Tiffin Tales 42

Hola...

Today's post is dedicated to my dearest S on his birthday. I am equally excited as him because it was on this a mother was also born. S and me are growing up together albeit on different parameters. A child adds a completely new meaning to our lives. While growing they discover the world while we discover the world through their eyes and from a different angle. I have always been grateful to the Almighty for my children but their birthday's are a special occasion when i say a long prayer of gratitude.

This morning we woke to the birthday message calls from our families and friends and relatives. While mostly stuck to wishing on social media, grandparents called perhaps twice or thrice. I could sense their elevated level of excitements. Let me try in my own way to express my gratitude through this humble post.

• First of all thank you for a mother was born on this day too.
• S taught me to relive my childhood. His naughty expressions and mischievous smile always makes me yearn to go back to my childhood. Thankfully with i get to retrospect those moments.
• S is quite an emotional child. Post delivery i also used to get emotional at every unwanted things. I think along with him i also getting a grip of my emotions over the years.
• S likes to make friends. He can be friends with almost with everyone. He is quite a chatterbox but with every birthday i feel he is getting close to the digital world and it worries me to an extent.
• He is religious. He doesn't understand God but he likes to offer his prayers everyday and secretly i admire it.
• His aim in life keeps changing every week. For example as of this week he wants to be a truck driver. The reason is truck driver gets to travel a lot and he drives on lanes where others don't not bother him much. Well, i see a point in that.
• If there is a concept of rebirth i would like to be blessed to be your mother over and over again.

I cannot think much at this moment because i am a bit overwhelmed with work. I hope and pray that the Almighty always showers his choicest blessings on you. More details tomorrow. Today's lunch was peas pulao with boiled eggs. His snack was on his special request a packet of Lay's chips and a small yoghurt.

Take care and catch you all tomorrow.

Tiffin Tales 41

Hola...

I hope you all had a nice and rejuvenated weekend. Over here, it was dull and windy. Even though we went out, the winds definitely tried hard to blow us away. It wasn't raining consecutively but certainly accompanied the dull day. Monday seemed to start with some sunshine, and i hope we receive sunshine abundantly.

My neighborhood certainly looks gorgeous. There are different shades of yellow and red. Most of the trees have shed their leaves especially over the weekend. I see people piling up bags of dried leaves near their homes. Everything about the fall season is so dazzling and cheerful. Different shades of same color, the smell of cinnamon spice and hues of every color. It's in a way to instill optimism before the winter sets in. Winters can very harsh, low and addled and fall colors before winters certainly helps to believe that 'if winters come, can spring be far behind?'

My S was feeling very sleepy this morning. When i asked him to wake up, with sleepy eyes and mischievous smile he said Sunday isn't over mamma, it will be over only when i wake up. We had a good family moment over those lines and wished that Sunday visits us often.

Sundays cannot come everyday, but mother's are always there for their children. With time, children grow up but the urge to stay with parents never die. Well, not in my case though. I would like to see my parents every day but since that is not possible i try to stay connected in every possible way. There can never be another mother. On that thought today i made vegetable pulao with basmati rice and ghee. My S likes to have that and i hope he enjoys the aroma of basmati rice. His snack box was pears, yoghurt and a small piece of home made cake.

Happy Monday everyone....

Tiffin Tales 40

Hola...

It's Friday again and like most of us i am excited and exhausted both. Friday seems to be a hope that the next two days will be different but on the contrary the opposite happens. My S has activity classes, the refrigerator needs some refill, family wants something appealing on the table, piles of clothes and if the stars are unfavorable on the kids will have a runny nose or coughing. Hail weekend.

Well, this weekend i have promised to organize myself a bit more . I will plan my weekends going forward without the promise that my plan will be successfully completed. If so there will be a detailed post about my plan and how smoothly i could execute it.

To come to this day, it's been quite backbreaking till. I had quite a few pending task and some good driving to complement that. SO today my post will be bit short not because i am getting dramatic about Friday but because both my eyes and brain need some rest. I am completely going to ignore the state of house (which is mess) now and pretend to get some sleep. Of course i am blessed with the most caring children who will evenly make sure i do not lie down unattended for too long.

The morning started with the thoughts that a few important things need to be taken care of whereas my S was sheepishly happy because he isn't going to carry his lunch box today. Instead he would be digging in to his slice of pizza and giggle with his friends. I did pack his snack box though. I packed mixed vegetable 'paratha's' and a pack of string cheese. He insisted on a fruit bar and i happily packed it too.

Let's see how this weekend unfolds  but i hope and pray that you guys have an enjoyable and relaxing weekend. Catch you on Monday!

Tiffin Tales 39

Hola...

It's a very cloudy Thursday here and temperatures have dipped own a bit. For the last few days we are constantly switching from light to partly heavy jackets here. The pumpkins are mostly carved and people have put up in their patios, near the doors or windows.

My S had an interesting project this time in school with pumpkins. Even though his teacher instructed that no carved pumpkins would be allowed (which was a blessing for me) they wanted students should do something creative with their favorite cartoon character on the pumpkins. They can color, paint, decorate and basically do anything except carving to bring out the character.

Last evening we realized that October 26th is the last day for submitting that project and instantly all hell broke loose. A panicked mother son duo got into that assignment. While i got mad that he didn't remind me, he on the other argued that he is too small to remember anything. Well, we both burst into laughing. Together we sat and decided to figure a way out. He insisted to get a big pumpkin and then i convinced him that a smaller one would need less time. He agreed though. His current favorite seemed to be Humphrey the Hamster. We quickly took out an image from the internet and then began the final tasking of drawing that image on pumpkin. I have to openly admit that i am not good at drawing but both of us took turns to draw Humphrey. Even though its a far cry from the images from the internet still i think it looks decent enough if looked from his eyes. His satisfaction levels were strong enough to assure me that together we put up a decent show. He was quite excited to show it to his teacher and his friends. It was a quite a hectic evening and when he fell asleep i realized that these moments down the years will give me warmth once he leaves my nest.

Children have so many layers. They can make you strong and weak both at the same time. They can cry and smile together and i have witnessed it so many times. This morning for his lunch box i made 'sooji upma' with peanuts and vegetables. I usually add a generous amount of ghee so that it doesn't get too dry. His snack box had pineapples and grapes and a pack of yoghurt.

In this worldly rush, pause a bit sometimes and look at the world through the eyes of a child. It will both be refreshing and different. Enjoy your day...

Tiffin Tales 38

Hola...

The festive season is kinda over but hey, Diwali is still there...We Bengali's are still holding on to the last biggest festival of the year. Perhaps after thats it's back to everywhere or wherever want to go. Lakshmi Pujo is always fun but the arrangements take up almost the entire day. Earlier women of the house used to divide the workload and the entire day of fasting or even some extended hours never mattered. From doing the arrangements of 'bhog' to making 'alpona/rangoli' everything used to be somewhat streamlined. With time in most households its one woman army army or if fortunate enough would be two people to share the load and worship the Goddess.

It's all about time and timings. When we are late time rushes, and we are slow time almost stops. Happy times makes the clock run while hard times pauses it i feel. When my S was a baby i wondered when would be grow out of diapers and now with each birthday i want him slow down. Human psychology i guess!

This morning i saw my S staring through the window. He sat for quite a few minutes and seemed lost. A few minutes later i tried to probe. He was somewhat deeply thinking why does weather change, why not everything can remain same. I explained to him that if things remain same it would be boring. He somewhat agreed to an extent but he didn't like. He doesn't want the trees to shed their leaves, relatives visiting going back, his favorite shows going off air. He loves people around, laughs and endless conversations. To him life should be exciting. He is too naive to understand the intricacies of life. Children have completely different mindset. I wish we never lose our innocence even when we grow up. The element of innocence should should somehow never leave us.

After that discussion he asked egg fried rice for lunch to which i added vegetables and eggs of course. His snack box had pineapples and a sweet today and yogurt.

Enjoy your day and watch your surroundings, everything keeps changing everyday. Cherish them....

Tiffin Tales 37

Hola...

It's another celebration day for Bengali's. People in other parts of my country worship Goddess Lakshmi on the day of Diwali but for Bengali's its celebrated on the seventh day after Durga Puja.  This day is also known as 'Kojagori Lakshmi Pujo'. On a full moon night or 'purnima' the Goddess of wealth and prosperity is worshipped by the women folk.

On the day women fast the entire day. During the day, women do all the arrangements of the pujo. Various sweets dishes are prepared on this day. Another integral part of this festival is 'rangoli' or 'alpona'. There are lot of women who expertise in drawing this on the floor of their houses. Usually women use flour or rice paste diluted with water. There is a reason behind that. Earlier people never had access to fancy colors, they used these and the floors used to look bright. Moreover it is still super easy to clean. These days markets are flooded with colors and designs but still there are thousands of women who use this home made paste.

Flash forward, i am still fasting, yes i am. But the house has to keep  moving if not running. I am unable to run today but yes making sure everyone's needs are fulfilled. I have lots of preparations to complete now. The morning started a few minutes late today and since then i am moving too. Sensing it's a different day today my S insisted on repeating his lunch idea from yesterday. He liked his soya bean rice yesterday and was quite generous with his compliments too. I happily obliged as i was looking for some options too. The snack box was usual with fruits and cheese.

I rushed to the market to get fruits and necessities for the Pujo and now will start with the preparations. I sincerely pray that the Goddess will visit this part of the earth and my home and bless us. Fasting is always optional and i have been doing that for years but every tear it seems to be a new challenge especially with the kids. Let's see how the Goddess streamlines the day. Happy Lakshmi Pujo to everyone celebrating.

Tiffin Tales 36

Hola...

Welcome to a new Monday. New day, new promises, new challenges and of course a new you. No matter we might feel nothing around has changed yet, a new day brings with itself everything new.

This week is looks pretty hectic to me. Lots of things need to be taken care of  and oh yes, it's my S's birthday next week and i have tons to things to assemble. This excited mom has made some simple yet special plans to make that day a bit memorable.

Life rushes when we are busy running to make something memorable. It's those moments that go down the way to make the journey historic. We often think we are celebrating our child's birthday or of our kids but the way they look at things are completely different from how we perceive. With every birthday they are more developed than the last year, with upgraded thoughts and ideas and of course with umpteen number of questions. In my case the way of celebration is also opinionated. Children these days have their favorite cartoon characters and some of them want their party supplies to be based on those characters. Well, i have long back offered my apologies saying that i cannot run or walk that extra mile to get that exact character swirls or balloons or that Birthday badge. It will always be a nice small celebration which may not be grand but it will be sweet.

This year too i am not planning anything huge but our all time emphasis on the taste of the cake. Even though a Bengali, i feel my sweet tooth is somewhere hidden and occasionally pays a visit. So i will try to explore my neighborhood to find a nice, not overtly sweet cake. Yes, i can get his favorite character on the cake top too unless its an animal. When he was around three he insisted on Daniel the Tiger's face on the cake and i almost went berserk looking for a good baker who could bake such. I thing i took the vow shortly after that.

Well, let's see how things spice up this year. For today's lunch it was his all time Soya bean rice with some carrots. I at times try to replicate those soya nuggets with baby potatoes or minced meat balls, but as i said with every birthday wisdom and intelligence is quickly triumphing over mommy's trick. This mommy surely needs to buckle up. His snack is almost static with fruits and yoghurt.

More talk tomorrow. Take care and take rest....