Kids are growing up

In today's busy life, we are always on the run. Running for school, work, classes or social events .. that also means kids have to keep up and if they act up and don't comply, often times we loose patience and get angry. But then when you take some time and think about it, you realize they are only kids.. you cannot expect them to run with you all the time. They need to do things at their own pace and sometimes they need to do things their own way too.

When kids give hard time for certain things, I always say to myself, " It's a phase.. it will pass soon". Sometimes that helps.. Other times I loose it.

Kavya is now 7 and Ishaan is 4. Looking back, so many things have become easy now.. Kids are growing up.. and they are growing up fast. Often times, that makes our lives easier. Here are few things that have made me realize this..

• Brushing teeth used to be a big struggle with Ishaan, but he is much better now. He still has his days of push back, but its less and less.
• Kavya can take a shower and get dressed by herself. (However,  sometimes she does argue to wear different clothes than what I pick out - At times, I argue back and at other times, I let her win :) )
• Going out for dinner is so much easier - Recently, we had great experience going to Scramblz, Chaat cafe and In-N-Out. Both kids ate by themselves and did not create any mess or fuss. It was indeed a memorable change.
• Kavya eats by herself all the time now.. even the Indian meal (rotli-daal-bhaat-shaak). Ishaan still needs help with certain items, but does eat on his own at least 50% of the time. Best part is breakfast - after getting ready, both kids run downstairs and eat their milk and cheerios all by themselves..
• Kavya and Ishaan are playing together more often. With Ishaan growing up a little, there are more things that they are able to agree on and play together. The other day, they arranged all of Ishaan's cars and trucks to form 2 teams and setup bad guys Vs the good guys fight. Kavya also tries to please Ishaan more often than not -she perhaps does not like to hear him cry since he can be very annoying when he does that :). They do have their fair share of fights - both physical and verbal.. but that's only normal.
• They have both outgrown TV shows like Dora and Caillou. Ishaan's favorite is "Chuck and friends" and Kavya enjoys "Phineas and Ferb" and "Good luck, Charlie"
• Kavya has become very matured and understands things. She can also manipulate Ishaan to do things her way :). She is also fond of combing her hair and putting fancy clips all by herself.

.. and the list goes on. While I am happy, I am also afraid - I don't want them to grow up too fast..