Last year I made a family slide show to celebrate my mother’s 60th Birthday. It shows pictures of her when she was just a little girl along with her brothers and parents. It then progresses to when she became a Sikh……then has a child (me)….and then becomes a grandmother (Narayan and charanjeet).
Be sure to also check out the first video that I made a few years ago for my papaji’s (Siri Vishnu Singh) 50th Birthday! You can watch that video here.
While we are on the topic of Sikhi and Youth…there is always the issue of how as a parent we can teach and give our children an experience of Sikhi. How to give something that is more than history and facts, but something much deeper that they can experience for them self? I for one am traveling this path as a parent and figuring this out as I go. My six year old son Narayan Singh is quite a kid. We sometimes joke and call him "Narayan Lion Singh" because he is very much like a lion in his personality. He wants to be the leader of the pack and doesn’t like to be told what to do. He is fast and strong. He always wants to do things on his own terms. He is full of energy and can be very aggressive at times. He also can sometimes react strongly to things and get emotional easily when something doesn’t go his way.
Every morning Charanjeet wakes up around 6:30am and one of the first things she always wants (aside from oatmeal) is to see her brother Narayan. She just says it over and over…"Narayan…Narayan… Narayan". I then set her down next to Narayan who sleeps on the top bunk bed, and she strokes his hair saying softly…."Narayan" over and over with a big smile full of happiness. Narayan then wakes up gives her a hug and they snuggle and smile at each other. I have to say, Charanjeet is the best person to wake up with. She does a much better job waking up Narayan than me. As a parent this is one of the things that I love seeing beautiful kids together expressing their love and affection. As I see them I know that in what will seem like an instant, they will be all grown up. At least I’ll have these pictures to remember them at this stage.
Here are a few pictures that I took just after the kids woke up.
Last night I was writing about Charanjeet talking and saying different things and this morning she was at it again talking away. I sometimes try to record her with a video camera….but as soon as she sees the camera she wants it, and starts saying "Baby" because she likes to look at the pictures on the camera or the video. So this time I got Narayan’s new little mp3 player which records audio and just walked around with her for about 20 minutes this morning. Here are two edited clips. Maybe I’m the only one that thinks they are cute because she is my daughter….but then again this blog is sort of a family journal and it will be interesting to look over the years of my family recorded on the internet. By the way…She just turned 18 months old.
Wahe Guru and Nitnem
In the morning when we do banis she always wants a nitnem. Here is one of the "Nitnem" encounters along with her cute "wah-hey-goodoo".
Various Talk
This is some different snippets of her saying things. Some of her common "expressions" are in this clip: Parantha!, Sikaboo (translation: Scooby doo)
Well I’m still here in Florida, however being in Orlando in the city is quite a different experience than being in Lake Wales Florida at the Winter Solstice Camp. This is probably the most crowded time to be in Orlando. We went out the other day to go to the mall and after hitting the mass crowds we are still recovering. We tried to lay low yesterday "recovering" from that outing. Going to amusement parks with huge crowds is so draining! Last year we went to the various Disney parks (Animal Kingdom, Epcott Center and Magic Kingdom) which was more than enough. Disney has it worked out to a science to grease as much money out of you as possible (taking full advantage of you being tired and having whiny sugared up kids). Now that I am here again this year and see the even larger crowds than last year I don’t want to go anywhere. Looking outside my room window I can see the crowds of people constantly streaming by and the cars jammed up trying to go somewhere. Well, it was worth it coming to this side of the country for Winter Solstice. That hit the spot. It was so relaxing and chilled out this year.
So, I’m a bit stuck in my room right now; Charanjeet isn’t feeling that good this morning so she is sleeping as I type here in the room. Narayan is going to go out with his grandfather to the driving range and maybe play some Golf. I guess it might be another dull day in sunny Orlando. It supposed to be about 82°F / 28°C today so it should be quite warm. Quite a contrast to back home where it is probably pretty cold and maybe snowy.
I’m already missing quiet little Espanola. This place (and most big cities) is Maya city! Living in a small town I sometimes forget how things are for the rest of Americans. It can be so sad looking around at the American consumerism and waste. It’s a constant trying to "look cool" and competition with everyone around. Who has the nicest car, cell phone, clothes, looks sexy..is the prettiest…etc..etc. It’s so shallow. People never seem to be satisfied with what they have and who they are. The sad part is that our society drives this craze. One of the benefits of living in Espanola is that you are not constantly hit up by this maya and the want to buy something. Life is a bit simpler since there are no malls, shopping centers (other than the evil Walmart). There isn’t much to do (city wise) other than sports, outdoors stuff and hanging out with friends. I suppose I am also in a different stage of life than many younger people, since I am married and have kids. Being in a city can fun for some time, but I prefer smaller places to live. For me living in a sangat of like minded people is most important. Check out this thought provoking video called "The Story of Stuff".
2008 is almost here and another year has whizzed by. At this rate I’ll be a grandfather before I know it and we’ll be taking vacations to mars. I’m looking forward to this next year…
Today was my day to help with the kids camp and I had a lot of fun doing all kinds of things with them. In the evening as we all were sitting around enjoying a nice hot cup of golden milk and listening to some jamming tunes at the "Yogi Tea Cafe", Narayan and I sat next to this very nice lady who was painting people’s faces. Narayan asked her to paint a Dragon on his face which she did beautifully….and then all the other kids wanted to get painted too. Here are some pictures from tonight with Narayan, Gurudev Singh and Prabhjot Singh.
In our tent getting ready to go to sleep. Narayan didn’t want to wash off the dragon.
Charanjeet is growing so much and copying everything we are saying. It’s soo much fun. Though she is also in a phase of screaming/crying quite a bit as a way to try to get what she wants.
The frown face that Charanjeet learned from her brother Narayan.
Waffles at Breakfast and Kiran Kaur (England) staying with us while visiting Espanola.
Charanjeet wanting me to read her the book “Goodnight Moon” …or as she says… “La Loon” (The moon in french).
First day of snow in Espanola and the kids are all dressed for the cold.
This past weekend we drove 5 hours up to Crested Butte, Colorado to celebrate the engagement of Arjan’s Sister Kelly and Milo. As always it was lots of fun. It’s so beautiful up in Colorado, so it’s always nice visiting there. Any of you with kids will know what I mean when I say traveling with kids is always a "Trip". It’s not like when you are single or without kids and can just do things at a whim. When you have kids it’s like preparing the battleship. Everything takes a long time.
I actually forgot to bring my camera with me, but Kelly let me use hers so I was able to take a few pictures..
At the top of the mountain on a trail with the horses.
This weekend we had a lot of fun. We went hiking in the mountains and got some good outdoor time.
The kids sleeping after a big game of soccer.
Well, Narayan is older now (6 yrs) and won’t let me get picture of him that often, so all the pictures these days seem to only be of Charanjeet Kaur.
Charanjeet is 15 months old and is running all over the place. She is a pretty smart kid and remembers lots of things. A few of her latest words that she says often are: Ek Ong Kaar, Kanga (the comb), Wazo ("bird" in french), Naris ("nose" in spanish). Whenever she sees a picture of one of the Guru’s she says "ekongar". She loves pictures so much. Also, whenever she sees a picture of a baby (or her brother), she get’s soo excited (bubbling with joy)!
One funny thing is that, no matter how much I try to have her call me "Papa" she always calls me "Mamma" (mother). So I guess I am momma #2. She knows me as papa….but she won’t call me by that name. I’ve started to get used to being Mamma. So, if you are with me and hear hear shouting for Momma then know it might be for me.
Morning Breakfast Smiles
Get MrSikhNet by Email
