Back to work

As of August 1st I have officially gone back to work, so to speak, even though I haven't spent any time in my office yet.

I am working from home and not that much. This is an aspect of being a researcher (in a purely theoretical field) that is confusing to anybody who has a regular kind of job, because it seems as if I am allowed to do nothing all day and still get paid. That is almost true, but the catch is that if I don't produce any original work at some point, it is highly unlikely that I will get my next - still very temporary - employment. So it is not as relaxed as one might think.

It is also quite hard to be creative and smart when you have just had a baby. There is a nearly universal agreement on the fact that, in technical terms, motherhood fries your brain. That's bad news when you need to be brilliant to do your job and you were not nearly as bright as you would need to be even to start with.

I started teaching my course and that is at least something concrete I can do, so it's a very welcome task. Viola is too small to be in daycare yet, but it's not too much of a problem and she seems to cope well with my short absence while I am in class. S even managed to get some work done while holding her asleep in his arms. I normally don't do that well, so I prepare my lectures at night while she is sleeping.

Which reminds me that I should be doing exactly that right now, instead of blogging :)

Lego Olympics

This is totally off topic, but if you are a Lego fan then you should check out the videos in the Guardian's brick-by-brick series.

The gymnastics one is really neat -





- and I love how they did the water in the pool here (the snack is also brilliant):

Today's new word: ROVER!

The only thing more amazing than seeing the first photos sent by Curiosity today was looking at them together with my children. Rajiv in particular is old enough to - just barely - know the difference between pretend rockets and real ones and so he gets what the excitement is all about.

Both of them were especially fascinated, of all things, by the images of the NASA people celebrating after the landing. Rajiv said he wanted to be at the party too and when I explained that those were the people who had worked really hard to make it all happen he said he also would like to do something like that. So we decided that maybe when he grows up he can be one of the people building the rocket that will take a person to Mars. Note here how I am subtly steering him away from the plan of being such a person himself, because I am the mom after all, and Mars is kind of far away. Anyway, he said he is going to build a really fast rocket. I told him it should be fast but most importantly very safe. Not a problem: "I'll put some seat belts", he said.

We looked at lots of images and animations of the rover. By the way, do you know how hard it is to explain to a three year old and a five year old why we don't have a real video of the landing? And Rajiv would like to know how the rover manages to send the photos to us. Uhm... that should be an easy one too.

We miss Canada

Always, and especially when something reminds us of it, like this picture that Meaghan, the kids' former nanny, just sent me.

April 2011, Rohan and Rajiv sitting on the tree stump in Waterloo Park, about a fifteen minutes walk from our house. Sob..

Apple fractions before bed

The time just before bed, when everyone is tired and the kids are dragging their feet and not doing what they are supposed to do, trying to annoy us as if making as really angry was an Olympic sport, is never easy. Today it was quite bad. There was screaming, crying, fighting, nagging, yelling and threatening - and there was a hysterical snack request after the lights were already out and the teeth sort of brushed. That last one was just one of those Rohan moments, but we all pretty much contributed to the rest. In the end we read a book quickly, we had some hugs and a little bit of singing (please don't ask), some more screaming and then with a bit of effort it was finally all quiet.

It's really a pity, because bed time could be the best moment of the day. Unfortunately, sometimes getting the children ready for bed is just too draining for us to be able to really relax with them when all is done. When it is good though, it is more or less like this:

Notice the book, "Apple Fractions", one of Appu's current favorites. And no, we don't only read math books to the kids, I promise.

The next photo is a little mysterious, but I think it had to do with demonstrating the size of a certain kind of apple that tastes like a pear (or the other way around, I never remember that part).

Rohan in the mean time, is already holding the next book, just in case we forget to read it to him for the seventh day in a row..

And Rohan's favorite, at last: "Eat my dust!". Papa' looks a bit tired at this point..

..but maybe Rohan is even more sleepy?

Nope, papa' is definitely the sleepiest.

London 2012 - Diving

We are watching the men's syncronized diving 10m platform. And the kids are diving all around the living room :)
And by the way, the commentators seem to have said that one of the Americans is also a math student at Duke. Is it true? How cool is that!

Rohan in a bucket

Guarda un po' che cosa ho trovato tra le vecchie foto: Rohan nel secchio! Ottobre 2011, Chennai.

I just found these, from October 2011. For those who haven't been in an Indian home, that is the typical setup of an Indian bathroom: an open shower area, with a faucet below the shower and a bucket to collect the water. The baby in the bucket is optional.