Seven and Symbols

Educating a toddler who is not too keen on learning can be challenging at times. I can count the number of times I've been successful in getting LG to sit down with a book for more than a minute. Nah, not those alphabets and numeral books but colorful ones like Noddy or fairy tales. For most part, I resort to practical stuff like showing him an ATM on the road and blue for State Bank or red for ICICI Bank rather than sit him down with a book. Stuff like seeing a Compaq symbol on a poster on the road and relating it to the logo on his Dad's laptop interests him. But I'm at a loss when it comes to numbers.
javascript:void(0)
For a really long time, his counting would go like two-three-four-five-eight-ten and at other times, one-two-three-four-five-six-eight-nine-ten. He would go to extreme lengths to avoid saying seven. I never got it. The only explanation was that it was perhaps hard to pronounce. A few weeks ago, he was playing by himself in the toys room and started counting all the numbers aloud, including seven. Boy, was I surprised. I just stood behind and clapped. Like it was an achievement, which indeed it was. I'm in no hurry for him to learn the alphabet or numbers but the pressure of a damn entrance test is looming large over me. Damn, I never knew the alphabet sequentially until I was six. And I turned out alright. I'm sure so will LG.

Yet another day, on one of our routine evening walks, LG propped up from the pram to point out at the SBI atm and say "sta bank". I don't recall mentioning in recent times State Bank but I'm sure I must have a few months back. So that was the beginning for our association with symbols. He likes looking at logos and relating to everyday stuff like the LG add on TV for a fridge and the symbol on our microwave, or a whirlpool print ad in newspaper and the one on our fridge. The surprising one was when he pointed to a discarded ICICI Lombard Insurance billboard in the divider of a road and started screaming "ICICI". I started wondering where an ICICI ATM was in the vicing before I looked down to see what he meant. The game doesn't stop there. It has extended to Google, Gmail and Yahoo! as well.

On an unrelated note, the past two months were just great. The Seniol was here for his internship so it meant all play and no work. We were out every evening eating gol-gappas, going for a scooty ride around the neighborhood, shopping and having fun, in general. But as all good things come to an end, this one long vacation too ended Monday with The Seniol leaving for school again.