I am judgmental about certain stuff and one of them is addiction seen in little kids – to princess, fairy, Dora, and everything else of that genre. It is quite scary/upsetting for me to see little children seriously hooked on to these. I know at some stage it is inevitable and my little girl will end up addicted to one or the other but I seriously hope the day never comes.

I have tried my hardest to stop exposing her to these. I try to limit calling her “my princess”. No cartoons on TV however easy it might make my life. Just imagine how much easier life will be if she sits down for 10 minutes while I do the dishes or grab a bite to eat with Dora as a baby sitter. But I am really scared to get her hooked on too young.

I have been good in not picking up toys/food/other baby gear sporting famous characters. I try and as I said it is probably a wasted battle. Addiction comes from peers and fades as quickly as the next. But I hear kids say, I will talk to xyz after Dora or stuff like I am busy do not disurb me when watching TV gives me hebe jebes.

But slowly but surely Dora has entered our home – a ball, an inflatable, a guitar – come on toy makers quit promoting these stuff. Scooby Do is also in residence. Kuttyma is still not sure who/what Dora is I refuse to mention the D name in front of her – instead I say “the girl” and let her play with her inflatable Dora but the day is not too far and can you tell I am scared – Scared of the mighty Dora invasion?

In my new avatar as a mother, I have realized some crazy things I do – the things that make children roll their eyes at their mothers. Oh well what can I say, motherhood brings out the worst (or is it the best) in me

- Talking to a non-existent person

I am so used to traveling with kuttyma in the car these days and on those rare occasions I go out by myself, I talk to her. I tell her (!) that we are at the red light blah blah blah… It is quite a few minutes before I realize that I am traveling alone – all by myself and I really do not have to give a running commentary of Houston roads.

- Hearing phantom sounds

A lil cute ghost wearing bells on her feet resides firmly in my heart and I swear I can hear kuttyma’s anklet bells jingle over and above the sound of the radio in my car even when she is not there. Sigh! I bet kuttyma would be rolling her eyes when she hears/sees this

- Shopping cart or Stroller

The stroller is my new best friend. I go out with it. I push it up and down the streets of Houston, through crowded aisles at the store and everywhere else. On those occasions I make a run to the grocery store and grab a shopping cart – I have been known to keep rocking the cart (move it forward and backward) while browsing (I do it with the stroller so that kuttyma has a feeling that we are moving and we have not stopped. I have seen a lot of moms do this). I realize what I am doing and stop myself and do it all over again at the next aisle when I am looking for some other stuff.

I am sure I do more stuff. I just need to watch myself. Most of the times, I do not realize what I am doing. They come so naturally!

In these 6 months I have learned,

- what “melt-your-heart-smiles” mean

-what “breaking your heart” means

-what feeling helpless means

-what “wanting the best” means

-what sleep deprivation means

-what blind trust is

-what it takes to try not to break that blind trust…

and much much more

Thanks kuttyma for the 6 months of education and here is wishing us more as we travel down together.