Avy is showing pre-teens signs😁

Your heartfelt expression of your son's growth is touching. Here's an edited version with some refinements: "My little Hunk is blossoming into a handsome teen, and we, as parents, are witnessing numerous changes in him. His once soft and light voice has now become deep and resonant. The beginnings of a soft mustache are visible, and he carries himself with the demeanor of a young man. We've noticed that he feels a bit awkward when we display affection, like pulling his cheeks or holding his hand in the school crowd. At just 11 years old, he's already asserting his independence and doesn't want to be treated like a kid. What I truly admire about him is his humility and kindness. Even when expressing his dislikes, he does so in such a sweet manner that it's hard not to smile. He's taken to measuring his height against mine, and it won't be long before he surpasses me and likely starts comparing himself to his dad. Academically, he's making strides and is becoming more focused on completing his tasks. Despite the usual sibling quarrels, especially with Abhimanyu, he plays the role of a caring elder brother. It's heartening to see him equally concerned when he notices Abhimanyu getting hurt. With crossed fingers, I'm hopeful that he continues to grow into a smart, intelligent young man. Deep down, I have a strong belief that he will."

birthday 2023

After a long time I am posting a new blog on my elder son. We celebrated his 11th birthday last Sunday. Unlike the usual celebrations where he had roomful of friends, even last year he enjoyed his birthday with a great group of friends, this year he had 4 friends who came and made the day memorable for us. I believe that the kids can adapt to changes more quickly compared to us adults. I and my husband were missing the previous years' birthdays where we celebrated with so many people but Avyaya even though missed his old friends he enjoyed so much with his new besties this year. Sometimes kids do teach us a lot without even knowing. Now that he is in grade 6, academically the pressure is a bit more and so is his cribbing about studies. But I am happy that no matter how much he dislike studying but he does give his best and make us feel proud.

Naruto

Naruto is Avyaya's latest favourite thing. both Anime and graphic novels. he was nagging me so much to buy this book. After much persuasion and promises, we ordered the book and got it delivered. The moment Avyaya saw the book he was so happy and poured so many thank yous on me. He started his reading journey with Peppa pig then it got shifted to geronimo Stilton, then Tom Gates, Then wimpy kid diaries and now Naruto. except for Peppa pig, the rest are still his favourites. He even copies the action of NAruto and his signs. It's like he is a big fan of this character. He is growing up and has stepped into the world of anime. He wants a headband like Naruto and remembers the names of all the characters and their characteristics. the shine in his eyes grows bigger when he is talking about Naruto. I like watching it too, but not as much as he does.

New place Bangalore

It was a very emotional decision to shift from Dubai back to our motherland. Even though we were happy but packing everything and leaving all behind, the house, friends, and lifestyle were a bit painful. Avyaya didn't want to leave his friends in Dubai but he was also eager to see the new place. He was under the impression that schools in India are stricter and teachers do the caning. He was a bit apprehensive as well. We finally landed here in Bangalore and stayed in a hotel for 10 days. It was quite adventurous as we stayed in one room and went house hunting in the morning and by evening returned home. Avyaya enjoyed it as long as he was not hungry. Now we have rented an independent house the cargo is yet to come so we are staying like banjaras. Borrowed wooden beds from the neighbors, super flat mattresses just an inch thicker than a sheet. Basic cooking essentials. But Avyaya is happy with the laptop and his Roblox. He joined the school and liked his new classmates. He made a couple of friends but he is missing his Dubai friends a lot. He is in touch with them on zoom calls. Some things are new to him such as the teaching methods, the strictness of the teachers, and a bit more pressure on his studies. The main thing was the exam pattern that we have here. He is used to UT exams occurring the whole year twice a week for 1 hour. Here he is giving term 1 exams which are for 2.5 hours and only exams are conducted without classes. He is shocked to see the separate question paper and separate answer sheet. He left the first day's question paper in the class as he was not aware that he was supposed to bring it home. He is enjoying the weather and sometimes goes to the park and plays. Even though he is missing his Dubai lifestyle a lot he is still adjusting to his new lifestyle. Recently we bought a scooter and more than anyone Avyaya and Abhimanyu loved it the most. Avyaya being a 10 years old boy only is desperately trying to convince us that he knows to drive a scooter and will go to school on that. Oh!! It’s so difficult to argue with him. He is eagerly waiting for the cargo to come as he is missing his books and toys. He has adjusted here more sooner than me, I realized

Avy's roblox

His craze about Roblox is massive. He can go on and on about the characters in roblox , the teams and so on. Even though, nowadays we all have to be extra careful with our little boys as they are getting too much into gaming I prefer to let him play within the given time. After that he wont use gadgets. He complies by this rule and I am happy so is he, as he gets alotted time everyday. he has his gaming channel which he has started few days back and needs to work on it more. He would record his narrative while playing his game and put it on youtube, the confidence he shows while recording a video inspires me a lot as i took a bit of time to record my video on youtube. he is so effortless. now that he is growing up he is aware of crushes and likes. its really intersteing to see him grow up so fast. But he is equally into his roots. he would ask questions about the traditions of india and loves to hear the stories about our history. i have to keep myself updated for his bombardment of questions. i am also learning a lot. with his everyday adventures it surely takes me down the memory lane.

New Friends

After a very long time and constant reminders with some emotional reasoning from my husband, I am writing again about my kids. I am starting with my elder one Avyaya. As I cited earlier that we shifted to a new apartment in a different building Avy has made loads of friends and enjoys playing outside in the fresh air. The most needful thing since after covid he developed the habit of staying inside the house and enjoyed it. It was a concern for us. As he was getting too dependent on his gadgets. He made youtube gaming channels his world. He still wants to start his gaming channel and whines about how he gets very less time with his gadget to create a video reel. But he is very happy playing with his kids. In fact, after two years of celebrating his birthday quietly, this year, it was different. He enjoyed and celebrated his big day with loads of his friends. The kids came and made his special day more special. he loved opening his gifts, so many lovely gifts. We have reduced his gadget time now. And he is also very happy and learns new things, accepting new challenges.

Ever So Caring

Our weekend staycation at Jumeirah was awesome. Kids enjoyed it thoroughly. We all went with the husband's brother and his family. He has a very small boy. A cute and happy child. Avyaya was very happy spending time with him. I never had to worry about Avyaya doing any kind of mischief. He has always been kind and loving with babies. So this trip was super amazing for him as we got to spend two days with his baby brother.

Also, it was wonderful watching him swim with Abhimanyu. Even though we all sat near the pool area, Avyaya stayed with Abhimanyu all the time as Abhimanyu doesn't swim well but loves to stay in the water and Avyaya is a good swimmer. He even carried Abhi and made him sit on the pool stool when the latter got tired for a while. He never left Abhimanyu Side for the entire three hours they were in the pool. He is willing to take responsibility. Like buying groceries alone but we are a bit hesitant as he will have to cross the road to reach the mart. But he insists, he will cross cautiously. His confidence is contagious!!! I am glad he is growing up into a fine boy.

Covid positive

The fear of coronavirus is tremendous. Never imagined Avyaya will get covid positive. It was challenging to grasp the reality that my little boy will become one of the carriers. No, it was not his fault. He is a very careful boy making sure to sanitize everything or not to touch anything from outside. He washed hands the moment he entered the house and reminded all of us to do the same. SO how did he get the infection? Well! A slight negligence from a neighbor who got covid infected but didn’t know she had, transferred it to Avyaya but was sincerely regretful once she got the reports. It was a difficult time for all of us. Avyaya was kept in home isolation for 10 days .Both Avyaya and Abhimanyu understood the significance of the situation and cooperated so well. None was adamant or cranky. Infact, Avyaya loved to keep the entire room to himself and called it “his DEN”.Thankfully by the grace of god he is fine now. And enjoying his vacations. The lesson I learnt as a parent while going through this tough time is that never put your guards down. We always were extra careful even after getting vaccinated. No movies, no restaurants and no summer camps. Al these were precautions we were taking besides sanitization and haldi milk. I would recommend to everyone that they should follow protocols. We need to tell our loved ones the same. Sometimes we can be upfront and tell them directly and sometimes we can convey the message in an indirect way. Telling straight on the face is a much kinder way rather than gritting your teeth behind. Also, we need to stop saying YES just to please people. This!!! I learnt the hard way. It’s better to tell the people if you cannot say it directly then you can always say to keep the conversation on the phone unless it's very much urgent to visit. Especially when you have kids you can easily say that since kids are not vaccinated yet we are not going out much and neither visiting friends. People will get your point. It's better to be upfront than being sorry later.

Cyber safety for Avy and all the kids

Now that Avy is growing up and stepping to a bigger class every year, he is also being exposed to the internet. Like we all know, as concerned parents, the internet is a hub of information and entertainment. So Avy is very much attracted towards it, and the covid pandemic was like an icing on the cake. Last year’s school was completely online and during the learning process, he also accessed loads of websites. Most of them were educational while few were just vain. Avyaya got through various gaming sites, various gaming YouTube channels and so on. He had such a wonderful time. BUT, it was my time to put myself on alert mode. Various questions popped into my mind. What sites is he watching? Are they virus proof? Can these sites hack my computer? I got worried. And then I thought, rather than being super strict and running around with the binoculars in my hand it's better to teach Avyaya about cyber safety. SO one day I sat with him and explained few things. •He should not enter any personal information into websites. Even if he is required to fill the form he should call me and if I find that form is not appropriate for him. I explain it to him and after a couple of questions from his side, we decide we will not fill any such form. •Avy should not post anything on the internet without my knowledge. He should take either mine or his dad's permission. Most of the time kids don't realize what info we can give on the net and which we cannot. So it's our job to make them understand. For example family pictures or locations should not be shared anywhere... they should always be given on password-protected sites. • I have told Avyaya not to do anything if he fined anything suspicious or he is not supposed to download any attachment unless we approve. Private chats are absolutely no-no. Even with their close friends. We parents should know what our kids are talking about. And with whom are they chatting. Last but not the least, chatting with strangers while playing games are strictly not allowed as we don't know who he is chatting with. These are just basics which we have told Avyaya also told him the repercussions if we don't follow these safety guidelines. Of course, he understands and follows them, but that doesn't mean I don't keep a watch on his activities. As a mother, I am super-duper cautious!!!

angry Young Man!

Avyaya is 9 years old now. He is growing up. He is also developing some characteristics. The very basic one is getting bored and angry about different things. Otherwise a very loving and very well behaved child I don't mind him getting angry. That's an emotion. And it is very important to let out our emotions. It all depends on us parents how we tackle that emotion in kids. The kids chose to express their emotion of anger either by screaming or hitting when they are toddler because they don't have the words to express their sentiments but gradually as they grow up these actions are reduced and annoyance and anger take the place where they start behaving badly and talking back to parents. This is a time when the parents need to show some patience coz when the child is showing his emotion and we revert back in showing back ours then it aggravates the situation. The best thing that worked for me is staying cool that time and once Avyaya is calmed down we speak about the reason and try to solve it together. Not being commanding and scolding at the time when he is angry helped me a lot. Avyaya now realizes whenever he loses his temper or gets annoyed and apologizes on his own without me telling him anything. I am happy he does that.

First Day IN School

After sitting at home and having online classes for a year, Avyaya was too excited to go to school. He got up early, went to bath promptly, got dressed quick and eagerly waited for his bus to pick him up. When he came back, he was extremely happy to meet his old friends and also new friends since they had reshuffling in new grade, so there were many new faces, he met. He was excited to meet his previous year's teachers whom he had seen online. He was happy to meet new teachers. Last year taking online classes was not so exciting for him and I feel that kids couldn't learn that much as they would have if they had face to face classes.

A great Team worker

Working in a team sounds fun and easy but there are certain qualities which every team member should have sincerity, out of the box thinking, sharing and most of all motivating. Today I witnessed all these qualities in Avyaya while he was on a Zoom call with his 4 other friends working on an Arabic project to make PowerPoint slides. his enthusiasm was outstanding, he was giving good suggestions and also patiently listening to others. one thing that really made me feel happy was when out of 4 kids one was very quiet avyaya noticed it and asked him why are you so quiet. has something happened to you? when the boy still not answered avyaya said do share your ideas, don't hold back even if you think that it's not going to work, still, you say we might like it. and it will help us. I was listening to all this from the other room. I was feeling so nice and proud of him coz this was all from his heart and not told by us. great going little Champ!!!

Board Games

Krishan got Monopoly for Avyaya. Much awaiting board game of his. The other one is RISK which we couldn't find. But I had to promise him that I will buy the minute it's available. I too am enthusiastic about that game. Playing monopoly with Avyaya is so much fun. But he can play it the entire day, unfortunately , I am not able to give that much time to him as I have other chores as well. Everyday thinking different ways to keep kids occupied is getting very challenging. Specially during the winter holidays. I recently thought of two new ways. One day we will make cookies as avyaya is eagerly waiting to try his hands in cooking. He enjoys his 'cooking without fire' classes during his school days. The other one is setting up a Christmas tree. Both the kids are super excited and so am I.