Read to me mommy! A million times more

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things
Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things.

Read more: The Sound Of Music - My Favorite Things (maria) Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Reading has been by far our favorite thing to do together. I remember reading Isaac his very first book when he was 3 months old. By age 9 months, I could leave Isaac in any corner of the house with a stack of board book and find him flipping through them when I returned 15 minutes later. 

I slacked a little with Ziva when she was a new born. But in the last year made up for it by reading to her books from Isaac's age group. She used to be a poor listener but now has patience of a 5-year-old listening to books I read to Isaac and answering questions I ask him.

Every day is read to me day. With Isaac now reading, I occasionally find him pouring over pages trying to figure out words and put together sentences. But we still sit together and devour books. I love the books as much as they do.

But I can never forget where we started. There were those first few books that got me started and kept me going. I love reading and have read several books more than once. But in the past 5 years there have been a few books I have read a few million times plus or minus a few thousands here and there.

Its the books that would calm the cranky sick baby. 

Its the books that would keep the wriggly wiggly baby calm in my lap as I sat through church. 

Its the books that would make an impatient toddler settle in his car sear for a six-hour drive to Timbuktu.

Its the books that would keep the little one sitting still on the potty with a mommy sitting close by with fingers crossed hoping that today would be the day that her little one would finally get trained.

Its the books that made nap time easier and wake up times happier.

These are my list of favorite baby/toddler/ pre-schooler books. I still have these, my fiver year old still ravages through them and so I am not sharing!!!

Good night moon by Maragret Wise Brown

The silliest little rhyme there is to be found. But the loveliest little lullaby to put both mommy and baby to sleep. This was the first book I ready to Isaac. We still read it and we still love it! When I read it to Ziva, I found a new perspective : ' Look for the mouse in each page' and just like that I the book found new meaning to my second born. Love it

Runaway bunny by Maragret Wise Brown

Another lovely book by the same author of Good night moon. This one makes you want to hug your little toddler closer as they look to runaway! Both Isaac and Ziva loved listening to how I would run and catch them where ever they went!

Big Red Barn by Maragret Wise Brown

Again from the author of Good night moon comes a story about all the barn animals. Lovely little rhyme about the farm from dawn to dusk. Lovely little wake up son or lullaby!

Barnyard dance by Sandra Boyton

This crazy book, could possibly be Isaac and Ziva's introduction to a rap song!  A fun book to rhyme and rap and dance with.

The going to bed book  by Sandra Boyton

Another book form the author of Barnyard Dance and a perfect glance into the life of the animals in Noah's Ark. Love the imagination of the author on what all the animals must have done on the Ark before they went to sleep.

Time for bed  by Mem Fox

The sweetest way to say good night to my little ones. A sweet way to convince them to close their sleepy eyes and hug and kiss mommy goodnight.

Hush little baby a folk song

This is Ziva's favorite. From age 18 months till recently every night Suresh would sing this song to close the day.

They say its never too early to sing or read to a child and I would say its never to late to read these books to your little one. To all the mommies who read the same book millions times - I salute you!
#EveryDayIsMothersDay

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Siblings and all that ... Jazz

I remember when I was growing up... people would come up to my mom and  say 'Two girls'  and '3 years apart' ... 'oh they must not fight at all'. My sister and I we fought like cats and dogs! We used words a lot and we got on each others nerves all the time. My mom had to constantly yell  'If I come there both of you are going to get it.' - Reminds me of Russell Peters  'Somebody gonna get a hurt real bad'
We also were inseparable (At least till she got married and I left for the US). And that is the other side of this sibling coin. I cried when she got beaten and she fought for me (to get my parents approval) when I wanted to marry a man of my choice. Do I need say more?

When I had Isaac and Ziva with a 22 months space, I knew the nightmare would come. Someone told me 'Don't worry, they will be really close'.
Yes Maybe - but 'Payback's a *&^%$!'.
I am sure I gave plenty of grief to my mother, so it was my time now.   I watched my sister deal with my nephew and niece and I realized any age gap and the sibling jazz was bound to dazzle us all. And now its my turn

I am seriously tired of the  yells and screams coming from the basement. ‘Amma she is not sharing with me.’  ...'Amma he is looking at me!' ....Really !! Another favorite place for them to fight is in the the back seat of the car. 'Amma his leg is close to my car seat.'
I find myself frequently saying 'If I come there .. you both are going to get it'

Sometimes its minor tugs and pulls while others are more emotional and long-lasting fights and it seems like they may kill each other.
I know these sibling quarrels are a common occurrence in most households. But I have started thinking of how I can set the rules so we can have a calmer day. Especially since we homeschool - Isaac and Ziva just have to get along for more than a seconds!
Suresh keeps saying set the rules and if they dont abide its time for the rod. But what are the rules and should I read it out to them like the ten commandments!

Commandments:  As in every household the most important thing is ‘Rules’. No one likes them! But everyone must follow them! Here would be my commandments for the Joel Household for the next few years
1. No hitting,
2. No name calling
3. No hoarding
That's it ! If I can just get them to abide by these, the world would be more peaceful.
But it does seem like sharing is the toughest. Yes - especially in a household where there are over a thousand toys both will have a tug off for one toy. And of course we are almost going to the point of  'I had it first' . So what do I do. ' No share - no play'. It works! They both cry for a while and then its almost like they gang up against me and play together with a completely different toy!

Good Job: The best sprinkling of masala over the wound at this time is. Good Job guys! I am so proud of you two sharing and I have my babies back in my arms! Now Ziva has even started asking me. 'Amma are you happy with Isaac and Me'!

Wearing my boxing gloves: Sometimes, though it does seem like I have to get down in the boxing ring and separate them! And this is when we use the hug theory. Hug, are the best thing, I have realized, and use it commonly when there has been a physical fight. Its not possible for me to always use my eight eyes and watch who started the fight or who pushed whom. Conversations are not entirely clear and this seems like the perfect time to talk about forgiveness. Usually in this case no one is innocent. So we go into hug mode. 'Isaac and Ziva hug each other. Now say I am sorry.' This is irrespective of who had done IT! And I think its not the words ... but the touch that makes them both melt down and again in 5 minutes we have WORLD PEACE.

Unity in Adversity: 'Isaac you must protect Ziva. Ziva listen to Isaac he will take care of you.' I found him 20 minutes later sitting next to her quietly watching her. She too was sitting besides him and they had not pulled each others hair out. Somehow when you make the family claim, even kids seem to understand the song 'We are family'. Best way to leave them alone and hope for peace - Add a touch of responsibility!'

Who's dunn it!: And then there are those times when you just got to know who is the culprit. This may be the broken phone that they were both yanking at or the TV that just wont switch ON because both wanted to turn it ON. You just got to know. Currently we use books for various characteristics. We have a series called Bubbles  and one particular one is  'Bubbles Owns up' ... There are tons more about not fighting with other, Not being a spoil-sport. And recently we found one very good one about not teasing your sibling. It hit a home-run with Isaac and now all I have to say is 'Remember how Pipo was mean to his sister' Lot of perspective. And it works way better than me screaming 'SHARE' or 'BE NICE'. The books are nice because they are so non-judgemental

Vishesh Tippany (Translated special message): I am slowly also realizing using myself as a example may also help the kids relate to relationships and their value. So I guess Isaac and Ziva are going to here a lot of stories about Amma and 'Mona Velliamma' and of course 'Ammachi!'

At the end of the day I just got to remember that I too  have waged the sibling war and turned out fine. The key is to keep the whole sibling rivalry healthy with plenty of love and forgiveness and HUGs!