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Good comes to those...

We have a little new game that I call ‘the Shocolate routine'. Every morning on our way downstairs we stop by Daadi’s room. I ask you to stay outside the room and wait for me. You go all noddy with a cheeky like smile and start repeating in a whispering voice with your French like pronunciation “Shocolaaaaate !”
Somehow your little brain has already worked out that this game is more fun without you knowing the hiding place of the chocolate trove! I come out of Daadi's room with three chocolates, mostly in differently coloured wrappers, one each for your mom, yourself and me. You are allowed to pick yours and apparently you do that based on the colour of the wrapper – Lellow (Yellow), red or brown. However, you are not supposed to eat the chocolate at this point. I ask you to wait till we are in the car and you respond with another one of those cheeky-smile nods and a nice big 'Yes'.
It is easy to see how the 'Shocolate' is still the centre of universe for you. On our way downstairs, you gladly go on in your cute little broken-up-but-yet-so-connected sentences about what colour you chose and then for no apparent reason change your choice, maybe more than once.
I put my share of the loot by the bottom of the stairs where we wear our shoes. You declare that you have decided to keep yours and your mom's there too as if a little family reunion of sorts has just been planned for our little family of chocolates. 
You are in-charge for handing out your mom's chocolate to her as she is due to leave for work before us. While you happily hand it over to her, your reaction to her walking out of the door could range from a playful 'goodbye mamma' to a full-fledged free flow of waterworks and wailing cries. Depending upon how heavy the downpour at Rheya-land is, I try to tune my efforts to draw your attention back to your little chocolate. It needs to be at the right level - just enough for you to forget about your mom going out of the door but not too much for you to try and open the chocolate there and then.




The plan is for you to be seated on your car seat and then unwrap the little bar. Once seated there, your eyes all bright, bubbly and brimming with anticipation, clutching your chocolate a bit too hard by now, right about the time you are about to delve into it, you ask me to open mine too.
I start on mine standing beside your car seat, relishing the sweet nutty glimmer of excitement in your eyes much more than the chocolate in my mouth. You finish yours and at times ask for some more. But (so far) it is more of a delicate little request that you are expecting to be denied than a vociferous demand of a toddler throwing tantrums. I explain without really explaining that we just get one chocolate a day and you agree after a little attempt at pushing for it.
 I know there will be a time soon when your cute requests will crossover to demand territory and my stern rejections then might seem even less logical to you. Until then, let’s enjoy the harmonious tandem between us.

Although it’s just a silly routine that we never planned anyway, it does mark a happy beginning for our day.  As a 'wannabe great parent' (I know such a being doesn't exist) I try and tell myself that you are learning all the right things - patience, sharing, managing your curiosity, waiting up for good to come to you and cherishing the moments when that happens.
But I know this is not really the age where you would end up drawing your life lessons from. Its more of a wishful thinking for me to be laying down the right foundations and making sure. More importantly I do know we are forming some lasting memories.
 

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