…..this is just in the past month. Sure more are to come up in the near future 🙂

Thing 1 – I am taking short video clips of Chula and Mieja playing using my digital camera. Chula suddenly walks to position herself behind the camera.

Chula: Amma, where is Chula?
Me: Right here. (Pointing to her)
Chula: No. Where is Chula(Pointing to the camera’s display). I want to see Chula.
Me: If you are here(pointing behind the camera), you cannot see yourself here(pointing to display)

**Chula is confused.**

Me: OK, if you need to be seen (in the display) you need to stand in front on the camera.

Chula walks to the front of the camera and demands the camera to be turned 180 degree and show her in the display.

Well…that explanation was a disaster. Any one in same situation and done a better job?

Thing 2: She is now in to the gender labeling phase. She barely knows that there are two sexes – male and female. Barely because she knows the social construct of gender, what society wants a gender to be. She has no clue about the biological classification. (Interesting that she got the social generalization even before the biological universality. Okay digression alert..!) She kind of knows that only living objects can be male or female – it is the case in both the languages (English and Tamil) she is used to. But her perception of female is long hair and beautiful. So she looks at a lion with all his mane and splendor and yells, ‘Amma lion’. She thinks a peacock is a girl and peahen is a boy. When I try to explain she firmly says, ‘No this is amma(pointing to lion/peacock), this is appa(pointing to lioness/peahen)’ and walks away signaling that the topic is closed. In the same lines she thinks that her sardar classmate’s father is the boys mother. Every time the father walks in to the classroom to pick up his son, she runs to him with the welcome slogan, ‘Hello A’s mommieeee….’ and does the courtesy of announcing to A that his ‘mommy’ is here. Of course, I am all red and embarrassed! At home, all explanations about A’s mommy is actually his daddy is meted out with a firm, ‘That IS A’s mommy. A’s mommy has hair up just like you after you clean and wash your hair amma’.