Trinidad, the place of my birth

For Cakes and Crunchy, and everyone else curious about growing up in Trinidad… and Tobago.

First let me say that Tobago is a small island of the coast of Trinidad (and Chowder… I don’t think there is too much animosity, although politics is clearly not my area of expertise), and it is the most beautiful place that I have ever been, not that I am so well-traveled or anything, but there is something very special about Tobago and as I covered before, I am a tad bit obsessed with water
The best thing about Tobago is called the Nylon Pool, and it’s a shallow bit of water that’s way out in the ocean! It’s totally amazing to me!

The Trinidad that I know and love only exists in my mind, the Trinidad of today is a much different place than when I grew up there, and it’s sad to say that I really don’t feel like it’s my home anymore.

My grandparents lived with us until I was about 11 years old, they had dogs, which were kept outside in ‘kennels’ and let out at night to serve and protect. While they were outside in the garden everyday taking care of the plants and fruit trees, my sister and I would play ‘tea party’ and other such girly games using coconut shells as pots, and flower petals as food!

We didn’t go to the beach every week because the beach was actually quite far from us and my mom really hated the beach! My uncle had a beach house on a tiny, tiny island off the coast of Trinidad and we did go there a couple times for the year, it was my most favorite place EVER! If I could choose to live anywhere, I would choose that tiny island, I loved it that much! There was a little boat that took us to the island, and once there we had to walk because cars weren’t allowed, but it was a beautiful, wonderful walk, up to the very top of a hill to get to the house. (Before you go planning any vacations… things are sadly not that lovely anymore)

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I went to a Hindu primary school, I believe because it was the school that the Indian kids went to! Oh, how I wish I was kidding about that! But sadly, 99% of the students were Indian, and 1% ‘other’, at least that’s how it was back in the ’80s when I was there. I was quite a dork in school, and had 1 friend for most of the years I spent there, although later in life some of those childhood classmates became my closest friends.

I went to an all girls Christian high school, because it was one of the best high schools at the time. The school was much like a prison… we had uniforms, a guard posted at the gate, a big fence around the whole property, and pretty strict policies and teachers! But it was still lots of fun! I was not popular at all in school, but my friends were great, in many ways I am the person I am because of these people. And although it’s a struggle to stay in touch, I still treasure the memories we shared.

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My family in Trinidad is huge! So huge that my grandma (mother’s mother) has about 35+ great grand children! It was wonderful having so many relatives, family gatherings were tons of fun. My sister and I were very close to our cousins, and since our parents were very protective of us, we were only allowed to lime (hang out) with our cousins! But, it was actually fine because it was a blast! I had the most “funnest” times of my life with them, and even now that most of us are married, and some of us have kids, if you get us all together, there is no stopping the laughter!

Disclaimer: none of this photos are mine, sorry I didn’t have time to look through all my photos… I will at some point though.

Officially 3, second edition

Funny thing about a second child… they are somehow always the odd one out! I don’t know how this happens but it seems like every time the other 2 are sleeping, this one is awake… while the other 2 are on either side of me, this one is on his own… while the other 2 manage to always get their way (especially the spoilt little baby), this one is forced to just go along with everything.

But still, even though he knows that he’s being treated unfairly, he’s the one with the most empathy.

Maybe now he is getting a little more possessive of his things, but if asked nicely, he will happily give up any of his toys to his brothers. He may be a tad bit more insolent than his brothers, but most of the time, he’ll lovingly oblige with “ok, I will”, in his really cute 3-year-old-manner-of-speaking.

This daddy’s boy is surely turning into a mama’s boy… reassuring me with his “I like you mommy”, almost all day long… I am sure he forces himself not to fall asleep at naptime so he can spend some alone time with me!

His personality is so much like mine, it’s almost scary! And I would like to believe it’s the reason he’s my husband’s favorite! Did I say favorite? I meant he’s the one that my husband thinks is capable of no wrong, and who should not ever be punished because everything he does is ‘sooooo cute!’

It’s amazing to me how much compassion he has in that tiny body… he will stop everything he’s doing to attend to his little brother when he cries… he will quickly forgive his older brother and even defend him, if we threaten disciplinary action… even if he was complaining about said brother 1 second earlier!

I love how he’s 3 now, and starting school soon, because he really wants to be a ‘big boy’, but I miss the baby, I do regret not having spent as much time with him as I did with the first one, I feel like when he’s needy and really demanding, it’s my fault for not giving him more attention, but I hope he’ll forgive me.

He’s a pretty awesome little 3 year old!

7 random things

I was tagged by Ann, who took piano for many years from a lady named Perky Tietze (haha) and Asiya, who I’m kinda jealous of because her favorite place is somewhere I can’t even pronounce… Chefchaouen in the Rif mountains in Morocco, where all the houses are painted cornflower blue… sounds amazing!

1) I really like water… much like my son, the hydromanic! I love beaches, pools, lakes, ponds, rivers… any kind of water, just love it! I find the sound of running water very relaxing, in fact so relaxing that (and I understand that what I am about to say is very un-GREEN of me, but you have to realize that being in a hospital for 2 months can make you kind of forget about the environment) I would just sit in the hospital shower for about an hour just letting the water run on me… it was my only escape!

2) My favorite kind of music is dancehall or dub as we call it, or more popularly characterized as reggae, although I don’t listen to it much anymore, it was quite an obsession during my teenage years! I occasionally still listen to ‘oldies’ when I work. I loved supercat... and of course Buju Banton, Beene Man and Sean Paul
It’s kind of funny talking about this, because it’s something that no one would ever guess about me!

3) I use the internet mostly for work (and blogging) and have only really played a game once with my husband over msn games! I don’t surf much, but I have been to so many websites that my husband and I heard a commercial on the radio (about 4 years ago) for some random website and he said “Have you been to that one to?” And surprisingly I had!
I’m surely out of the loop now though!

4) When I was about 16 years old in high school in Trinidad, one of my best friends and I decided we really needed a car… that we would share between us… so we decided to make a popular Trinidadian ‘thing to eat’ called mango chow and sell it to our classmates! This still makes me laugh! We sold it for $1 per bag and hoped that we could make enough money to buy a $10,000-ish ($1600 US) car! We sold the chow for 2 days I think, and then gave up our dream!

5) I don’t iron clothes! Ever!

6) I have at least 10 ideas per day, and when my husband hears the words “I have an idea”, he literally groans!

7) I am afraid of the dark… well, maybe not afraid, but I don’t like the dark and my husband and I often have fights over the corridor lights, which he things should be off at all times, and not because of environmental reasons! I think that the corridor light is a good light to keep on because we do have small kids and I hate waking up to a screaming kid and being in complete darkness!

I’m tagging JJ, Faryal, and irene

Six favorite toddler books

Suroor tagged me with a really great meme for parents of small kids… great because it is just so much fun exploring everyone else’s lists! And because I really love children’s books! Seriously! If I were not a web developer, I would be a children’s book author (if I was better at writing and of course, this comes after being a maker of bags)

In no particular order…

• 
  If You Give A Pig A Pancake
  All boys (4, 3, 1) love this book, I am not sure what they love about it, but if they are like me then it must be the illustrations! It’s a really fun book to read.
  
  
• 
  Duck & Goose
  A favorite of the 3 year old, he loves that the egg is really a ‘ball’, and he loves when I use all my different voices to ‘act’ out the conversations and arguments between the duck and the goose! Another fun one!
  
  


• 
  Spot’s Giant Treasury
  Spot and his friends have a bunch of adventures in this book. It’s pretty long to read the entire book all at once… for me at least, but I just read a few stories at a time, and I don’t choose this as a bedtime book, instead it’s one I read if I need them to remain calm for a few minutes during the day!
  
  


• 
  Just a little critter collection
  Surely the favorite book we have! It’s a great one for bedtime on weekends… when we have them bed-ready early enough that there’s time for long stories. The last story in the book ends with the little critter going to bed himself, so it makes for a nice segue!
  
  


• 
  Ten little toddlers
  This one is a large picture book, but it’s nice for teaching numbers and counting. The kids can count the toddlers on each page, as they disappear one by one.
  
  


• 
  Goodnight Moon
  And finally… Goodnight Moon, although it is more of a baby book than a toddler book, my eldest son made me read it to him ‘till he was 3! Sadly, I still haven’t read it to the newest baby yet :( but I will have to get him his own copy as the old one is now in ruins!
  
  

Rules:

1. You should be the regular reader-of-bedtime-stories to a small child. Or children.


2. You are invited to choose the six stories that give you as much pleasure as the lucky recipient of your readings.


3. You are further invited to list them and give some indication as to why. With or without italics.


4. Tag a bunch more people and (if you have time) let know your list please! I’m always looking for something new to read to him. Well, to us.

Tagging… all my readers with small kids!

News!

Sorry about the lack of posts this week… been more busy than usual because I am starting an online beginner web development course next week!!! And all my readers get the discounted rate… $100 off! If you’re interested in the course, please contact me at info@shaziamistry.com and I will send you all the details you need. Come on, it’ll be fun!!

Secondly, I launched my work blog at shaziamistry.com, I hope that I’ll have some useful information and tips there, I look forward to these new changes, and a HUGE thanks to all of you for the endless support!!!!!