This past weekend we drove up to my Aunt’s house in Westchester county, NY. Just as we hit the Tappanzee bridge, Tanay asked:

“Papa… is this the same bridge where Susan Murphy fought?”

“No, Tanay. That was the Golden Gate bridge”.

I have never felt so dumb in my whole life. I tried & tried to remember if I had come across a Susan Murphy in any of the history lessons I did at school. Gosh… I better read up on American history, I thought to myself. At the same time, I made a mental note to thank his teachers for talking about such stuff in their Pre-K class.

Unable to place this valiant fighter, I sheepishly asked Shubham,

“Ummm… who is Susan Murphy?”

“Mommy! It’s GINORMICA… from Monsters v/s Aliens!”

Dear Tanay,

You are FIVE years old today!! I don’t know if you realise this, but, this is HUGE! I have been trying to digest this for the past week or so and seriously, I am yet to come to terms with it. I cannot believe it! I mean.. when did you get so big?! Wasn’t it just yesterday that you were my cute little two and a half year screaming out his A to Z of dinosaurs?! And now you are this handsome little boy who, when Shubham is away, tells me that he is the man of the house and will take care of me! The only thing that hasn’t changed is your crazy hair, but then again, let’s face it, that’s never going to change…EVER!

March 19, 2010 06:21 am, Happy Birthday Tanay!

So, a VERY VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Minju! (yeah… you are probably going to hate me for blurting out this name on the internet. So, sorry in advance.) You are the most wonderful son a mother could ask for. You give me so much of joy every single day that I cannot even put it in words. Especially this past year… you have amazed me with your understanding and love. This year has been hard for all of us. But mostly for you. On one hand you were delighted to have Dhruv as your baby brother, but on the other, you were suddenly forced to take the back seat. I cannot even imagine how difficult that must have been for you. From being the center of attention to having to share the spotlight. But I have to admit… you did awesome!! I seriously did not expect you to handle the situation with so much maturity. From the time, i dropped you off at Aditi Aunty’s house while we went on to the hospital.. to this day… you amaze me and I have come to respect you for that.

I also owe you an apology. In the last few months, I realise that we haven’t really gotten to spend much time together. You know.. some good ol’e one-on-one fun time. And I feel terrible about that. I miss our time together and I promise that I am going to fix that.

You are learning so many new things. There’s karate… and soccer … and your drumming! You have declared on more than one occasion that, when you grow up you want to be a Jazz Drummer! Of course there was the time when you announced one morning, over a cup of milk, that your ambition was to become a vampire and then you proceeded to gulp down the milk, pretending that it was blood! ugh..SHUDDER! You have no idea how happy & relieved I am that you have given up on that. (Atleast that’s what I think.)

I love watching you get excited when you learn new stuff. It makes me realise how much you are growing. I only wish I could protect you from the disappointments that come alongwith it. Just the other day, you walked out of your karate class, head hung low because you did not get a magic marble (given for good work).

“Mommy…did I do a good job???

Mommy.. are you happy with me?? ”

“Yes..Tanay.. I am very happy… you did awesome!”

“But then…why did I not get a magic marble?”

I cannot get that look on your face out of my mind. I just wanted to bury you in my arms and protect you from all this. I didn’t want you to go through this… not at this age! Hell! when I was five, I probably didn’t even know what karate was! You are my baby and I cannot bear to see pain on your face….especially the kind that cannot be fixed with Tylenol.

I know this post has gotten completely out of hand. Hands down the most sappiest one I have ever written. But since I am on a roll, let me just say one more thing. I love you and I am insanely proud of you! I am glad that you are my son!

Have a Rocking birthday!! mmmwaaah!

Love

Mommy

It wasn’t very long ago that Tanay actually believed that his mother was an alien. A few days ago, I overheard him telling Shubham….

“Papa…. I know the truth! Momma is always lying. She doesn’t have eyes at the back of her head. She can’t see everything. Come…. let’s eat one more Oreo! teeheeeee”

There goes my “nothing is ever hidden from your mom” strategy. Oh..well… I will come up with something else. Suggestions are welcome.