Thursday 18 December 2014

Of Vacations And Teddy...

I have one Daughter.
But, I have two Kids.

Say what?!

Yes, you heard that right.

The two kids at my place, are my Husband and my Daughter.

Why do I say, that my Husband is a kid?

Not just a kid, my Husband is even more kiddish than my Daughter.

And that kiddish behavior magnifies in its existence, the time we decide to go, for a Vacation...

More than annoying me, both my Kids' kiddish behavior, leads us to discovering something new, not just once, but many times over, during a single trip.

This post is going to list some such instances of somewhat kiddish behavior, which have made my vacations, more memorable than I had expected them to be, in the first place...

Such instances have added dollops of 'Magic' to my Travelogues.

~~~

My daughter's curiosity, coupled with my husband's fetish to click pictures, has given my Vacations a certain 'magical' touch.

Take, for instance...

These snaps from our Vacation to the Andamans...


We had befriended a Mollusk who was busy catching hold of its intruder...
While it attempted to catch hold of Mister's hand, in vain, I sure caught hold of a picture - a unique Black shell and its inhabitant, intact! :D


This one is from our Cottage at the Sea Shell Resort. The property there, had a private beach.
Hubby and Daughter went off, for a quick morning walk.
The canine friend, they brought back, tagging along, was a pleasant surprise! :)
He refused to leave the Sitting Area outside the cottage, as we found him, sitting outside still, even in the evening!
The next morning, it had made its way back to the beach...


This one, again, is from our Cottage.
Mister had decided to re-launch the revamped Chipko Movement.
Seen here, he is 'hugging' the palm right outside the cottage...
See the expression?
I Am NOT Going To Leave This Palm, At Any Cost!
Kiddish, yet memorable...



This is the most unique picture, we've managed to acquire, over ALL our vacations.
Can you guess, what it is?

These are White Crab's Dens.
These are  dug up places, or should I say geometric patterns?
White Crabs live in the white sand, spread across the Radhanagar Beach on the Havelock Island.
This was the Daughter's discovery, the Husband's click, and my joy!

~~~

On a serious note, I concur with the following ideology...

"The more that you Read, the more things you will Know.
The more that you Learn, the more places you'll Go."

~~~

I still remember our vacation to Kanyakumari, clearly.
The daughter was nine, at that time.

The way she'd jumped with joy, on witnessing the 'meeting point' of the three bodies of water in India, is indescribable.

It was the first time when she'd visited a 'place of significance', that is, according to her Geography book.

They'd been repeatedly asked as a routine 'Fill In The Blank' question...

_______ is the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent, also the meeting point of the three water bodies in India.

A similar expression was captured in my lens, when we'd visited the caves of Ajanta and Ellora, and she'd been cross-checking what all she had learnt in her History course, at that time.

Countless have been such knowledge-imparting experiences.

~~~

From then on, we've covered almost the entire country, summarized in numerous travelogues, over the years, and the 'Magic' in our Vacations has been that point in time, when my Daughter learnt something new,

It has been magical to bring back home, some learning experiences from our 'Teddy Travelogues', every time.

The Teddy being my Daughter, of course. :)

~~~

As far as the question - 'How do I ensure that my Daughter has the best of times during her Vacation?' - is concerned, I have been abiding by the following ideology so far, and will even continue to do so.

Do NOT force your kids to tag along, to ALL the places you've listed in your itinerary.

If they don't feel like going along to a certain place, just let them be.

I still remember our trip to Goa.
The daughter was seven, at that time.

We had been staying at Cidade De Goa.
She'd refused to go along, to three beaches, all in a day.
The plan was for the third day of our trip.

Then, we discovered Cidade's 'Kiddies Room'.
And, that was her gateway to Paradise.

On the second day of our five-day long stay, we visited the 'Kiddies Room' in the evening.
The caretaker there, was a college-going girl in her early twenties.

She played for two hours with my daughter, telling her stories, role-playing 'Teacher-Student', and solving some jigsaws.

The Kiddies Room became my daughter's favorite place, thereafter!
She longs to go back and visit the Kiddies Room, again! :)

Meanwhile, we decided to tweak our itinerary to visit one Church, and two beaches instead, and the plan for the next day was made.

The third beach was shifted to the last day, instead.
Everyone was happy! :)

~~~

Waiting to hear from you too, about some of your kid's 'Teddy Travelogues'...
Feel free to express yourself in the Comments Section. :)

~~~

This post has been written as a part of Indi Happy Hours' #TravelWithKids in association with Club Mahindra and IndiBlogger.

2 comments:

  1. Fascinating memories of so many vacations captured in your unique style of rhyme and of course the lovely pictures - the crab den left me gaping in awe!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the generous appreciation, Arti.
      Yes, the crab den was a fascinating sight for me too, at first.
      Keep Visiting. :)

      Delete

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