Over the past two weeks, my family has witnessed two momentous events for the year.  And, it’s been one exciting roller-coaster of a ride…

1. The Sports Day

As is the ritual now, every January, on a Sunday morning around the 20th, the Little Stars playschool organizes its Annual Sports Day.  This year too, it coincided with the great “Mumbai Marathon” that saw thousands of eager runners attempting to cover a marathon distance in a few hours.  And, this year too, I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to participate in the race that Pumpkin had been “training” for, for weeks in advance!

The colour-coded uniforms for the various teams were requested, bought and approved by the teacher.  Then, the big day finally dawned, and on the chilly Sunday morning, the entire family gathered at the school grounds.

One by one, the events began.  Pumpkin was in the green team, and raring to go…

The events were decided as per the age of the children.  The first event was a “Puzzle Race” – you run upto a jigsaw puzzle kept at the halfway mark, complete the colour-matching puzzle, and then, run up to the judges at the finish line.  The second event was an “Elephant Race” – a race in which the last person to cross the finish line, wins!

By the time the morning was through, Pumpkin had come second in the Puzzle Race!  She couldn’t quite keep up with the slowest “elephants” in the second event, but that was ok.

It was just meant to be a morning of fun and enthusiasm, recognizing the “little stars” of the playschool group and their efforts.  The icing on the cake: My little angel also won a prize!!!  And, so ended yet another episode of the Greatest Race on Earth.

2. The Birthday Party

Once again, this year, Pumpkin’s doting parents (that’s me and the mrs!) decided to host a party at our house, on the joyous occassion of her 4th birthday.

It would be more fun… It would be warm and friendly, not cold and distant like the local Pizza Hut…  The kids will enjoy better… At least, that was the theory.

This time, however, we decided to keep the invite list limited to the children in the building, and a few close family members.  That said, planning for the big event started several weeks in advance!

Getting party invites, deciding on the theme, choosing the cake, deciding on what snacks to serve, debating on the games that would be played… What would she wear?  What about her “party” shoes?  Will the decorations be enough?… The list was truly endless.

For two hours of fun and excitement, the two adults (that’s me and the mrs, again!) sweated out for an entire month!  But, in the end, it was all worth it.

The kids had a ball of a time… The arrangements were near perfect… The turnout was nearly 98%… She got a ton of gifts at the end… And, the star attraction was the “quiz” that Pumpkin herself conducted for the little preschoolers of her age!  You should’ve been there to see what a fantastic job she did of it.

All in all, when our aching muscles retired for bed that night, we could sleep well knowing that it was simply the best birthday of her life!

Until the next year, of course…