Sempi is really into superheroes and police. The other day I was walking him to school and he tells me, Sempi: Appa, can I tell you a secret? Me: Yeah. Sempi (whispers): My secret identity is (redacted). Me: Wow, really? Why didn’t you tell me sooner, I could have used your powers to crush the boxes in the recycling bins. Sempi: You can’t tell anyone. Well, maybe just amma, but no one else....
I love dosas. Dosa is a south Indian dish. A better version of a crepe (shots fired) or a ridiculously thin pancake. Sempi (5yo) is also a huge fan. I’m making dosas for his breakfast and he requested that I make the dosas into shapes for him. He requested a police car. I was happy to oblige. Sempi: What is this? Me: A police car. Sempi: It looks like a spaceship....
Vian has been picking up a few words courtesy of Sempi. The words he has picked up so far are the ones that Sempi uses with forceful emotion. STOP: Whenever Vian tries to take Sempi’s toys, Sempi yells “STOOOOP” with conviction and distress. So that’s the first word that Vian decided to pick up. Now he uses it with us generously. He can’t quite pronounce the sound “ssss” so his STOP sounds like “TOP”....
When I drop off Sempi at school, I walk him to the front desk where they have name badges for the kids arranged in random order. I ask Sempi to pick out his badge while I sign the sign-in sheet. This is my way of training him to recognize his name. This morning he told me, “Appa, do you see how the safety pin is attached sideways to my badge? I did that yesterday so I can find my badge easily in the mornings”....