A tale of two two-year-olds, two trains, two days

The long train journey was not as bad as I thought it would be. Having said that, it was exhausting.
We left home in the midst of an extreme downpour, at almost 3.30 to catch an almost 4.30 train at Central. I was un-worried, until I noticed that Amit was the don’t-talk-to-me-I’m-focussing-all-my-energy-on-just-getting-there kind of tense. Then, [...]

Off We Go

We leave for Calcutta tomorrow. Despite everything, the prospect of a long train journey, daunting as it is, is still alluring, and I can’t help looking forward to it. Eating, reading, sleeping, and traveling – what could be better?
(The kids are standing outside the half-gate to the study as I type. They’ve rolled a big [...]

Wining and Dining Without the Twins

Well, we made it. Everything went according to plan, for once.
It started with Amit coming home early from office. I had baked him a cake so we cut that first, with the kids participating enthusiastically. Then I grabbed an hour to go out and actually get him a gift, something I hadn’t been able [...]

Playschool: Now they love it… and other stuff

Day 6, and guess what? Mrini left my finger and entered the school almost before the door was open. Tara was a step behind her! As the door closed behind them, there was the briefest wail of protest from Mrini, and then, silence. The teacher/auntie/coordinator told me afterwards that the girls went into the room [...]

First Days at School

On Monday, I took the twins to school. Pre-school/playschool, hereafter called school. We reached at around 11.35, and I sat inside till about 12.05. The girls wandered around, and some of the other kids came up and thrust things into their hands or took things away from them. They didn’t seem to mind either way. [...]

And Then There Were Three

So the twins have totally arrived in the land of make belief. The teddy bear they were acquiring maternal instincts towards has emerged as their full-fledged baby, with all the attendant biological and emotional needs. They feed it, wash and dry its hands and face, give it the bed-time routine and put it to bed, [...]

Babysitting: Third Time Lucky

Not that the first two times weren’t lucky… But let me start at the beginning.
The first time that we both went away from the twins was when we were in Calcutta in December last year. That time we went for a stroll in the neighborhood that lasted maybe 30-40 minutes. The twins were with family [...]

Twinnings

Sometimes the twins are just adorable.
(If you really don’t want to read more mushy stuff about the twins, you can just skip this one.)
(And no, as far as I know, “twinnings” isn’t a word. I just made it up because it sort of sounded like “antics the twins have been up to”.)
So, yeah, adorable. Let [...]

Teaching Religion

Now that the twins are going to be starting playschool already, I have to face something I haven’t really given much thought to: religion. Apparently, even these neighbourhood-type playschools teach kids to pray.
Pray? Seriously?? Two-year-olds???
I hadn’t expected to have to teach my kids anything about religion at this age.. Not for a few years yet. [...]