Jakie’s world turned upside down & it happened the day he visited the groomer. Julie, who walked the dogs, had always assumed that Jakie was a miniature poodle, at least he had poodle hair & the owners got him a poodle cut. But the groomer pulled Jakie’s ear back, & while Jakie was a trembling mess & moaning piteously, the groomer quietly stated that Jakie was some kind of a poodle mix – a mutt. Horrified Julie texted the owner, while the seven year old said that a DNA testing would clear all doubts, and Benita the nanny said that some poodles were poodles but looked different from other poodles. Julie waited anxiously for a text from Jakie’s owner.

The text did come. Jakie was indeed a mutt, a lovable half - breed Cockapoo – a cocker spaniel & poodle mix. And that is why he “pees” just everywhere, no poodle would ever do that, Julie said.

But Jakie was all bounce & a happy mass of fluff because he was done at the groomers for the day.

#mutts #mixed breeds #dogs

Breaking Lucy's heart

Lucy Pooh was about to bring home game last evening. We were horrified to see her proudly holding a tiny & limp baby rabbit in her jaws when we opened the kitchen door to let her in.

Little Lucy went to a corner in the kitchen and curled up with paws covering her eyes. Our 12 year old patiently explained that dogs were different from humans. (We were unaware of this fact!)Their instinct is to hunt. And if they bring in a game, it is with pride, and to expresses their devotion. They too are making a contribution in the family.

We had apparently broken Lucy's heart by not allowing her to bring the prize inside. Lucy was given a treat dipped in peanut butter and the baby rabbit was given a burial.

Too much of the "Power Rangers"

My 3 year old son is bit of a TV addict, mainly "Power Rangers".

To cut his TV time we tell him that his eyes are turning red after half an hour of TV, obviously an excuse to turn it off. We then ask him if he can see two cats balancing on the fence or two bunnies hopping in our backyard. Before his answer would always be in the negative, and we would step in, blame it all on the TV and turn it off.

Since last week he has caught on to our trick, and has been saying that he can see two cats, one black and the other white, walking on the fence! Today he added that two Easter bunnies were chasing each other.

We have to come up with some other tactic.

X generation.

Explanation for low grades!!

Historical background: One of our kids was not sent to either a nursery school or a Pre-K program. We speak a mix of English and our Indian dialect at home.

 I had an interesting conversation with her this morning. It was about a recent test. Being quizzed on why she got a 89 in English, she replied.

"You are lucky I got an 89, I did not even understand English in Kindergarten."

Hunger Games

Watched Hunger Games with the kids this evening to celebrate a birthday in the family. Intense. Loved it. Jennifer Lawrence was awesome.

Somehow the combo of a movie evening and dinner, manages to pull our family closer. Busy in our different worlds of school, work, being a mom, running errands, we drift away from each other during the week. Weekends draw us within the circle. TGIF. Cheers for Saturday and Sunday.

"Goodnight Moon"

The pups are in their beds. They sleep through the night, snoring gently and guard the house in the morning. Not a soul can pass in peace.

The girls are done for the day, they drifteded off the moment they hit the beds. No more texting or computers till early morning. The little boy sleeps with a smile on his face and rumpled hair. He bid a sleepy adieu to the moon. I hope he dreams of fun things.

The house sleeps too! Goodnight:)

Career choice Gorilla

A three and a half year old announced that he is training to be a gorilla, banging chest, loopy jumps ......all the way. That was yesterday. Today he is a giraffe - last year's Halloween costume is the inspiration I guess. Few weeks back he alternated between a stegosaurus and the mighty Rex.