Hero

MC: Appa is your hero, isn’t it, Kevin?  Amma is not your hero, right?

Kevin: Amma not hero.  Amma zero.

MC & me: ???????

MC: If Amma is zero, what are you?

Kevin: I am seven.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don’t ask what it means.

Dear Mr. Murphy

Thank you...

for blocking internet when there is time and ideas
for blocking ideas when there is internet and time
for blocking time when there are ideas and internet
for blocking internet when there is time and ideas
...
..
.

I admire your dedication!

Söckchen 08

Sleighing followed by a cup of hot chocolate with cream. Hmmmm......

Söckchen 07

Christmas story and popcorn.

Söckchen 01

A Söckchenkalender is what they have as the Adventskalender at the Kita. Each sock has a chit with the craft/activity for the day.

We missed the first day due to fever. So, no idea what happened on day 1. :(

Adventskalender

Here in Germany, there is a tradition of using the Adventskalender to count the days in anticipation of Christmas (please read Wiki.. I am too lazy to explain)... again something I was missing like hell over the past 20+ years.

When we were kids, the calendars usually came with small pieces of chocolate in Winter/Christmas-related shapes like Santa Claus, angel, snowman, star, apple etc behind the 24 windows. Now-a-days these have been commercialised so much that I feel that the beauty is lost. They contain Lego toys, little ponys and accessories, big Kinder chocolates etc. A small piece of chocolate to sweeten and shorten the wait time is fine. But toys everyday? Sorry, but I am a Taurean. So I need to object to these kind of changes. And I really don't think that it's good.

To confess, I didn't buy a calendar this year. I didn't want to buy one with chocolate/Lego and all those with little pictures behind the windows were already sold out. Aha! So there are people out there who prefer the old fashioned ones. To compensate for the lack of a calendar at home, they have one at the Kita, where, to my surprise, the daily surprises are healthy ones. That is why I thought that I should record it. Here starts the 'Advent 2010' series. Enjoy! :)

Priorities

What's usually written on cigarette packets:

"Smoking is injurious to health / Smoking can be deadly"

What's written on a pack of cigarettes from Turkey:

"Please be aware that smoking can impact your sperm count and fertility"

!!!!!!!

Priorities, I say.

The bus to Frankfurt and then some

Before 13th September

Me: Kevin, when someone asks you 'Wie alt bist du?' (How old are you?), you have to answer 'Zwei' (two).
Kev: Ok

And dude started practicing 'Wie alt bist du?' 'Zwei', 'Wie alt bist du?' 'Zwei', 'Wie alt bist du?' 'Zwei'...

***

After 13th September

Me: Kevin, now you are 'drei' (three). So, when someone asks 'Wie alt bist du?', you say 'Drei'.
Again he started practicing and suddenly asked: Mama, wie alt bist du?
Me: Dreißig (Thirty)
Kev (horrified): But you can't be dreißig, Mama. Dreißig is the bus that goes to Frankfurt!
ME: !!!

========================================================

'Kevin, what did you have for lunch today', asks Mama, who despite the weekly menu being published at the KG wants to hear it from the offspring's mouth.
Kevin: 'hmmmmmmmm......'

*thinking........*
*thinking......*
*thinking....*
*thinking..*
*thinking*

'Lunch!'

"Laterne, Laterne

Sonne, Mond und Sterne..."

So beautifully did they sing, the little ones. It was a real feast for the ears as well as the eyes. For me, again something after a gap of 21 years and for Kevin something to add to his box of childhood memories. I know that I am asking for too much when I expect him to remember things that happened at the age of 3. But you never know. I still have flashes of some incidents, though I can't call them memories. But I digress.

To begin from the beginning.. let's get back to reality. The first para is how I would have liked to describe the evening. But things were not supposed to turn out that well. The weather was horrible (read rain and wind) and Kevin was cranky. The moment we stepped out of the KG to join the Martinszug, Kevin decided that it was time to go home. Of course, being as stubborn as the offspring, Mama didn't give in and son had to follow suit. It was raining cats and dogs. The wind was blowing heavily and by the time we reached back at the KG, everyone was shivering and the laterns were almost drenched, if not destroyed.

The rest of the evening was spent inside the class rooms. Everyone enjoyed the snacks and the warm drinks were most welcome. I seriously hope that next 11th Nov will be more co-operative. For now I leave you with a picture of the St. Martin's day specials.

Prepare for Christmas

says Babyworld as of 11th Nov. It's more than a month to Christmas and most of the shops have already started selling chocolate and porcelain Santas.

I lifted this pic from a friend's mob-uploads on FB. It was too cute to resist. :D

I was really shocked when I saw the first Santas for the year, which was way back in..... October!!! I am just waiting for the day when we start celebrating New Year with Easter eggs. :P