Saturday Sum-up

Saturday morning, took my EO and the Nephew for a haircut. Now, personality-wise, these two little buys are absolute opposites of each other. The Nephew is smart, brave, sombre and takes his time to get to know people and open up. My EO is smart, sensitive, friendly and the biggest chatterbox that ever lived. So while they we're getting their haircuts, the reactions from the two corners of the salon were diametric opposites. From one corner, there wasn't even so much as an 'Ow!', where as from the other corner, there was a non-stop ramble of estimated amount of time for haircut, ears hurting, nose itching, family member, toys...phew! I got exhausted just listening to them. After they were done, they were both given some toffees and I asked them to sit inside, not run amok, eat the toffees and wait while I got my eyebrows done. So there I was, eyes closed, fingers holding eyelid firmly in place, enduring one of the fortnightly tortures of womanhood, but I could, of course, hear the EO's loud tones drifting my way. The beauticians who were sitting around, decided to entertain themselves by chatting with the two shorn spring chickens. The Nephew was monosyllabic at best, but that didn't matter much since the EO jabbered enough for the whole khaandaan.

Now, the EO loves to tell the whole world and her sister that the Nephew is his 'boro dada' (big elder brother) and goes around introducing him as such too. Now, this must have come up in the conversation and one of the ladies must have asked him something about the 'younger brother at home' (this is my regular salon; they know me, my MIL and SIL here well). So my boy, my chirpy little chatterbox goes on to explain helpfully, "O aamaar maa-yer chchele noi." (He is not my mother's son).

I am lucky my eyebrows aren't messed up.
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Took the EO and the Nephew to South City for a while, where I dumped them in the play area for an hour, while I took Maa-Janoni a Mamu of mine for a quick shopping trip. Have you guys tried a warm, fat chewey choco-chip cookie from CookieMan? Oh please to do so! You have no idea what kind of heaven you are denying yourself! I promise that it will be a regular feature of all my trips to South City from now on!
After I picked the boys up from Timbuktu (no, seriously, that's what the place is called :) !!), I took them to Starmark where they both pounced upon a rubbery snake! Being in a particularly softy mood, I bought one each for the two of them. The snake impersonations started immediately!
We came back home and found that BIL-ly Boy and SIL had returned from the Big School with the boys' books! What a huge mountain of...!!! Our boys have to take this stuff to school! Won't their backs break! Then the SIL and I started going through their text books. I am afraid, so very, VERY afraid! Not so much for my son, but for ME!!! My peaceful evenings are going to change sooner than I want them too!
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The MIM and I took our boys and the Nephew out for an eventful, Saturday evening drive. We went to the maidan for a tonga ride. A tonga came upto us and stopped and while we were clambouring on, one of the horses chose that precise moment to relieve itself...much to the fascination and amusement of three very curious little boys. Sigh! I knew what lay in store for me! Susu comparisons and susu-laden conversations!
There was a pleasant breeze and I had the wonderful company of three of my most favourite boys in the world. (The MIM opted out of the tonga ride since he had to stay with the car). While the Nephew is silent around people in general, with his cousin, he's a different little boy altogether, matching my EO almost word for word. And the imaginary world of children is such a fantastic place. Whenever their imagination comes to the fore, I take a backseat and just enjoy the priveledge of being allowed a glimpse and at times, even an entry into their special worlds. They pointed to various clumps of trees and dubbed them 'forests', spoke about 'driving helicopters' and defeating the fire-breathing dragons that dwelled there and described other such heroic activities. What a memorable ride!
After that, the EO and the Nephew went for a horse ride. The MIM started by trotting off after them at first, but when the horses broke first into a canter and then a gallop, he wisely decided to come and stand next to the YO and me, and enjoy the view. The Maidan is really a gorgeous place. My favourite part is the dancing water fountain. Watching it never fails to lift my spirits. It's no wonder that this part of the city is referred to as "Kolkata's Lungs". So whenever I read about certain ministers in the state government wanting to take over it, it fills my heart with fear and dread! May it never, EVER happen.
My thoughts were suddenly broken by the loud, joyous laughter of my EO. The horses he and the Nephew were riding had broken into a fast gallop and they were revelling in it. After the ride, the horses cantered back to us and it was photo time. We put the YO in front of the EO and took snaps. The attendant said he could take both the boys together for a small round. The MIM got very nervous, but I didn't think it was a bad idea at all. So as the MIM started walking after them, yelling out instrucions (I married a hyper man, what to do?) I just stood there, enjoying the sight of my baby enjoying his first ever horse ride!
After ballooons had been bought, burst and lost, it was time for ice cream and a drive around Victoria Memorial. We stopped at Cakes and bought some yum pastries and savories for the family.

Quite a delicious Saturday, I must say!