Spies, underwear and other pertinent details (Blog marathon post 4)

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"Mom, are you a spy?” was the question my seven year old (soon to be eight, as she insists) greeted me with when I picked her up from school today.

They have been learning about World War two and she impresses me with new facts most days. I did not know about Morrison shelters and Anderson shelters till she explained the whole thing to me with precise diagrams and sketches. After that of course I had to google it and I discovered she was absolutely right! (click on the coloured words if you want to know what they are)

She will even tell you about the Allied Forces and the role they played. She knows the years in which the war took place, how people used to take refuge in underground shelters and thanks to a good friend who sent me the whole 'Band of brothers' series, she has even seen some of the action, (The bits that were not too gory. I used my discretion) and is very interested and fascinated by the whole thing including how Hitler died and what life was like in 1940’s during War.

“Did you learn about spies today? What did you learn?” I asked her.

“Yes. I know all about spies. We saw a movie about it. Look ma,” she explained as if I was the seven year old, “Spies can look exactly like ordinary people. For example, you may look like Preeti Shenoy, you may dress like her and talk like her, you may even be her but you can also be a spy. So that is why I am asking you, are you a spy?”

“Hmmmm,” I said, “May be I am a spy.”

“Let me see,” she said thoughtfully. Then she tugged my hair gently and said it was my real hair and not a wig. So I reminded her that she had said that even if did not look it, I could still be a spy.

Then she said “You can never be a spy, ma”

“Why?” I asked, doing a quick mental comparsion of myself with Mata Hari.

“Because, spies don’t wash their babies underwear!” she exclaimed. (She refers to herself and her eleven year old brother as my babies, especially when she wants to get something out of me)

“And how do you know I wash your underwear?” I persisted.

“Simple.” she says “Otherwise it would stink.”

I smiled and of course did not lose a chance to hug her. Then I asked her “What do you think I do the whole day when you are at school, apart from washing your underwear?”

“You write books and do housework and cook and you think about us and papa and wait for us to come back.”

This one is going straight into my treasured mental memory storing chest where I file moments to remember.

It is lovely to learn new things. And it is not every day that you learn that real spies don’t wash their babies underwear! :-)


Ps: 1.To go to the game on Spies that my daughter played at her school today click here

2.On a completely different note (since more than three hundred visit me everyday) this same friend (who sent me the Band of Brothers series that I mention in this post ) is looking for a 3rd flatmate for a fully furnished, really nice, 8th floor, 3 bedroom apartment in Gurgaon, which has full power back up and is ready to move in. So in case anyone knows anyone knows anyone (you get the drift) looking for a place to move into, please contact me (ps @ preetisatish.com) and I shall mail you his number.

Comments

  1. Thats a gift for you from Purvi on this Mothers Day..!!Cherish it..:)
    Lovely post..!!

    G.

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  2. When you are spying you don't have time for clean underware.

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  3. clever girl!
    of course the obvious answer would be that spies can't have time to wash babies underwear!
    he he

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  4. Awwwww- give her a hug on my behalf! lovely post :)

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  5. That was a cute one :) give her a big hug from me too..

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  6. i love the way that girl thinks :)

    and isn't it fascinating that they are learning about spies and the like?
    i love listening to my son talk about his english classes..he's got a wonderful teacher who makes everything come so alive that i wish i was attending too :)

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  7. haha niice! u shud ask her wt she thinks spies would do if they were pretending to be Preeti Shenoy! now that shud be interesting!

    darn i wish i had a small kid around me somewhere!!!

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  8. This is just too cute for words. To be honest, I never thought about spies washing underwear. She might have a point there.
    I bought the Band of Brothers series for my husband one year and watched the first few with him. After he was deployed to the desert yet again I couldn't watch it again until he got out of the Air Force. I now had a visual of wars and bombings and being shot and so on and it scared me too much.

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  9. //You write books and do housework and cook and you think about us and papa and wait for us to come back.”
    //

    That was really a moment :)
    God bless ur family

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  10. Nice post...
    I loved the line... "you think about us ...."
    Very interesting theory on spies too...

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  11. So cute...tis is a lovely thought for Mother's Day :)


    Btw have you tried the various non-vegetable recipes suggested and did she eat them?

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  12. Aww... she is so cute.

    That is one reason I would never ever have come up with! She is one smart kid.

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  13. You know what, When I first saw ur daughter in the Pune Book Launch. My gut feel told me that she is the Hermione Granger of her class. After reading the posts about her I feel that my gut feel was quite right.

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  14. Anonymous12:19 PM

    Cho chweeeeeeet :D

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  15. wow..thats touching...you must be really very good to have such a sweet and cute and dear and....(am kind of running out of adjectives..just add them as much as u want..) daughter...say hi from me to her..

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  16. Anonymous12:58 PM

    awww....lovely post :)
    btw how old id she?

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  17. Awwwww...she is so cute! :)
    And oh so intelligent. Aren't you just lucky :p

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  18. I have been reading your blog for quite some time..and since i have started my own web-space, you have been blog-rolled:))
    You’ve been here in the blogging world for quite sometime…and a newbie like me would be very grateful if you give me your feedback on my blog. My blog is a record of my life as well as about sharing the things I love. And my blogging philosophy is that i write because I love it.Your feedback would be very valuable.
    visit my blog at www.myspacejyoti.blogspot.com

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  19. Jyoti: done :)

    Still thinking: :) She is my grandmother or my mother in law--i am convinced about that..you should see the way she ticks me off at times :)

    Partywithneha: She turns 8 on 21st of this month.

    Shantharam: Have spent a LOT of time nurturing them! :) Thanks!

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  20. Jyoti: done :)

    Still thinking: :) She is my grandmother or my mother in law--i am convinced about that..you should see the way she ticks me off at times :)

    Partywithneha: She turns 8 on 21st of this month.

    Shantharam: Have spent a LOT of time nurturing them! :) Thanks!

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  21. Ki: :) Thank u :)

    Prats: She is one little package for sure.

    Aathira: Guess all kids are! As adults we lose it.

    SMM: she loved the rice with ghee and aloo. She said to say thank you for all the non vegetable recipes.

    Siddarth: :) Actually i really dont think about them once they leave because i give them 200% when they are with me :P But yeah--sometimes i do.

    Srivats:Thank you!

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  22. awww that was so cute so damn cute

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  23. Geetha: thank you!

    Nessa: Disposable underwear is the solution! :)

    Only one: Do spies have babies? :P

    Shachi: Will gladly do! Thank u!

    Uj: of course i will! :)

    Suma: Lucky kids--my history teacher was so drab--yet i love History.

    Rayne: band of Brothers really moved me. So I can understand how hard it must have been for you to watch it when your husband was deployed in the Air Force.

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  24. Monika: Thank u :) U caught me in between replying to comments--and i visited u just now--cross visits :)

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  25. Hi Preethi, I have been following your blog for quite some time and love it absolutely. Loved your book too :-)
    Your daughter reminds me of my son, maybe beacuse both of them are 7. The other day he told his father that amma is beautiful, maybe she should act in movies (he is the only one who has thought so in all my almost 40 years of life). The reason was something quite interesting though - to make money to buy an Audi Q7!!

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  26. Spy??? What next??

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  27. Sumit: Spy who loves me ;-) Stay tuned :P

    Wanderlust: heh heh heh..Gosh--I can totally relate to your son!And my son also thinks I am the most beautiful woman in the world..We'll wait till they get married--they will be singing a different tune then :P

    Jyotiajay: My pleasure!

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  28. Mothers and SPIES....
    thin line difference...
    moms ask so many questions that one grows up and wonders...
    at least your lil one has her facts right... at the beginning

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  29. awesome!
    its amazing how much kids can teach... most importantly, to live.
    beautiful mama moment :-)

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  30. Lol, I gather your daughter's name is Purvi. She sounds adorable! And she knows more about world war than I ..err probably know even now :(

    When we were kids, me and my sis used to play "world war, world war" (yes, you have to say it twice. Golden rule in game naming conventions) , and always were german soldiers. Funny, we took that side, but the idea of a nation singlehandedly fighting almost the entire world was too romantic to resist. Ofcourse we hid in bunkers and shelters, before i would announce to my sister that this was a "realistic game" and we were on the losing side and we would have to die. Nishi din like us dying one bit, and even more so the fact that she died a dishonourable death (trampled by a tank - action and sunts performed by jumping on a cushion three feet away), whereas her elder brother died a martyr's death when he stormed into the enemy camp, to take revenge for his junior's death

    ;) sorry long comment, but "world war, world war" is my favourite topic in the world! Keep writing Preeti. :)

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  31. wow...she is so sweeeeetttt!!! Am becoming a major fan of her now;-)!! Her though process amazes me! whoo...and all about world war...she has a bundle of knowledge!! Hugs to her!!
    -Durga

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  32. What better way to celebrate Mother's Day than to dedicate an article on your daughter.I guess u kept the occasion in mind while writing this article...:)

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  33. deeply moved by the affection and the relation you share with your lil one These sweet memmories are more precious than the kohinoor .God bless you Maam Spy & her baby.

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  34. My daughter Annie is in year 2 and has also recently studied the Second World War..it's most disconcerting that she asked me what I did in the war (I was born 16 years after WW2!).

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  35. Niall: 16 years is still a long time!

    Rajashree: Thank you so much. God bless your family too.

    Sushobhan: Here in UK Mothers day was already celebrated in March.So honestly I had no clue.

    Durga: Told her you said that and she beamed :)

    Neeraj: How do you know my daughter's name? Are you a spy? nd these older brothers--horrible lot I tell you..Making poor youngr sisters listen to every damn thing they say! My son is the same :) But he protects her too. When I was growing up I longed to have an older brother.(Mine is younger to me) But after reading your comment glad I didn't.heh heh . World war ,world war is too good! Shall teach it to my kids! :) And pls don't apologise for long comments. They're nice :)

    Sucheta: thank you!

    Arjun: mom always know!:)

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  36. Ur daughter makes ur day with zilch effort....actually not even realizing it...Guess thats the speciality of children!

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  37. Anonymous1:34 PM

    Oh.... I am imagining Mata Hari washing babies underwear...

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  38. This is innocence...very cute :) this joys and imagination are price less ... loads of hugs to the "babies":)

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  39. I do feel kids are more lucky these days where they get to learn through creativity.

    The site is good, I even ended playing it :D

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