You'll miss all this when they go to college...

Roz and Max finally made it out the front door, after another morning of non-stop excitement before the school bus got here. Only three rounds of "She's wearing my shoes!" "Can anyone help me find my belt?" "Why aren't you wearing your sweater?" were needed before the girls headed out. And this when its only the last week of school and their final exams are underway (it's language today, so much muttering of present tense, feminine gender nouns and verbs was happening throughout the getting-ready phase.) "Why are these clothes lying on the floor?" I hear the LW's voice from the children's bedroom and try hard not to smile as the kids turn around on the stairs to yell back "I love you!"

The LW and I have tried, even without the grandparents helping or providing useful comments, to get the girls into a morning routine (you can see how successful that has been!) - no I don't refer to the screaming we do each morning - "Did you fill your water bottle? Did you pack your lunch box? Do you have money the cafeteria? What about the change for the telephone?" The routine I talk of, begins the previous night with "Do you have everything ready for school?"

You'd think as kids who can narrate every scene in last month's favorite episode of "The Sweet Life of Zack & Cody" or what Aishwarya Rai was wearing in her first scene in Dhoom 2, Roz and Max would remember stuff relating what's needed for school tomorrow. You'd be wrong! After dinner, just as the LW and I are getting ready to sit down to do some reading, Max would remember she needs blue-colored chart paper (of course right after the local stationery store has closed.) Max would discover homework that she should have done, and now she can't go to bed without doing it. And that is on a good evening. Finally the homework is done, promises have been extracted to go to the stationery store in the morning before the school bus gets here at 715AM (the stationer lives behind the store) and admonitions about "make sure your schoolbags are ready, I don't want to hear any whining in the morning about socks, shoes or school badges" made before we get the two of 'em in bed and the lights turned out. Some more "Girls! Quit talking (loud giggles follow) and better get to sleep" on my part results in bouts of silence and usually the LW & I fall asleep I suspect before the girls call it a night!

Despite all the reminders of the previous night, some fairy seems to wipe my children's near term memory banks so that when they wake up, it's usually "I can't find _____" (pick your favorite thing, that they put out last night but now can't find) delivered in that particularly shrill tone intended to set every parental nerve ending quivering. Of course now we have a new parental litany - "Drink your milk," "I thought you polished your shoes last night? Don't just stand there - and while you are at it, polish your sister's shoes as well." "Wear your sweater." Anita Renfroe said it best in her "Mom's song" set to the William Tell Overture

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Eating vegetables - creative ways to get the girls to do it

As every parent, the LW and I wonder how can two kids that are barely two years apart be so different - particularly when it comes to eating their veggies. Roz, is a true south Indian lass, who loves her vatha kuzhumbu and sutta appalaam and eats her veggies, be they ladies fingers (okra for all you yanks!) or bitter gourd. Max on the other hand, seems to have some Italian blood - she could eat pasta every day. Of course every week she claims "I haven't had pizza in months!" Truth to be told in recent times she has discovered a love for Thengai poddi and the LW's rasam but refuses to eat most vegetables, whether done as dry curries or in gravy. And if cooked veggies are hard salads are nearly impossible. So we have gotten to figuring creating ways to dress up the veggies, so that she can consume them with the least amount of drama. Thanks to Hobees restaurant we came up with the Tofu Scramble ala Max. This was one way to get some salad vegetables in to Roz and Max's diets. But clearly I had to expand my repertoire beyond this one dish, its popularity notwithstanding.

Having more-than-2-digits of college years between the LW and myself, we tried to study what both the girls liked - veggie tacos, bean and veggie burritos and California style veg sushi were ever popular favorites with both the girls. Also many mornings there was the challenge of how much new stuff can be cooked and what best to do with leftovers. Thus was born the Kati Roll ala Sri!

Kati Roll ala Sri!

Ingredients

2 wheat rotis or tortillas
¼ cup of yoghurt
2 tblsp of pickles (or a non-sweet pickle of your choice)
¼ green cucumber
1 onion - small
2 tbsp of chutney or thogayil
dry veg curry leftovers (potatoes, cauliflower, beans)

Preparation

Dice the onions and bell-pepper into small pieces. Warm the rotis or tortillas for 20 secs in the microwave or on a hot griddle. Spread the chutney evenly as you would any spread on the roti/tortilla bread. If you don't have any non-sweet chutney handy you can use a spicy mango or coriander pickle as a spread. Use a teaspoon of yoghurt for each piece of roti/tortilla, and spread it on top of the chutney. A smooth layer of the cool yoghurt and chutney mix should be spread evenly on the bread. About a third in from one edge, put down a spoon of the veg curry as a straight line. Garnish with the diced onion and cucumber on top of the curry.

Now from the edge nearest to your wall of veg, begin rolling the roti/tortilla all the way to the other end, such that a tight wrap is made. Microwave each wrap for 20 seconds, cut diagonally and place the two half rolls on a plate with some ketch up decoration and serve.

Preparing dad for social interactions

This last week, it was my dad's birthday and he happened to be in town visiting my sister and me. Despite his protests my sister decided to host a very small do - with chocolate and another spongy cake. Being a week day, just getting ready meant the Lovely Wife (LW for short) had to pick up Max from her karate class, Roz from her dance class and yours truly dashing home from work. Once all of us were under the same roof critical choices had to be made - who'd wear what (not those shorts! - what happened to your pink shirt?) and whether showers (never quick in our house) would be taken or not. Any outing in our lovely domicile, however brief would put even the shabby prep for the invasion of Iraq to shame. So finally we were ready in a manner of speaking.

As we were about to set out (which meant the LW and I were still chasing the girls to get into their outfits, turn off the lights and quit fighting over which shoes were whose) the girls decided to once again prepare me for what was expected from me - specifically what I should not do or say in public!

"You can't talk about us there!" said Roz. "You always embarrass us, by talking about us," added Max. "You think you are sooo funny, dad!" she continued, "You always promise not to say anything and all you do is talk about us." "You know Max took so looong to get ready, that's why we are late," she mimicked my deep voice.

My usual response, "But I am so proud of you, that's why I talk about you girls!" is always greeted with howls of disbelief. "I am never going out with you if you talk about us again," added Roz in that serious manner of hers. "And don't tell everyone how we told you to not talk about us!" is Max's parting warning, wanting to make sure that I was absolutely clear on the subject.

I remember being the single guy at many parties promising myself that I would never become one of those parents, we all meet, who seemed to have no life of their own. Even after marriage but before LW and I had kids, at get togethers with friends we seemed to run into parents who spoke of nothing but their kids. Certainly going by their conversation these parents had ceased to have a life of their own, even if they had ever had one. Oh cruel world, I have to be honest and admit I am one of those parents now! The LW's natural reticence makes her less likely to have attacks of let-me-tell-you-what-my-kids-just-did or can-you-believe-how-smart-my-kids-are, but I seem to no such difficulty! Roz and Max's admonishments only seem to spur me to even more tales of my kids' exploits and this blog entry is one more instance of it I suspect!