THE TOONS AND ME!

I actually didn’t know what my first post of 2011 would be. 2010 was lousy (let’s never talk about 2010 again!) and I wanted to start on a happy note. And what’s happier than Tom & Jerry…yes, the cartoon! As a young girl I was so in awe of them that I believed they existed in some part of the world. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I remember stating “Jerry is cuter; I would like to be Jerry when I grow up”. Well, that didn’t happen but they still have a lot of significance in life.

I mean, I have learnt a lot…well yes, fun life lessons. Why do you think they even make cartoons…as children there is no better way to learn things than visual humor and as adults…well that’s another story; by the time we are adults we become way more intractable than kids…  

So what did cartoons teach me? Here are my favorites

Tom & Jerry taught me that we can find our closest friend in the most unexpected person ever. A cat and a mouse, who would have thought….they fight, beat up each other, plan “executions”, stay cross but at the end they make up and move on.

Another important thing….you might be beaten, bruised, crushed to pieces, banged flat against the door, thrown into the garbage can, kicked out of the house but it shouldn’t take you long enough to “get up and get going”. Just shake yourself up, be alert and run after your “nemesis”!

Another of my favorites is Garfield. That lazy, obese, pessimistic little cat teaches you what the “real world” is all about. He pushes all those dreamy details of a fairy like, naïve ideas about life and teaches you to be a little sarcastic, a little nasty…. A little bit of sour never hurts! And the orange, fuzzy cat is so adorable!

My current favorite is Simpsons…And even though he might be indolent, clumsy and a little rude, he is completely devoted to his family… and his wife still loves him (my dad’s words!)

So next time while watching a cartoon (adults, too)…let the child in you learn!

So what does your favorite cartoon teach you? 

HAPPY OLD YEAR!

Come December and the pessimist in me gets into the super active mode. The year is ending and so are my hopes of keeping up to promises I made (to myself mostly). Promises and plans that include resolutions change of habits, commitments to family and friends, weight loss regimes, promises of being a better, refined and different being. I mean, who keeps resolutions....they are for the weak and I was too strong to give in to that pressure the first eleven months.

So tired of evaluation and re-evaluation and feeling low, I decided to change the whole pattern of looking at the month of December. Instead of Happy New Year and going through the trouble of “planning ahead” I decided to take my own course and have a celebration of my own.  And I named it “Happy Old Year”.

This is how it works, no matter how miserable the year has been I will end it on a happy note. I will do things I like and enjoy, not caring whether they fit into my plan of action.

So this December I got a hold of a bestseller that I have been planning to read since January 2010 and actually finished it within a week! That was week one.

Week two and three saw me travelling, not something extravagant, just a change of city. That plan included visiting all the touristy places, doing all the touristy things, eating to all heart’s content (not necessarily heart harming). And yes, laptop doesn’t figure in the plans of Happy Old Year. That makes Happy Old Year real angry.

As for the last week, that has me winding up the year, a little sour, a little sweet but at least I am ending happy. The sweet taste lingers and as for the New Year.... I will take it as it comes. There’s always a next December!

So how are you celebrating Happy Old Year?

WHY BABIES ARE BETTER...

The last month saw me take upon a very daunting yet much awaited job of babysitting my sisters’ kids. Now I say daunting because of many reasons – they are two of them aged 4 and 3, they live miles and miles away from me so it might take them time to “like” me and so on. And I say much awaited because of many reasons – they are most adorable beings I have ever laid my eyes on, they call me “little aunt” which makes me feel young and they are just the best.


Though I may take on my ordeal later on, the foremost thing I learned from the job bestowed on me was babies are better than us big ones!
Now disagree all you want, but I give you 3 good reasons for my conclusion:


1. They love you just the way you are
You don’t need to dress up for babies, you don’t need to put on makeup, you don’t need to be all intelligent, well read, aware of current issues, technology savvy. You just have to be fun, capable of having a good time and enjoy their games as if you were that age and they are happy! All that my 4 year old nephew wanted out of me was to be fun at barbeque and the 3 year angelic niece wanted a good push on the swings.


2. They don’t lie about important things
Yes, they may “lie” about not being hungry and not being sleepy and all but they would never lie about the “important” things like where they were, who they were talking to, who their friends are, what they do with their friends.


3. They like the simple things in life
They aren’t about Blackberry, Apple, IPods, Ferraris, Porsches, CK, DKNY or similar. All they go “crazy” about is ice creams, chocolate and crayons. My nephew niece would just crave for a Baskin Robbins to get over their “blues”, that would be their indulgent shopping!


Now this may not something everyone agrees with, but this was so true in my case and all I hope now is that I get more of this babysitting opportunities so that I pamper them a lot more and I keep being the lovable aunt to the two of the most fabulous kids ever…Amen!!!