Out of the Mouths of Babes

Of my many, and I have many, obsessions, measuring the passing of time is one of my "favourite" ones. It's a bittersweet obsession which originated with the untimely passing of my father. Since then, it was as if there is this clock inside of me that keeps going tick tock, tick tock, mocking me....counting the tiny grains of time that keep rushing by me.

Having survived cancer twice further reinforces this little obsession. Some life events are like a slap in the face with a big fat wet moustaching fish. Whack! There you go. Now go forth and embrace life, and be grateful and don't forget to be awesome! Tick tock, tick tock.

There are other ways that I mark the passing of time. And among them are collecting old photographs of bygone days, antique trinkets, collecting stories from before my time and journaling now for the future.

As Shabd has grown older I've realized that some moments, nay most moments I won't get back again, neither will he go back to that precious stage in his life again. So I recently started keeping a little shopping list and pencil handy on the kitchen counter so I could capture those unforgettable one liners! Allow me to share some snippets from the mouth of my little 3 year old babe!

"Mummy, can I have some privacy please. Can you close the door." - Shabd having a shower.

"I am strong like Hanuman! Jai Maan!" - explaining his extraordinary strength!

Shabd: "Papa, do you have fur?"
Papa: "No, I have hair."
Shabd: "Oh.....Okay."
Slight pause as he contemplates the answer.
Shabd: "Do you have whiskers?"
Papa: Trying to hold back the laughter, "No, I have a beard."
Shabd: "Oh.....Okayyy" as if he just had a lightbulb moment, "You have a beard."

Ah! A frustrated moment! Shabd was addressing me and he was plenty polite and plenty frustrated!
Shabd: "Mummy, please find my chookoo." (Pacifier).
Me: In a rush as usual, "Sorry Shabd, you need to look after your things. Go and look for it yourself. Where did you see it last? Go start looking there."
A rather annoyed looking toddler leaves the room only to return a few seconds later and tell me, "Mummy! I don't know where my chookoo is and you keep telling me to look for it!"

Upon observing his father trimming the mango tree in our garden that has grown quite unruly lately.
"Papa, please don't cut the tree, it will get hurt."
I wonder if all our tree hugging and watching The Lorax has made him into a little green warrior! Desh masa and Aunty Khadeeja will be so proud of the little activist!

One morning at the breakfast table Shabd picks up his cup of camomile tea and says, "I want to sit. I want to think for a moment." This is followed by total silence as he contemplates what I imagine must be the state of the trees being cut in our yard!

Upon discovering the tastes of French and Creole rolling in his mouth, "Hey Papa, la ice-cream ala melting!"

And my favourite as it sums up what a gentle old soul Shabd is, "I'm there for you Mummy. Don't be sad." My boy experiences the world with his heart. I must be doing something right! I'm blessed!

Blue Beaches & Jumping Castles & Peddle Boats

Some moments are just perfect. They are rare and beautiful. These moments are like pearls of joy, each unique in its imperfection. When these rare moments occur, like a pearl diver having dived deep into the depths of the dark ocean and having discovered my treasure, my fingers close tightly on these moments as I gently slip my pearl of joy into a velvet bag. At my own leisure, I will slowly take those perfect moments out and stare in wonderment at them, a small smile playing on my lips. These are my precious memories, my joys, my saving graces during trying times.

This weekend turned out to be one of those rare moments when time itself seemed to stand still. It was as if time itself did not want to intrude on our joys.

We woke up early Saturday morning and on whim decided to go swimming at the beach. I quickly whipped up a simple take-out breakfast of scrambled eggs, bread rolls and tea while Akash packed our beach basket and before you could say who-wants-to-build-sand-castles, we were off!

We ran into Akash's cousin Karuna and her parents at the beach, also there for a walk and swim. We joined their entourage with Karuna and Shabd leading the way! At some point, Shabd announced that he'd walked quite enough thank you and would now go for a swim!

We spent the morning sitting on the beach, sharing in each other's breakfasts. The company, the conversation, the perfect blue ocean and vast skies all came together as in a crescendo to a beautiful piece of music, it was just perfect and I loved every moment of our Saturday morning.

We never though we'd be able to do things like this, perhaps that's the problem, we never thought! Sometimes we allow life to pass us by...cause we're too busy waiting to for when things get better or when things slow down. It's not going to happen. It's up to us to slow down, wake up early, pack that basket and go to the seaside. Take your bucket and spade along, build a castle, squelch your toes in the sand, feel the crisp coolness of the water, look up at the vast sky, feel the warmth of the sun on your arms, hear the waves breaking, see the perfect joy in your son's eyes, feel his awe, his excitement, his pure childish bliss.

Today, we sat out on a quest to buy potting soil. About 6-8 months ago, Akash found at Flic-en-Flac and dug up some coconuts that's had started developing roots. This baby tree was cared for and it was finally time to transplant her to a more permanent home.

We found ourselves at a little nursery heaven not even 15 minutes drive from our house. The gardens were huge, the trees tall and inviting. While Akash busied himself with fulfilling his quest, Shabd was on a quest of his own...to get to the jumping castle he had spied on entering the nursery. So off we went!

Shabd is not usually a child that likes crowds so I was quite surprised when he kicked off his sandals and hopped onto the jumping castle despite there being another 5 other children already in it. As is his modus operandi, Shabd stood to one side and observed the crowd, then decided how he would navigate the jumping castle from there.

He quickly switched from English to French as soon as he heard only Creole being spoken. He imitated the bigger kids, quickly perfecting the art of bouncing and falling on his knees! And amazingly enough, though he was the smallest kid in that jumping castle, he held his own against all the other taller kids! Only vacating the castle when I implored on him to come have lunch!

After a rather rushed lunch, where everything was gobbled as quickly as possible, Shabd canon-balled back to the jumping castle for another round. He was in little kiddy heaven and I must admit, I was tempted to go in and join him on more than one occasion. Oh the pure abandon of jumping up high high high until you're so sure your fingertips can touch the perfect blue sky!

It was another perfect day. A day of glee and laughter and smiles and wonderment. A day of learning about jumping and landing and standing ones ground and making friends on a lark. A day of warm sunshine, and friendly smiles, and full tummies, and chocolaty lips and ice-creamy chins, and giddy laughs!