Summer Fun!!

Yay! Summer’s here! And so is summer vacation. Yup! I do realise it’s a bit of a late reaction. But, anyway. I didn’t sign Ka up for summer school. The selfish mommy that I am, and having realised that my baby doll is growing up at rocket jet speed (as Ka likes to say), I decided we should spend the summer together doing some fun stuff.  School closed on June 30th and off we went to Alaska on July 1st. About 3 hours into her vacation she was already missing school and her friends and all the ‘fun friday(s)’ that she will be missing during summer. So, after a 14 day super-fun trip at the end of which Ka felt better about not going to school, I made a list (and a pretty long one at that) of fun things Ka and I could do together besides not having to wake up early and rushing off to school 🙂

But, as we all know, making lists is the easiest part. I do it all the time. But, tackling tasks on a list is a whole different deal.  Especially when it involves a head full of ideas and more than one closet full of art and craft supplies.  I never know where to start, both idea-wise and treasure-hunt-for-required-materials-wise! You have no idea (unless you are of the same breed, of course) how much time it takes and how crazy I get when I start trying to look for the couple of worn out toothbrushes that I had saved soem 6 months ago. Yes! I do save old toothbrushes! Don’t you?

But before any of this starts to happen, before I start looking for things I need, there is one other big thing I need to accomplish. The biggest challenge of all. Getting off my bottom! Needless to say, not having to wake up early in the morning to wrestle with a four year old over a toothbrush does not help.  And I am beginning to see what an important role toothbrushes play in my life. So it took us very long to get the list out and start off on our fun art project spree.  But start we did. And fun we had.  And this is how much!!

Done at last!

Finally, a lot of bowls of fruits and steamed vegetables later, we are done. Ka can start using her calendar from tomorrow. Maybe the obsessive freak in me that craves for order in everything will not let her use it till the 1st (it’s just a more logical place to start)! But, the important part is that we are done and what an excellent job Ka did with the number-writing.

Here are some pictures of the finished product…

And here’s the whole picture…

The idea behind the whole gift thing came from the quote ,”Today is a gift. That is why we call it the present.”  And Ka kind of liked the idea of the animals bringing her a gift everyday 🙂

And now that I am done with the whole calendar making episode, I strongly feel this desperate need to swear that I will never take it upon myself to try anything like this ever again. This is my first and my last!! I can come up with ideas and sketches but I really don’t think this is my cup of tea. And anyway, I hate tea!

And yet another obsession…

My life seems to be a mere series of obsessions.  Without obsessions I start to lose a grip on sanity. So, to help me stay sane [as a huge favour to my husband], I was introduced to jewellery making by a couple of very dear friends. And if you knew me, you would know why my staying sane is so important for the well being of my husband. Anyway, without much ado, may I present to you the results of my extremely amateur attempt at earring making.

EditMy first attempt at paper bead making

My second attempt at paper bead making. If you notice, I did muster up enough courage here to experiment a bit with a paper shaper.

I have no idea how all these beads came to look like cones. I sure must have done something right! Can’t wait to find out what. These were, like the previous one, a long rectangular piece cut in half diagonally and then rolled. I was expecting them to be shaped like thin long barrels. But nah! I kind of like the spool.

This was just me desperate to use the doughnut (turns out that’s what it is really called. A donut pendant!). And the yellow paper bead looked drab on its own. So, I stuck it in the donut and voila!!

And this is when I went totally nuts with the paper cutting thing. I wanted something with fringes. So, I cut a long strip. Cut fringes along one end (pretty long ones actually) and then rolled them into beads. The fringes didn’t look quite as pretty as I thought they would. So I turned them upside down, forced them in a donut and left them lying around for a while. Then I got rid of the donut and got this 🙂 Next, I’ll try these with some fancy paper or fabric.

For now, this is what they look like when worn…

And before you ask me, let me tell you that nope! I am not done with the calendar and yes! my hands are full of lines. Maybe that explains my restlessness…

Calendar: Stage V

A picture is worth a thousand words.  Does that mean 2 pictures would be worth 2000 words? Either ways, I have 4 pictures for you AND a lot of words. What can I say? I am a generous woman.

Anyway, today, after what seems like forever, the voice in my head finally won the battle of talking me into resuming work on Ka’s calendar. So, we brainwashed some more animals to migrate.

Mr. Long Neck just noticed His Highness behind the bush and isn’t particularly delighted. Maybe they just aren’t the best of friends.

 

Sneaky Mr.Alligator looks more than ready for dinner while poor little Fluffy the rabbit has no clue what’s coming! Mr.Frog can’t wait to slurp up Hearty the butterfly but looks like he doesn’t want to draw Mr. Alligator’s attention. Mr.Clappity the crab is bewildered by all these crazy animals trying to eat each other! I don’t think he approves at all. By the way, what’s the matter with Mr. Big Nose? Does he really think he can reach the grass that way? Really Mr. L.Nose? Men!!

Ms.Jelly is happy just floating around showing off her pretty tentacles. Starry has found himself a nice little cozy corner to call home. And Toto the turtle looks quite content with his life too.

 

Sigh! I have 12 more to go. I have to convince some more folks that this is indeed a wonderful neighbourhood. And then when they aren’t looking, I have to somehow tag them with numbers.  Without that what good are they to us?  Sounds unfair but if we lived in a fair world, I would be a famous woman and my picture would appear next to the words ‘lazy’ and ‘procrastinator’ in all the dictionaries in the world!!!

Chores…

The thing about kids that amazes me every single time is their ability to stay on the sunny side of life. Ka was missing her grandma terribly who left for India a week ago after a 5 month long stay. She was upset that ‘Paati’ (grandma) did not listen to her and stay with us forever. She was disappointed that she couldn’t showoff  her school work everyday.  But, like all kids, she finally saw the bright side of it. She saw this as a golden opportunity to make some big bucks. She realised that Paati is not going to be able to help ‘Amma’ anymore. So she, the smarty pants that she is, jumps in and offers to help. In the sweetest of voice, she says,”Mommy! Now that paati is not here, you are going to have to do all the work alone. But then if you work so much, your back will hurt and you will get tired. So, I have a good idea. I can help you with a lot of your work and make lots of money.”
And so, this is what we came up with. A chore board, if you may. It has a list of chores she agreed or volunteered to do designed in a theme that she likes. What girl doesn’t like flowers, even if it’s just foam?

Here are the chores she picked…

 

Yup! As of now, ‘brush teeth’ is the most challenging ‘chore’. But it’s getting better. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. There’s definitely some hope 🙂 And then there’s the ‘clean up room’ part which is again a bit of a challenge. But there’s no harm in trying. Afterall, I am willing to pay for it!

I know the last one might seem like a bit too much of a task for a 4 year old but she loves cleaning. Just so, I don’t get arrested for child labour, this was her idea. And, she does not take no for an answer. So, please don’t report me to the authorities.

And then there’s also a flower pot with seeds planted at the bottom. Ka’s idea again. She wanted more chore flowers to bloom after some time. What can I say? I am just keeping my fingers crossed and hoping she will have the same feelings towards chores when she’s a teenager. Anyway, right there on the pot are 6 stars, one for each task. They are there, thanks to sticky back velcro. They will be gone in the morning and will slowly and, hopefully, surely reappear through the day as and when each task gets done. At the end of the day, Ka will get a quarter for each completed task. Easy peasey 🙂

And, this is the chore board with the chore flowers and chore seeds. Simple. And serves the purpose.  Don’t know for how long. But as of now it works like a charm…