The other day when I was driving back from the grocery store, I saw one of those little cars for children (the kind where they actually sit in it and drive it) on the sidewalk. Behind it came a toddler, all dressed for the big ride, cool sunglasses and all....The first thought that occurred to me when I saw the little car was, "I bet that's one of the things my son is going to buy his son when he's all grown up." The reason being that that was one of the things he always wanted when he was 3-4 years old and for some reason, we just never bought it. It was always, "not now, sweetie" or "maybe later" Of course one reason behind my reluctance was that he would speed away and I would not be able to stop him.Not to mention the exorbitant price for it. It always felt like, it would be used for maybe a year and he'll outgrow it so why waste good money on it. We always found something else to buy instead, something which both brothers could use for a longer period of time.

Well, anyways, the little car got me thinking. Isn't it funny how, we always try to provide for our kids all that we never had as kids. My parents always felt that my brother and I should have all the things they didn't have while they were growing up. We always got to buy the latest fashion in clothes(as long as it was decent, of course!)They always made sure we had money in our pockets for anything we might need or for any emergency expenses-for me this emergency always translated to a severe craving for pani-puri at the road side stand:)When they were growing up, money was not something they always had and had to go through so much for even the smallest of needs. They always tried to provide a stable home environment for us, something which they themselves lacked, growing up.

Then I had my kids, and what did I do? I tried to provide for them all that I didn't have while growing up.There were a few things I felt like I could not have as a child.It is not always material stuff, I remember when I was growing up,my friends could not always come to my house to play, because my mom worked. So, most of the time it was me going to my friends houses to play. Sounds silly, but it stuck somewhere and now my kids friends' practically live at our house. However, me staying home and not working full time means, that my kids don't always get what they want or don't get what they want right away, because we have to budget our money. Hence, the little car got pushed to the background with all the other things we felt were unnecessary at the time. My husband, on the other hand, a big sports buff,(he played cricket for his state)was the last of 10 children in the family. Though he was pampered quite a lot, he still always had to borrow sports equipment when he went to play cricket and never had any of the fancy stuff the other kids had.There were just more important things the family needed. So, what does he buy our kids? All the sports equipment they ever need or even mention the slightest interest in.

I am sure, when my kids grow up, they are going to buy their kids all the stuff they never had. It may or may not be material things, but I am sure, when they are parents, they will have this big list of things they didn't have or didn't get to do.Funny how the cycle of life continues, right?

You must be wondering, this is a travel blog,so why the constant rambling about life and its little quirks? Well, I think of life as a journey too. The journey of our thoughts, sometimes down memory lane and at others somewhere into the distant future. But, a wonderful journey nonetheless, with all its twists and turns.

Hi all,

I'm back after a long hiatus from blogging. Many things have been going on with me since the time I last blogged. Mainly, life.....

My parents came to visit and help me out with a surgery that I had to go through. The first three months of their visit went by in just helping me run the house. The kids were in the last quarter of school, the summer vacation that followed and so on and so forth. Hubby has been doubly busy with work..we all know how the work scene is these days..no need to elaborate on that! We did take a couple of trips during the latter part of their visit, though. Once was to St. Louis, Missouri, and the second one was to our fav vacation spot, The Wisconsin Dells. We had a number of karate tournaments, guitar and vocal recitals, drawing competitions, school plays and many more wonderful and exciting events. The biggest thing for us has been our older child starting high school this fall. Its a big deal around here. We were all a little overwhelmed, but we're on our way now and hopefully things will go smoothly. Our younger son started Intermediate school, 4th grade.

My parents left a couple of weeks back for India. I am trying to get back into the groove of things, school lunches(yup, remember those?) and work.

I just wanted to say hi to all of you again and hopefully, I'll be blogging more often now. I know I've said that before, but haven't really been able to, but I'll try harder now:))