times were easy till 1.5 year for Isaac. I could never remember him waking up crying. In fact our favorite memory of Isaac waking up was a quiet sound we heard whispering over the baby monitor. Several times we peeked through the door and he would be lying quietly talking to his fingers or staring at the wall as if it was a piece of Picasso. Come Bangalore and I could not leave him alone at nap time. The minute I rolled out of bed he followed me. It seemed a different person.
Now five years later, I am thankful the phase is over. But a small part of me knows that moving and change is an inevitable part of life. What will I do differently this time?


Moving with someone who cannot express how their are feeling is tough business. Moving with someone who now can express a lot but doesn't understand their own emotions is far greater a turmoil and while I pray it will not happen ... Tomorrow is another day

Once I mentioned the fact that we had moved so many times, it seemed ridiculous and my brother in law mentioned that we were after all Isaac's parents and like the biblical story of Isaac's parents, Abraham and Sarah, maybe we were destined to be nomads.
How did Abraham do it? Keep moving! How did the Israelites do it? Keep walking. No stability and nothing the same.

This being said, the community of MIMS Ardendale has been the place we have stayed in the longest. (we did move between two houses less then a few meters from each other). And I am thankful for this stability. However a few months ago, in the midst of some trials I impulsively told Suresh - Lets move! For me - move is an escape route. The EJECT button. But maybe it time for me to make my peace with here and now - for the sake of Isaac and Ziva!

When opportunity knocks!

I may be wrong but I think there is a point where every mother goes through an identity crisis.


For me it happens more when I get asked the question 'Do  you work?'
The crazy woman in me wants to scream my lungs out saying ... do you see these kids running around me ... they are my full time employers.
The other day I had a form to fill and in it the question was 'Profession'. I stopped ... I was tempted to write homemaker ...

But that is no longer true. I will always be a homemaker as would any mom/wife/ woman at any age ... that is our innate 'Profession'.

I looked up at Suresh 'What should I write for Profession?'
I knew the answer to all the other questions. Name .... Age ... Sex ... Address ...

Yet this one I was not sure.

Suresh: 'Medical Physicst! No just Physicist!'
How did he have the confidence I did not. I realized that no matter how many years I stayed away from my 'Education!' It would always somewhere  ...somehow catch up with me.

                                                                                      My office then (2007)
 

When we returned to India I lazed around for a bit. I enjoyed my blogging... Telling my mommy stories ... Sharing my saga! Then I wanted a little pocket money. So I started writing for other folks. Initially it was mommy writings ... then just general writings.

And then opportunity knocked ... reminding me what I had spent 5 years slogging over to get the three alphabets behind my name (Ph.D.) and then another two years as a slave to get the certification of D.A.B.R .... very very sought after four initials ... at least in my field of work.

Yes after a two year break in not using my education 'PhD in Medical Physics'  ... and D.A.B.R .....I am back once again ... looking at my physics books and probably built up with the most sadistic part of any profession. Quiz writing.

Every time  Suresh saw me working on strange topics of blogging or content writing he would say ...
'Don't forget you are a medical physicist'. Several times he reminded me that if I went out and worked I would probably make as much if not more money than him ... a perk of being clinically trained. But I am still having separation anxiety. I asked him to find me a job I could do from home. Be careful what you ask for. He did not find me the job ... it just fell on my lap. And its awesome!

Dont get me wrong I enjoy being with the kids and teaching them and reading to them etc. .. but once in a while I did wish I was reading more than Little Red Riding hood (For the 50th time) and singing 5 little ducks (for the 600th time).
Suresh kept saying: Keep in touch with your field ... maintain your certification ... read your scientific papers.

Its hard to do all that without incentive.
And incentive came.

I now spend about 3-4 hrs a day being Editor of a website, going through Medical physics quiz questions making sure they are appropriate and am well on my way to writing original quiz questions and all for the pay of a Medical Physicist. I work for an old colleague ... and so flexibility is a piece of cake!

 My office now

My work now :)

A friend of mine had recently put up this post on facebook.
"If opportunity does NOT knock build a door."
I built my door and left it open .. opportunity came walking in and sat on my lap.

But there is still this fear. How long will this job last? Should I tell people about it? I have been very secretive about my job (that I have one) and more importantly when I get asked if I work I promptly reply 'NO!'. Though I think the No comes more of confusion of being a working/ homeschooling mom of two rather than denial or fear.

But I realize .. what the heck this is like any other job I could have. In a few months to a years time this website may become self sufficient and may not need me to be editor. At that time I will build another door and leave it open.

Till then I will be Rohini George ... Ph.D.,  D.A.B.R, ... Editor for Wepassed.com

And when someone asks me what I do or whether I work I will be saying by education I am a Medical Physicist using my knowledge but by choice I work with my family  ;) ... and then I will direct them to this blog :)

Glue, cotton, paper and a black sketch pen = One happy homeschooler ...

It was a rough morning. I had to keep screaming at him to get him to write. Isaac used to love writing .... but watching Ziva run around and get in his way kept distracting. He also kept laughing for no reason at all. That is his latest method of annoying me and Suresh.
But we managed to get through some coloring, tracing and a few 'big boy' stories. Big boy = 45 page books ... 6 sentences per page .... I am very grateful for his increased attention span when it comes to listening to stories.
When the morning came to a close I was exhausted and he looked happy to get away from me. Not the feelings I want him to leave with!

I dragged my feet that afternoon to wake him up. I usually wake him up about 1/2 hr before Ziva wakes up so we can have some more reading time together. But I struggled and in my head I kept thinking what would be fun to do ... teach him time ... let him color ... or read more books

I picked a farming book (by Disney Smart beginings), sat him on the sofa and turned to page 1... There was a simple project  ... to make a sheep! An answer to prayers. In less than 5 seconds of me asking him if wanted to do it .... he was awake and holding Fevicol in his hand. About 15 minutes later we had this.

I drew

He stuck the cotton
He coloured the feet and then ' We will show Appa when he comes home OK!'

Just to make him realize that 'school' was not just reading and writing .... but anything that involved learning and trying and finishing I told him 'Isaac this is also school!'. He repeated this sentence, while showing his sheep, to a few friends who walked past the door a few minutes later !

Perfect end to a disastrous morning .... I believe in miracles .... I believe life can turn around just like that!

Picnic Perfect

As a homeschoooling mom, I am always looking for something new to do. If everyday was math and phonics and writing .... a 35 year old would get very bored... imagine a 4 year old and a 2 year old.
So last week when the maid took a day off, I went on a 'picnic' to the park. It didn't go great for me, but Isaac enjoyed himself. So I promised myself to do it again. This week, I was better prepared and we had a picnic yesterday. A breakfast picnic. Isaac helped me get the basket, he put in what he wanted to take for the picnic ... ball ... books ... and of course we needed food. Bread  and egg was on the menu with cheese slices and plenty of fruits: apples and guava.
But I didn't want to miss and educating moment ... So I took blank pieces of paper and a Swiss army knife. We had a lot of fun. The kids ate, played around and I even got Isaac and Ziva to stick leaves on the paper I had taken. We even did a few math/sorting pages from one of Isaac's work books. It was a lot of fun.
When I told Suresh how much fun it was and he saw the pictures, he said 'You should have outdoor classes.' I like the idea ... it gives me a chance to get some much needed Vitamin D as well.
The best part ... when I was packing up the picnic basket to return home Isaac said 'Thank you Amma'  -- unprompted. More incentive to keep homeschooling!

Great weather to kick off your shoes

 excited about the Swiss Army knife

 Learning material

 Running around

Sibling conversation

Let the games begin

Jack be nimble... Jack jump over the candle stick

They ran 3 laps around the park

Look at them go

Basking in the sun

Leaf collection

Naughtiness begins

Troubling Isaac ... but he's laughing

A halleluia moment - Joys of homeschooling

I have been trying to get Ziva to recognize her alphabets. It has been a painful experience. I keep reminding myself that she is ahead of her game with great vocabulary, excellent spatial skills, can pretty much beat any chap her age and size to a race and has figured out how to turn on 'livin la vida loca' on the keyboard!
But I still cannot give up the fact that by 18 months Isaac recognized all his alphabets. So I tried to push Ziva. But the little fireball resisted all the pushing.
Finally I gave up and switched gears. I phonically taught her the alphabets. We have an alphabet stack set from Baby Einstein. Each alphabet had a few words associated with it. So for instance ... A had apples, aeroplane and alligator. But to get my fireball's attention for longer than two seconds was very hard. I still tried a few alphabets everyday.

Today we came home from some shopping and I had purchased a plastic file that had the word 'PHEASANT' on it. We were sitting around the table eating Katti roll and Ziva was randomly pointing at the alphabets and singing the alphabet song. With minimal expectation I asked her.
Me: 'Ziva where is T for tiger'
Ziva: 'There it is!' pointing correctly to the T. My eyes light up. I look at Suresh ... he has pride floating around him.
Me:'Ziva where is P for Penguin' .....
Ziva moves her finger over the entire word and then points at P: 'There it is!'
Now I am overjoyed. I have a CD with the word MOD written on it.
Me: 'Ziva where is M for monkey'.
Ziva points to O: 'Hmmm thats O' She point to M ...'That W for whaler ' .... I know she got it flipped but Iwas still struggling to control my head growing into the size of a pumkin.
Isaac joins the game.
Isaac: 'Ziva where is D for dog'
Ziva: 'There it is!  D for dog ... D for dinosaur!'

Lesson complete! I could hear  Handel Messiah' Hallelujah in my head

Appa and Amma -school --- Homeschool a joint venture!

The term homeschool is a little deceptive. It gives people the idea that school is at home. The end!
But the effort that mom and dad put into its seems to be over or under looked.

Here is an example of a great idea that came up for our school at home.  While I want to share it so other parents can be inspired and use it to teach their own kids, I want to also share how the idea came about.

South america ... with Brazil, Argentina and Peru colored

It was the brain child of my super smart husband Suresh! (Yes he had been a good boy recently ... and so getting a lot of praise words in my blogs)
We have been teaching Isaac the names of countries and their location on the map. I got the idea from friend Veena who has taught her little one Dhruv all the countries in the world before the age of three (and their flags. Right Veena?). Now some kids are great at memorization. Isaac does not fall in that category. You need to get him to relate to what you are trying to teach him. Of course Isaac was not always interested. So I added an interest factor for him. Animals!
Every time I told him a country name I showed him the national bird and animal of that country. We started spot travelling around the globe and pointing out to big countries that were easily recognizable. India being a favourite with the peacock and tiger!

                                Brazil, flag, country, national animal, national bird and traditional costume

Suresh was watching this and decided to add his 'vishesh tippany' (translated: special pointers')
Suresh: Why don't you add more to this?
Me: Like what
Suresh: Show him what the people look like. What is their favourite sport? (because that soccer comes up a lot in South American countries). Tell him what clothes they wear there.
Me in my head ... yeah right that going to happen.
Another thing Suresh suggested. Stop spot travelling ... get organized.

                                                          Venezuela in progress

So this year we started with one continent. It gives me a chance to keep track of what I am teaching Isaac. It also helps to talk about sports and culture because they are normally common for one continent. We started with South America. Brazil, Argentina and Peru were covered in one week. Talking and looking at pictures of people form there.  Coloring the flag with fingers and coloring the country on its own an then in the map of South America. Of course ... you got to have the national animal and birds. It was fun and Isaac wanted to do more.
We had a one week break after that due to a wedding but we are set to get back to Chile, Venezuela and Guatemala!
Its moments like this when I can get creative about teaching Isaac that I love homeschooling.

Peru, Flag, Vicuna, Rock of the cock and a little Peruvian girl dressed up. We learned the names of some new animals too!

I have one more creative idea that I will blog about that has gotten Isaac back on phonics and reading words

                                                 Some finger painting by Isaac ... in progress

.. but lets save that for another blog shall we?

Homeschool June 2013 - Why would you do that to yourself?

Why would you do that to yourself?
I have been asked this again and again! I can see homeschooling is more accepted now. I don't get strange stares or weird looks anymore. It does seem like more people sympathize with me though.
At a friend's kids birthday party. I got 'Why would you do that to yourself?'  and 'I commend you for doing it'
Its not like I am fighting in the army -  guys. I know schooling your child is not everybody's cup of tea. But its not that hard. Also I have excellent help! Both hubby and my maid are good resources at giving me the break when I need it ... as I need it.
Besides I like schooling Isaac. He is an great learner. He does have his annoying moments, but if I can associate anything with an animal and teach him... he absorbs it like a coffee filter!

                                                      (Photo credit ... Veena aunty ... In think)

I had not expected to do much in June. Suresh was travelling for 13 days and I had planned not to push myself. But the two weeks Suresh was away worked out rather well. Ziva took a nap every morning for about 45 minutes, which gave me some time with Isaac. You may think 45 minutes is a short time ... but to a pre-schooler its seems infinite.
I found a ton of workbooks from Reliance with incentives - STARS (I will write a separate blog on the stars.) and it is helping me work through things systematically and stay organized. We started June with stuff Isaac already knew.We covered phonically pronouncing alphabets. There were a couple of books that went from A-Z simply asking the child to guess the word.
Of course Isaac did fabulously and got a star on each page. I guess it was good boost to his confidence. Since he does not like phonics .... getting the confidence back into him was a big deal.  I tried rhyming words after this and he did not take to it. So we jumped to ending alphabets. I did not know that it was hard for child to understand what sound a word ends with. He knew starts with ... he did not know ends with! But a couple of tries and he figured that one too.
One great success was match the columns. A nice workbook which I got a year ago from D- Mart had words on one side and pictures to match up on the other side. I really have no idea what gets the kick going in kids, but drawing a line from a picture to the word got Isaac all excited. He kept asking to do more and more. In the process I realized that he had memorized a few sight words like 'Owl' and 'Orange'.
Then there were numbers. I left him with a tracing sheet on 1 to 10 and when I returned they were all very neatly traced. Tracing I realize goes very well on some days and poorly on other days. If caught on a good day he would trace anything I asked him to. On a bad day he would doodle with his pencil. I guess doodling is acceptable for a 3.5 year old.
Isaac was already done with capital letters and so it was time for little letters. I decided that since he loved finger painting so much, I would try letting him trace with his fingers. I printed out an alphabet and let him paint it with his fingers. He had a blast and we were going through two and three alphabets a day. I believe tracing with the fingers gives a child a lot of control over his movements. By this time Ziva would be awake and would join us in finger painting. Ziva would paint capital alphabets.
Then there was plenty to read. Now Isaac loves reading the same story again and again. I decided I would read at least one new story everyday to him. Thanks to one gigantic book from Veena Aunty and some book sharing with Sonal Aunty we have a full stock of books. I haven't been able to keep up my one -new story a day ... but we got a good number a new stories going.
There was 'Snappy the Crocodile' ... 'The elephant child' and tons of Aesops fables.  Isaac has definitely increased in patience as far as listening to stories that are couple pages long with fewer pictures in them. I may be getting a little ahead of myself when I say ... that he is very close to sitting through a chapter of Narnia pretty soon. But I am so excited for him. Thanks to Kanchan Aunty ... I now know how to grasp if he has understood the story. He loves summarizing them to Ziva and I even occasionally get asked if I want to eat some 'Crocodile'. This brings me to role play.
While Ziva, at 20 months has started role play, Isaac has only recently gotten into it. He loves playing 'me'.
'Ziva sit in one place and listen' ....'Ziva you dont want to learn?' ....
But the best so far is Isaac turning on his imaginary gas at a coffee table and making me crocodile fry. He even pours the oil into the pan the way I do! Clumsily!

We also managed to complete two craft projects. Well I guess they were my projects that Isaac helped with by hand stamping them. A father's day card for Suresh and a birthday scrap book for best bud Dhruv.

There is a lot more to talk about ... but I wont bore you ... I guess you get he point when I say for the month of  June ... homeschool was very satisfying.

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!

The importance of Craft in a pre-schoolers life!

About the beginning of March I had started annoying Suresh. 'We need to get Isaac into some activities!'
We had decided he needed to be exposed to music, art and athletics. He could then chose what he liked and pursue it to the fullest. With the decision set in on homeschooling Isaac, bringing these activities to him was an issue. I needed a good teacher.
We finally got Isaac into the skating class in the community. He fell on his butt several hundred times. He also did not survive the one hour class. About 45 mins in he would want to go home. But we could see him enjoying it. In May the skating teacher had his own college exams and took a break. I started getting all hissy again 'We need activities for Isaac'
I was determined to get him to start Art class somewhere. Mainly because I am inspired by sister's kids who take drawing class. Artsy Craftsy came at the right time as a blessing!
When I went I had it in my head that it would be all painting. I did not realize how much craft was going to be done.
Why is craft important?
Isaac is very good with the paint brush. Very good for his age that is. He does decent cut and paste pictures. He can write Captial Alphabets except an occasional 'S' being too difficult. I thought - my son -- great chap --- excellent fine motor skills. I was ready to move on.
We always think our kids are the best, the smartest, they know everything ... blah ... blah ...There is nothing wrong with thinking that. Believe me if we dont think that no one else will. We are the first phase of encouragement our children will get.

But the day I saw him turn wool round and round a plastic 'dabba' at Artsy Craftsy I realized there was so much more to fine motor skills! Every Craft project brought in a new challenge. Whether it was sticking foam on a coaster, molding the shapes for a shape mobile or sticking small squares to make a mosaic bird! But the biggest challenge was perseverance. Especially at the age of 3.5 its very easy to give up. Craft teaches you to persevere.

After rolling the wool a few times in one direction and then rolling it in the opposite direction (which essentially undid the wool on the plastic box) Isaac started to whine 'Amma you help me'. I guiltily helped him. In my head I kept telling myself not to help and played devil advocates with 'Oh he's only 3.5!'.
The last two days at Summer camp, Kanchan sat with the young kids and I helped out with the older kids. I am so glad! Half way through one session, I could hear Isaac's distinct whining. Kanchan prompted 'Isaac finish your card' ... Isaac 'No ... you help me' ... Kanchan 'No you do it by yourself ... I know you can'
I had my back towards them ... but I smiled... I was so tempted to look at what Isaac was doing. At the end of  craft, I asked Kanchan how much Isaac did on his own 'Well most of it ... he needed help in some parts'
 

Craft helps your fine motor skills. I was helping tie knots at summer camp and realized how much of an effort it was for kids. I felt Isaac more nimble at the end of three weeks.  Of course I need to keep finding him something to continue his skills and challenge him.

Craft helps build perseverance. All projects at summer camp had to be completed. Not one kid left with a half finished project. Every day someone needed help to finish up. But no one was left alone. It was also a different child every day! It made me realize how different kids were. There was also a sense of exhilaration at the end of art and craft session.
Exhilaration and exhaustion and they were all famished .... Perfect time for a snack to treat those nimble hard-working fingers.

Closing those doors!

I think today being March 23 2013 (It took me one month to write this blog -- today is in fact April 26th) and the official school year starting on June 4 2013, we have officially made our decision for Isaac  for the year 2013-2014.
Isaac will technically, according to his age, be in Nursery or Pre-K. And he will be homeschooled!
Yes after visiting 6 schools and weighing our options and even with the slight chance of me loosing my mind - we have decided on homeschooling our boy. We have also prayerfully decided that we will take one year at a time (Thanks to Shanthi and Faith for making me see that this was an option) and will revisit our decision next year and see if this is in fact the best thing for Isaac, Ziva and me.
How did all this happen? Well we started our school visits at the beginning of January. We visited 6 schools

Inventure Academy: This was a fantastic place and frankly if we lived closer, we would have sent Isaac here. But sending a 4 year old this far (17 km) seemed unfair to us. Maybe he will get used to it. Maybe we are hyper-ventilating a bit too much. But the distance to the school and a long day (8-3 pm) ruled it off our list. But I think if Isaac is going to school next year, it will be a no brainer pick of Inventure

Indus Early Learning center: I loved the place. Suresh did not. What I loved was the amount of creativity we saw in our 1/2 hour tour. Children were playing with hay and sand and having so much fun! But the fees were exorbitant which would probably be fine till Ziva was to got to school as well. Sending both of them to Indus would mean I would have to go back to work. Since Suresh did not like the place anyway, it was checked off our list.

Viha: This tiny place was not much to talk about. Just felt like any other small school/ day care facility. But the principle/ owner/ teacher was one dynamic lady. I was very impressed with her confidence in what she was doing and more importantly realized she was a no-nonsense person. In addition I had a brief view of her love for teaching. As we walked past the classes, I had seen her sitting on the floor, her back close to the black board with three kids sitting around her. She was teaching them phonics and you could see the passion in just the way she was pointing at the vowels and creating three letter words. The facilities at Viha were a little poorly maintained and after seeing places that are all yuppy, you wonder! So Viha got checked off our list.

Canadian Maple bear: This place seemed an O.K. Nice play structure. Nice class rooms. But two things put us off. One Isaac had a complete meltdown and would not calm down. To make matters worse the teachers and helps were overly nice. While I like nice people, I do not like people who encourage tantrums of 3 year old's by being overly nice! Another thing I noticed on our tour was a teacher grasping (probably gently) the wrists of a 4 year old. The child was not paying attention. I had a mental picture in my head of that child being Isaac a year later. I could not get my picture out of my head. I am allowed to hold my son's wrist and shake him to get his attention  ... but I do not give that right to anyone else. Canadian became a choice we would take if we had /must send Isaac to school and was slowly pushed to the bottom of our list.

Klay Schools:  We received an excellent review about this place and were all excited about a school we were almost sure we were going to send Isaac. But I realized that you like a place and approve it based on the person who takes you around. Unfortunately for us, the center co-ordinator was in-charge of showing us the facilities. She first told us to come at 1 pm and then called at 12:30 and changed the time to 2 pm. By this point I was already half way through and decided to pick Suresh up and then wait outside the school till 1:45. At 1:45 we slowly parked the car and picked a sleeping Isaac and walked into lobby. It was another 45 minutes before our conversations with the center coordinator began. I was pissed by this point since I was to be home by 3 pm to relieve the maid and take over Ziva. To add some further fume to the fury, the center coordinator was completely unprofessional. With a checked shirt rolled up past her elbows and leaning back and rocking her chair, she gave me the impression that she was sitting at a coffee shop across her college buddies. While I loved the facilities and what they were doing, I was completely put off by our point of contact. Another thing that made us uneasy was the lack of secular environment. While looking through the calendar I noticed that in January they had decided to celebrate Sankranti instead of Republic day. I mentioned that it was odd since I would think school would give more priority to patriotism than religion. I am of the firm belief that faith and religion should be things taught at home so it matches the environment you grow up in. The coordinator casually said that they choose one holiday in a month and celebrated it large scale (I understand choosing 'one', since India has so many holidays and festivals). She continued to says 'Well in March we will be celebrating Maha shivrathri. I asked how they celebrated it.
Her response: Well the kids do a pooja.
I was a little shocked - what do kids know about a pooja. I again had a mental image of Isaac chanting something he did not understand. She probably recognized the confusion in my face and quickly added 'In April, we are celebrating Easter'. Big mistake! I do not want Isaac thinking Easter is about Easter Eggs or bunny rabbits!

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At this point Suresh and I had this long conversation and the key phrase that I will keep in my head is Suresh's line 'What must I do to so you will homeschool Isaac?'
I think Suresh had realized that a major reason for me even thinking about school was the lack of appreciation within the home and the fear of ridicule from outside.
At the end of two or three days of conversation, we had almost decided on homeschooling Isaac for one more year. But we had one last school left to go see. I did not have much hope since most schools close admissions by January of the academic year. We were in the mid of March. But we had put in our admission forms and decided to go for the tour.
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Neev: Neev was  wonderful, small little place but used up so well. Lots of light and lots of arts and crafts. We felt comfortable with the place. One important happening at Neev were the other kids. Isaac was on the play structure and we were in the midst of our tour when the kids were let free for play time. One of the girls came up behind him on the play structure, probably about 2 years older than Isaac and asked him his name. As usual Isaac shied away. Then a couple more kids came and decided to be friendly and I responded for him 'His name is Isaac' All of them started squealing with joy. 'Like Isaac Newton'! For the first time Suresh and I both liked the place. Suresh made sure there were no religious celebrations that required participation (observation is fine is what he said) and he was assured that harvest festivals were the only things that were celebrated. Cultural knowledge is fine.

We seemed to have found a place and yet there was no peace! I seemed to have this feeling in my heart that something was being pulled out of me and taken away. Suresh just kept saying 'I have no peace'


That evening at family prayer Suresh prayed this way 'Lord close the doors that need to be closed!'

Had Isaac been rejected or denied admission from Neev, I would have been very upset. Instead the following day afternoon we received an email from Neev. 'Isaac has been wait-listed' Which meant he could probably get a chance to go to Neev mid-way through the year.
Doors closed!

I have never seen Suresh so elated. We were both afraid of the decision we would have to take if Isaac had been accepted. I think as parents we are always second guessing ourselves on what is good for our child. I thank God for closing those doors! (for this year at least)
Now to start praying for peace, patience, perseverance and joy in teaching Isaac and Ziva.



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A few days ago (April 4th 2013) we got a mail from Neev saying they had a seat available. Suresh and I politely declined. I ended my phone conversation with the sweet lady across the line saying 'Maybe next year'
I don't want to try and open something God has closed. I don't want to challenge the peace I felt when those are closed and the peace I feel right now.

A bike ride

I have started going for bike rides again. Bike=bicycle. I had stopped in the middle due to winter and cold winds causing colds and headaches. But clearly summer is here and the cycle needs to be ridden and hopefully weight will be lost :).
I prefer riding the bike outside the community gate since if I take a round near the park, both my kids will climb on the bike seats fitted on, giving a feel and look of an auto-rickshaw.
My biggest problem with riding the outside the community is other drivers. Other truck/tempo/car/motorbike/bicycle driver/riders. Truck and tempo driver find it very interesting to push me off the road, car drivers don't think it necessary to make a little space for the bicyclist by driving on their side on the road and motorbike and other bicyclist border line on annoying me with stares and wild eye gaping.
Now you may say 'Why don't you ride off the road?' I used to.  But it seems like they are planning to extend the road and in the 'planning' stage, they have decided to fill the side of the roads with concrete pebbles that form for the pebble bumpy rides.

While I can handle truck and tempo riders by getting off the road and giving them the benefit that they are not educated hence not much should be really expected from them, I am really annoyed with guys in fashionable cars who don't have the simple courtesy to keep to their side of the road. Among the things I want to do is flag them down and ask them which school they went to - obviously one that did not teach them road safety or road manners.
I detest even more the motorbike and other bicyclist who come really close to overtake. Come on people we are in the same category show your fellow cyclist a little respect. To top it, I occasionally get a whistle or a cat call. I normally just let in pass. But in my head I have been preparing several statements in hindi and Tamil like
Ghar mein maa, behein nahi hai kya? (Dont you have a mother or sister at home?)
Veethil akka amma illa?
I am even thinking of learning these statements in Kannada and Telugu which forms a majority of people in the neighborhood.

Today I was riding the bike. I reached the main road road and turned around around to head home. A car comes really close and honks. I move a little to my side but not off the road. The car continues to honk and follows me. I am thinking in my head. 'Hi move on buddy'
More honking and my anger has suddenly turned into a smile .... because I recognize the honk. I slow down and let the car come by my side. The driver rolls his window down.
Me: Ghar mein biwi nahi hai kya? (Don't you have a wife at home)

A very amused Suresh .... bursts into laughter ... more an amused giggle.