My kids went back to in-person school today. It’s just for two hours this week but still, the elation is real. It’s been a long year. A year of no field trips, no racing each other around the tracks, no monkey bar throw downs, no impromptu bey-blade battles, and no lunch-time shenanigans. It’s not all back to normal, but still, the end is in sight.
As adults, we are kind to our children when they try new things. Even if the circle isn’t round, we admire it. Even if the handwriting is loopy, we applaud it. We clap when they jump rope 30 times and cheer when they run around the block.
But when it comes to appraising ourselves. What if we were kinder to ourselves?
Published on KQED Persepctives https://www.kqed.org/perspectives/201601140598/sandhya-acharya-raising-a-good-loser Sandhya Acharya contemplates being a good loser – on the playground and in politics. Some time back, I was witness to a kids’ plank showdown. Timers were set, poses struck, seconds counted. But when it… Read More »Raising a good loser
Right before the Christmas break, my younger son logged in early to one of his classes. The kids showed their stuffies to each other, discussed their breakfast, and then proceeded to a new topic. Santa. Now, I was introduced to… Read More »The Truth of it
When we get older being entertained is hard. We have to spend hundreds of dollars on subscriptions and apps to drown out the noise around us. But when you are six or eight, it is not such a challenge. A… Read More »Tag!
On our way to a family hike, we decided to change course and spend time at my sons’ school instead. It had been so long! Hikes could wait. The Ginko trees near the parking lot were gleaming gold. They shimmered… Read More »Waiting for School
Isn’t that what art is all about? The ability to express. To think of something funny and share that with the world; with words or scribbles, song or strokes. To be able to take sorrow or pain inside you and use it as ink. To be able to hold that effervescent excitement bubbling inside you and turn it into something lasting. Art is beautiful, refreshing, liberating. Art is essential.
This season’s isolation has proven to the most introvert of us how much we need each other’s company. Coupled with the bad air quality in some places of the country, keeping spirits up is not an easy job. But humans… Read More »REMEMBER TO DANCE
This morning my six-year-old logged in early to his class. It was their pre-class chat time. The time where pre COVID, kids would have stood in line outside class and bonded with each other. The kids have adapted to this… Read More »IT’S LIKE AAAAHH!
The air quality in my neighborhood was recently affected by the wildfires. For days, there were no blue skies; a pall of smoke hung stubbornly in the air. One morning I looked out and wondered how we came to this.… Read More »Saving Pando
Published on KQED (NPR) Perspectives Sep 3, 2020 https://www.kqed.org/perspectives/201601140236/sandhya-acharya-all-better When the first day of school rolled in, the teachers had a surprise planned for the first graders. We stopped at school to wave and say a socially distanced hello and… Read More »All Better
I am dealing with a problem this summer. I am sure a lot of you are too. In the absence of our usual travel plans and summer camps, the kids are at home – the entire time. And every few minutes during the day, the sultry air is punctured with this poignant phrase, “Mamma, I’m bored!”
We were taking a walk around the neighborhood. My kids ran a little ahead of us and found two sticks lying below some tall redwoods. They were giggling uncontrollably when we caught up to them. They had figured out a… Read More »PLAY
Published in KQED https://www.kqed.org/perspectives/201601139805/sandhya-acharya-we-will-love-again We were savoring the last spoonful of a new brand of yogurt. “Thank You,” I exclaimed to the maker of the yogurt, calling out the name that was emblemed on the packaging and added, “I love… Read More »LOVE AGAIN
I wake up these days expecting to snap out of a bad dream. Then, as consciousness descends, I accept, again, that this is our new reality. The new world we are in. And it’s only been days.The news alarms, so… Read More »QUARANTINE – ROUTINE