The Stereo Monster

It was just another Saturday mid-morning around nine-ish. The breakfast things were cleared away. The kids were in the living room engaged in their own world.

Start the first load of laundry or Mop the floor? I was asking myself, slightly envious of slumbering D. Why does he get to sleep in when I am the one waking up at least thrice every night to tend to Oggie? Unfair! I catch myself complaining to no one in particular.

Unknitting my brows and unclenching my jaw, I take a deep breath and decide to let another steaming cup of chai recharge me before I plunge into the weekend chores, before the eternal What's For Lunch? looms up, before...

Bossa nova booms suddenly with Astrud Gilberto's ♫ Tall and tan, young and lovely, ♪the girl from Ipanema goes walking...♬

Gawd, how can anybody not simply love this song?! And then I realize that the stereo system was turned off not too long ago for some quietude. D is still enjoying his beauty sleep. So, who turned it on?

I peek in the living room. Everything looks fine. Oggie is on the floor playing with his toys. Ana is on the sofa getting her dollies dressed. The kitties are snoozing with D.

I wait till the song ends. Hmmm... it was a radio station... I don't remember tuning or presetting it. Anyway... I turn off the stereo and head back to the kitchen to get my chai and sit in the nook and enjoy it while the calm before the storm vanishes and a pair of squabbling kids pull me into the fray.

The clanging of little metal kitchen utensils, toys that Paatti brought for Ana from India, reassure me that Ana would be busy for at least another half hour, provided Oggie leaves her alone. Oggie seems quite rooted by the bristle blocks he has been playing with. Time to savor my cuppa...

"Run, Run, Run...♪♫♫" I hear Pink Floyd blaring.

"ANA!" I bellow from the kitchen without bothering to look in. "That's too loud, let's not play with the stereo, please!"

"But, Amma, it wasn't me, it was Og!" I hear the protest in her voice.

A few minutes later, I check in to see Ana still busy with her kitchen utensils set, and Oggie toddling about from one area with some textured balls to another where I have set up some cushions for tumbling on. Satisfied that they are fairly active and engrossed, I carry on with my domestic tasks.

The Oregon secretary of state inquiry into the financial activities of...

"ANA!!" I call a tad bit annoyed, jumping to unwarranted conclusions, "Why is the radio on so loud again? Please leave it alone!"

"It wasn't me, Amma! It was Oggie. He did it!"

I pause for a moment and accept her words for she has no reason to lie or fear any consequence. It is not like she is not allowed to play music and dance when she is in the mood... The most she has had to face so far is to be sent to her room for a time-out for a few minutes to think about what she did and whether it was OK to do it. [It is never OK to hit the baby, or others. It is never OK to hurt anyone, including the kitties. It is never OK to spit anywhere but in the bathroom sink. It is never OK to jump and stomp on books. She has very clear lines to respect, even if some of them may not make sense to her].

I prepare to head back to the kitchen and finish up. On a whim, I stick my neck around the corner to see: Wobbling and lurching in an inebriated sort of way, index finger outstretched and pointed for precision, the cuddly little booger preparing to strike again!

A few short seconds later, "From the Oregon Zoo's California condor breeding program comes good news and bad..."

I laugh out loud and rush to pick him up and reprimand him as best as my convulsive laughter would allow, and squeeze Ana tightly for opening my eyes!