"We are on the same page, right?"

As parents of a very active 3.5 year old, who very definitely has a mind of her own, a phrase that's very commonly used in conversations by both 'D' and 'I' is 'be on the same page'. More often than not, one of us tends to soften up when trying to teach/discipline Raya, and we constantly have to remind each other how important it is for us to be on the same page, to prevent our 3.5 year old from playing one of us against the other. In fact, the phrase is so prevalent in the Das household that Raya seems to have taken quite a fancy to it.

In this context, the other day, while 'D' was on his way to drop off Raya at day care, Raya made a statement('D' wasn't paying much attention to the usual toddler chatterand doesn't remember the details of the statement') and as a mode of getting confirmation from 'D' shouted out," We are on the same page, right, Baba?" from the back seat with the roll of her eyes that invariably accompanies all her statements when she is trying to make sure we are getting her message. The use of the phrase "on the same page" obviously caught 'D's attention and he grinned from ear to ear, while answering in the affirmative, just for the heck of it. That evening, at the dinner table, 'D' and I were trying to coax Raya to wrap up dinner and were eventually  forced to take a stern stand. 'D', who is the default disciplinarian, in the family, asked Raya in a very stern voice to wrap up dinner or be ready for a time out. The smallest of stern words from  her Baba/Mamma are enough to make Raya burst into bucket loads of tears  and it was no different this time around. As tears rolled down her cheeks, Raya inconsolably burst out, "But baba , way long back you said we are on the same page. We have to be on the same page!" Now, if that's not enough to make any form of disciplining measures fade
into oblivion and make Raya's Mama/Baba get engulfed in fits of laughter, I wonder what will be!

On another note, I have this habit of using the word 'Nautanki' (Hindi word that translates to "drama", in English) in certain contexts. You know, I'll probably say something like, "Tired of the 'Nautanki'" or just exclaim "All the 'Nautanki'!" when transiently annoyed with hoopla/pettiness about stuff in life that doesn't deserve too much attention. Anyways, madam Raya found her own way of using this term :) So the other day, 'D' picked Raya up from day care and asked her to rush inside as soon as they reached home, because she had to change and we had to head out to someone's home. 'D' stayed outside to water the plants. Raya was upset because she wanted to help 'D' water the plants and he forced her to go into the home instead. Of course, I was inside the house  and Madam Raya came whining to me, with small streaks of tears rolling down her cheeks, "Mama, Mama...I am disappointed with Baba!" I asked her, "Why, Raya?" She replied,"Because...because he won't let me water the plants!" and within a fraction of second, most unexpectedly followed in up with, "All the 'Nautanki'!"....LOL...I was so shocked and amused, I literally rolled on the couch with laughter,
while she continued whining about why she was disappointed with her Baba.

So that's that...all the fatigue and exhaustion of bringing up a toddler gets wiped off by the day to day proliferation of such toddler entertainment! Happy parenting folks!