A Family of Scorpios and My Non-Existent Asana Practice
November 1: Happy Birthday Rahul and Leila
November 7: “He won,” Maher exclaims as I walk in. “Now I’m ready to move to America!” he winks.
“But I don’t want to go to America on the Mayflower,” Rahul says. “If we go to Plymouth, America, we will get sick. And then the small people will take care of the big ones.”
We laugh.
“Papa’s joking about moving to America Rahul, and we don’t have to go on a loooong boat ride like the pilgrims, we can take a plane.”
Rahul and Leila break into song: “The pilgrims went to America, America, America…”
November 11: Happy birthday tonton (uncle) Jalal
November 12: Welcome to the World and to Chengdu, cousin Mina XiaoYu Kassar
November 13: Happy Diwali
We talk to my family in Zambia. We all wish each other a Happy Diwali. Maher and my Canadian, soon to be sister-in-law also exchange happy diwali’s on the phone.
Maher jokes with my parents that the children are learning all about Halloween and Thanksgiving at school, but they know nothing about Diwali.
“Hey, we did dress up, and take a photo!” I interject. “Maybe next time the diwas (oil lamps), sweets, and stories. I need to google it!”
November 15: Happy Birthday Nana (grandpa) Ravi
November 16: Happy Birthday Jiddo (grandpa) Kamal
November 18: Jiddo Kamal arrives in Chengdu to visit his three grandchildren.
November 22: Happy Thanksgiving
Thechildren have turkey and cornbread muffins at school. They talk about corn husk dolls and symbiosis.
November 23: L cries and R whines when I meet them at school. They want to do a full day, eat and nap with their friends. Thankfully I’d just discussed this with their teacher.
The evening after their first full day Leila is sure that she wants to stay all day, everyday. Rahul is sure that he wants to come home, always, before lunch.
November 26: Thus begins my three trips a day to the school, one refuses to come home, the other refuses to stay beyond noon.
As a mum of twins this is a big step – the kids first clear decision to do something important and rather long-term independently of each other.
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Thanks for sharing this crazy month with us teta Houda.
Natasha Devalia 
What a busy november! I am a new mom from this november and i realise that no matter how much you’ve seen other people doing it, you can only know how tiring it is by being a mom youself. And there r always a lot of questions you want to ask!
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