Smiling From Year To Year #MicroblogMondays

Yesterday was Vidur's 17th birthday. I am blessed to be his Mom. While the cliche that parenting can be a challenge is not untrue, I have to say that children teach us some solid lessons in parenting, even as we strive to nurture them into good human beings.

I must confess that I used to have my own little demons about whether I'd make a good parent, but I learned to take things as they come. My Mom would keep assuring me I'd be a wonderful Mom and advised me to tackle one day at a time. Solid gold advice there, and while the jury will be out for as long as I live to decree how brilliant I am, I can say with confidence that I am certainly enjoying being Mom to my son.

Since he turned 17 - I thought why not set the timer at 3 minutes and see if I could come up with at least 17 things about him. And yay! I did.

He keeps me smiling from year to year!

I am blessed to have a son who...

Proves on a daily basis that being nice no matter what, is possible
Never forgets to say I love you every day
Even as a toddler, refused to let me carry his school bag or other things he had to carry to school - no matter how heavy or large.
Will never break school rules and will always turn in assignments on time
Is self-motivated about studying and never gives us a chance to remind him or prod him to spend time with his books
Never got hooked to computer games
Has a love for reading and is not enamored with electronic devices
Always has a list of books in his wishlist and reads them as soon as he buys them (hey, that's a good thing!)
Is focused with everything he does
Has hobbies like sketching, music and reading
Will never yell or raise his voice no matter what
Would never hesitate to share his stuff / food with anyone
Always remembers to ask us if we've slept well, eaten well, had a good day so far - every single day
Is respectful and kind with everyone he interacts
Is not fussy about his food
Appreciates and praises everything we do for him and has such a great sense of humor
Is sensitive about our feelings and the way we feel

Yes, we've been smiling from year to year! I am happy to admit I often turn to him for advice.

I really wanted to order a cake for his birthday but he would have none of it. I got reactions like "too expensive", "no, I'd rather not".

But...but... imagine a 17th birthday without a cake!

And so I made one. I was up at 6 am to make this rather sinful double layered chocolate truffle cake. I found a really easy recipe on Tarla Dalal's site. Turned out pretty well and the look on Vidur's face when he cut it was priceless. Enough reward in itself. Such a mission-accomplished feeling! And what a pleasure it was to make it.

We went out for a leisurely stroll after lunch in our area in the warm sunshine, stopping at our usual haunts - bookshops and some roadside window shopping.

There's one particular book heaven we love to get lost in. The moment we enter the store, we head off in different directions, making a beeline for our favorite sections. Here, take a look. Eat your heart out, my dearly beloved fellow book lovers!

It is a huge hall with thousands of books mostly categorized - and stacked all over.

This happy sign greets us and pulls us in like a magnet. Rs.50 - is less than a US Dollar, my dears.

Smiling From Year To Year #MicroblogMondays

Never want to step out of the place once we get in. Pretty much like Hotel California you know. You can check out any time you like... butchookinnevaleave!