That my boy has settled down at his school and well-adjusted to his routine has knocked one worry off my list. On day 1, it was alarming to see my little boy with a dangling satchel in tow, trudge almost half-a-mile from the school gate, cross the tiny little bridge in his campus and climb a flight of stairs to reach his class on his own. For a mother who has him chaperoned even at the play swing, this was akin to seeing him take-off on his first space mission. Its a different story how we actually followed him on the pretext of talking to his teacher, hovered near his class, pretended to be busy on the phone when some teacher passed by and stalked his return van journey for a week. Its with some conviction I can say that we have also managed to settle down. Today, two months down the line, its a matter of pride when Avyukt returns home with a skip in his step and a new tale to tell.
First week, he was full of stories of the 'brown boy'. "Who is this brown-boy, Avy? Is he your friend?" "No. Brown boy sits next to me."
"What's his name?" Thinks hard for some time and says exasperatedly "Brown boy, mamma." Makes a poker face and says, "He looks like this no? He only is brown-boy" I pretend I understand him.
Friday he returns to say "Mamma, I pulled the jhuttu (ponytail) of Khushita" Worried I asked, "But why??" "She follows me everywhere, mamma. And today she went ahead of me in the play slide"
Huh uh! Is this supposed to mark the birth of the proverbial male ego? I tried to explain to my best how such behaviour won't fetch him any friends. Alas! He seemed defiant when it came to Khushita going ahead of him.
The other day he proclaimed the moment he jumped off his van, "Mamma, you know Veer is a boy!" Okay. A minute later, he continues in a higher octave, (Maybe he did not get the reaction he was expecting from me) "Mamma, mammma, Veer is a BOY!" "Oh! thats wonderful sweetheart. Er, how did you know?" and braced myself for an answer. Smugly he replied "Dhruv told me."
A week back Avy comes running late in the night, "Mamma, papa is telling all bad words." Giving an accusatory glance at his dad I ask, "What did papa tell, dear?" "Papa saying, go to bed" :|
Last evening Avyukt was busy with his "dip & dab" painting session at the dining table and in the process knocked a few items to the floor. Hubby reprimanded him telling he needed to be more careful or could end up hurting himself. Seeing Avy upset he tried to lighten the situation with a mock cry and pretended to imitate him. Mishearing Avyukt muttering to himself, hubby came down harsh on him again and said - Avyukt! No using bad words. How dare you say "bloody fellow?" Blah Blah..
Avyukt looks up perplexed at his dad and meekly says, "I said baby-fellow, papa. You crying like baby" Hubby looks sheepishly at me and tries to slink away. My smile wanes, as I hear Avy retrospectively muttering - "bleedy feelowh?"
Sigh!
As I write this, I hear him trying to convince his grandmom that he is a *real* doctor and he needs to operate her eye. He is upset she keeps cowering from him and wants her to keep her eye open as he operates on her with a bottle-opener and some Johnson Baby cream!
We are only a month away from welcoming Avy's sibling to our warm fuzzy world and I am filled with excitement, wonder, and worries of the days ahead. Please wish us luck.
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