ok, so we had a meeting last night about the gurukula......and I walked out after about an hour or so, with my unruly daughter because I felt as though I crashed the meeting by bringing my child...of course, I was under the impression that the children were what the meeting was all about.Since I was not really noticed except by the sweet mataji that felt the need to continually shush my child for making noise with crayons, I have a few points I would like to bring up here...We desperately need a PreSchool and we need to include ALL of our children. ALL OF THEM...there should not be a choice in whether we should send them to the Montossori school, or the public school down the street because it is more convienent...we are raising DEVOTEE children and they should be in a KRISHNA CONSCIOUS school...period...if you are not sending them to gurukula, then you are not raising devotee kids. Srila Prabhupada opened this school in Dallas for our kids to get an education not only in ABC's and 123's but in our belief system, so that when these kids grow up and move out into a vicious material world they will be PREPARED to meet any and all obstacles with the FAITH and DEVOTION that was instilled in them in the gurukula...and this needs to start in PreSchool and Kindergarten, not in the 3rd grade when they have learned all kinds of nonsense from outside sources....yeah, I know my kid will grow up knowing others eat meat, but I dont want them sitting next to someone at school who is eating it and learn about it from exposure. I quote Srila Prabhupada...

."From the very beginning they should be trained up. From the body, they should be trained up how to take bath, how to chant Hare Krsna or some Vedic mantra, go to the temple, offer obeisances, prayer, then take their lunch... In this way, they should be always engaged. Then they'll be trained up. Simple thing.If children are allowed to play just like Krishna was playing with his cowherd boyfriends, then little ABC, then see the deity and have arati, then take little prasadam; in this way if they are always diversified, they will be always jolly and become fixed-up devotees at young age. And small children, they learn better these things from their mother and women in general. So I thing that some mothers of our children should go to Dallas and take charge of teaching the children, especially how to play nicely the pastimes of young Krishna. If you ask one child to be a tree, he will immediately hold out his arms "Just see I am a tree." If you ask him to be a cow he will walk on his hands and knees immediately and you can hit him with a stick and say "hut, hut." And if they will not take prasadam you can say "Now you are a cow and you must eat the grass" and immediately they will stand on hands and legs and eat prasadam like cow eating grass. So in this way our children in Dallas school should be trained because I want that a new generation of devotees shall carry on this great mission successfully".


About the concern with other people who would want to send their kids to our school based on academics and might not want them exposed to our religion......ummm...if they dont want their kids around Hare Krishnas then they need to find another school...again I quote...

"We have to concentrate to give them some idea about God--that should be our first business. In art class they should be encouraged to draw pictures of Krsna, Kuruksetra, etc. There are so many subjects for drawing as it is stated in our book Krsna. If they are trained, they will come out nice devotees. It will depend on the process of training."


sorry, but I know a lot of kids that have been enrolled in Catholic school, and even though they are not Catholic, they are still required to wear the uniform and got to Mass and Confession.... if their parents dont want them to do that, then they need to find another school...I think if someone wanted to send their kid to the gurukula based on the academics, then they would not have a problem with the religion, I mean, they had to be open minded enough to find us in the first place, right? Again I quote Srila Prabhupada..


"They will never accept that one must undergo austerities to break the influence of the modes of material nature upon the living entity in order that he may experience the transcendental bliss on the platform of pure goodness. Therefore they see our school as a threat and a cruel punishment to the children. If we were to run our school as it was actually to be run, they would close it down, and factually they will place more and more codes and restrictions as the school develops to water down the process until it becomes unrecognizable and useless."


Which brings me to the inclusion of religion in the school...THIS IS VITAL!!!!!We are a religiously based school...the kids should be required to attend morning program, and have religious instruction throughout the day, not just on Monday but everyday. They need to learn instruction in being a devotee, they need to learn how to chant japa in the early grades, to memorize verses in the Gita in the middle grades, to be able to debate the Bhagavatam in high school...along with academics that we already know the school provides on an exemplary basis. I have no qualms that our gurukula can supply my children with a better education than they can get down the street at the local public school...but if that was all I wanted for them then I would send them there...Bottom line....we all need to get involved with the gurukula, all our children should be attending and it needs to go back to what Srila Prabhupada wanted it to be... I will leave you with this last treat from Srila Prabhupada

" The most important thing however is to see that somehow or other the children are always engaged in some kind of Krsna conscious activity, then they will naturally develop a taste for it and think it great fun even to work very hard for Krsna's pleasure."

Phanzi Khadi

this is what my friend is looking for, it's made with paneer, not tofu, does anyone have a recipe?

for any of you on cafe mom

could you please go vote for the twins in a showdown?

Damien's link is

http://www.cafemom.com/showdowns/view.php?showdown_id=298634

Ivy's link is

http://www.cafemom.com/showdowns/view.php?showdown_id=298600

Thanks!!!!!

I dont really like blogspot

I find it much harder to use than xanga, or myspace......I only post here because my husband's ex is too stupid to find us here, having said that she will probably subscribe to this blog tomorrow...lol.
Damodara prayers are over now, and I am always feeling empty for a while afterwards...I love the singing of the prayers by the community, and the offering of the ghee wicks to Damodara...the fact my kids could participate on their own this year was especially beautiful...my dear daughter Padma was also helping Gopi Gita play the harmonium...she is my devout one... I have never seen such pure love of Krishna as I have from her...
I am sick today, I woke up with a fever and headaache, and a sore throat... I really dont want to sit here anymore, so I think I will go back to bed...I have a physical appt tomorrow, so hahaha, to the insurance company, I will get to see my dr for only $10 instead of $20

Dwali pics of the kids

Rama Rudra and Padma at the temple

and with their temple friends, Jayadeva is standing in the back

on the aging process......

I am getting old..yeah I know, so is everyone else.....I am realizing this now because since I have had the internet I have hooked back up with friends I have not even remotely heard from in 25-30 years!!!! We are now older than our parents were when we used to hang out.....the wonderful thing is that being apart all these years has erased all the stupid kid crap that drove us apart in the first place! When you are a kid it is so important to fit in with your peers...if you didnt..you didnt have friends, or worse, the people you thought were your friends made blatant fun of you..........now our differences are interesting and entertaining and a thing to talk about....there are new partners to meet and kids....stories to share of all the lost years.....

on another note.Damodara prayers have been going on since Oct 15, and I have managed to get me and the twins to the temple 3 times since then...the twins are already expert in offering the ghee wick to Damodara.Jaya has not been with us every time as he is having trouble behaving.. I know it cant be right to withold God from a kid for punishment (that just SOUNDS awful) but he doesnt understand...he just knows he doesnt behave, he cant go see Krishna...we see the shrink tomorrow so I will ask her what to do.. he just cant understand consequence...but then again, it it so wrong for me to want to share something nice and peacefull with my twins? I know I am supposed to love him as if he was my own , but I have to admit I feel cheated out of time with my babies.. custodial step parenting is a double edged sword........
Padma is soooo devout.she patiently asks me every day if we can go see Krishna..and if I tell her not today, she doesnt get mad, she just asks, "tomorrow?" I am so in love with my little girl.
Rama is testing me big time, I have a bad feeling that Laine was just a warm up for him.....I can honestly say his physical beauty is all that is saving him right now, lol..he is just too cute to beat!

Still off work, still fighting with Jaya's bio mom, and still hanging in here..........

tv time

I wish I had some devotional dvds for my kids to watch. I hate to admit that I do use the tv as a babysitter at time, but with three kids under 5, if I want to get anything done they have to be occupied by something. Don't even suggest paper and crayons, lol, they have already redecorated my living room walls with their um..art.We watch PBS Sprout, they have safe shows for the most part, Sesame Street, Bob the Builder and a show I even like called Zooboomafoo, all about animals. My kids like Caillou and that is the show I am going to tell you about.Caillou is about a 4yr old boy, he lives with his mom and dad and his baby sister Rosie, his grandparents are active in his life, he has multicultural friends, is helpful to elderly neighbors and although I find him irritating, my kids love him.One day we were watching and Caillou's grandfather decided to take him fishing. My first instinct was to shut the tv off or change the channel, but my husband said, "Let's see where they are going with this" I agreed, but kept the remote in my hand. Caillou and his grampa went out on a small boat and his grandfather started reeling in the fish. Caillou was disappointed that he hadn't caught anything, but then lo and behold he hooked a small one. My kids were horrified. My 3yr old son Rama asked, "Why are they hurting the fish?" Even at his age he understood that a hook in the face cant be comfortable. My husband said, "Some people think that hurting fish is ok. We dont hurt fish" After they caught enough fish, they went home with their catch..and you know what happened next..Gramma starting cooking the poor fish. When Caillou sat down and started eating the fish, little Rama said , "Daddy!! They are EATING THE FISHIES BODY, ...yuck, that's gross!!!" My husband said, "Yes, Rama, some people think it's ok to eat other creature's bodies.They call it meat. We do not eat bodies. That is very gross" Harsh lesson for a three year old? I am not sure...he needs to know we dont eat meat, he needs to know WHY we dont eat meat. I am all for protecting my kids from the ugliness of life, but he has to learn sometime. This made some kind of impression on Rama. He wasn't scared like I thought he would be. He actually turned into quite a little vegetarian activist!. Soon after we went to Walmart and he engaged a lady in line behind us in conversation. he told her we were going home to "make dinners" She asked him what we were having. He said, " potatoes and carrots" (his faves) She said,"What else? Are you going to have some chicken with that?" He said, "No, I don't eat bodies" The look on her face was priceless. I explained we were vegetarian and she asked the classic"Is that healthy for kids?" I asked her, "Does he look like he is malnourished?" She said, "NO" and I said, "OK, would you believe me if I told you he was premature and weighed 4 pounds at birth?" She was amazed, "I guess it is a healthy diet. That kind of gave me a new perspective hearing a little kid call meat a body, that is really gross, isn't it?" She put her rotisserie chicken back on the hot table next to us, "I think I will just go home and have a salad" Well done, Rama!One show I want everyone with kids to check out is WonderPets. It's about 3 little animals that save other animals from all kinds of perils. They had a really awesome show where they went to India to save a Bengal Tiger. It was soooo cute, had a great lesson about how all life is important no matter how small, and they did some yoga

back online and a cute picture

just got back online after 4 years...

I am on sick leave still so I should be able to post more.

Janmastami was rough, it was hot and the kids were tired and there really isnt anything for them to do. I may try to get something together for the kids next year, the twins will be almost 4 and probably harder to control than they were this year. Here is Rama dressed as Baby Krishna

finally!!

my mom gave me her computer, now I will be able to be a productive member of the internet community!. We are back in Florida, leaving to come home in a few days. I broke my foot and came here for some relaxation between dr visits.
Jayadeva's bio mom has not made any attempt to come see him. She says she can't afford it. Ok, then tell me how she thinks she will be able to afford to send someone down here to pick him up and then bring him back home after a week of staying with not her, but her dad? She will still have to be supervised. It doesnt matter anyway because his psychiatrist said we cant send him because with his attachment disorder and him barely trusting us not to leave him now, sending him away even for a week would be devastating to him. So we are not worried anymore, lol..
my mom is really opening up to vegetarianism. I had the twins godfather send her The Higher Taste, it should be here anyday
MIL is still missing...she didnt even call my hubby on his bday, so I left her a blistering message on her machine, funny, she told her sister to call us the next day, and the sister told me that MIL's phone was out of order...um..her machine wouldnt have picked up if her phone was out..she must think I am as stupid as Jayadeva's bio mom...
ok, so the kids are doing great.. I got the boys costumes for Janmastami, Rama is going as baby Krishna again and Jayadeva will be Balarama. Rama looks so much like baby Krishna that since he was born people pass him around at the temple so they can look at him, and last year at Janmastami we had strangers taking his picture and touching his feet, lol..it was crazy..but he really does look like baby Krishna... I have actually been threatened by some of the matajis at the temple that I had better not shave his head because they cannot bear the thought of losing his curls.. I took a picture of him in his outfit, i will post it tonight.. that's it for now...remember to chant..and to do your dharma and let Krishna handle the rest!

update

we finally got custody of Jayadeva!!!! His birth mother has to come down here within 6 months to visit him supervised and then the case gets revisited by the judge, if she doesnt come then she wont get to have him go up there, but even if she does, we are going to file down here to have that visit stopped, his psychiatrist will not let him go out of state with all his issues, especially without me or his dad....our lawyer doesnt think she is going to come anyway, WE PRAY SHE DOES NOT!!!
my friend Rhonda is here from England, we grew up together, she worked at Kalachandji's with me when it first opened...way back in the stone age...we went to the temple Sunday and she had a good time, she brought her brother and their daughters, we all had a great time
My hubby broke his ankle, twisted it in the driveway, he is on crutches now for 6 weeks
Rama and Padma are almost potty trained!!!! No diapers at home but we still wear them to bed and out...
kids have decided they do not like any pasta that is twisted...also they do not like any food that is not on my plate....
mil is awol, we have not heard from her since she left Florida, no loss, she was totally horrid while she was there...my husband is hurt but I told him Krishna has given him a family here and he is better off without her negatism (is that a word???)
no, negativity is what I was going for....
Alachua was not as good as it has been in the past, feast was not good, the people seemed pissed and unaccommodating, but I did get some great kids temple clothes for next to nothing at their garage type sale...I miss the great feasts that we had in the 80's
Saw my friend's baby for the first time the other day, she is completely beautiful...maybe we can hook her and my son up now, lol

Disney on Monday

we are going to Disney Monday, so my mil can shut up now. She hasn't seen my hubby in almost 4 years and all she has done is repeat, "when are we going to Disney?" ad nauseum...the kids are not even carrying on like she is!!
Tonight I served everyone the fake chicken product we LOVE and no one could tell, but as soon as I told MIL she was , OMG, I might get sick.....whatever..she has irritable bowel and other issues, I told her if she laid off the meat she wouldt be so sick....more tomorrow...g'nite

an intro and a rant

hmmm.. I have a xanga and a myspace (gawd I HATE trying to navigate that one) and now I have this.. I wanted to get far away from xanga because of drama and to be able to focus on blogging about what is really important to my family right now. My name is Krishna, I am married for almost 4 years to Prahlad, we have together a 4yr old boy Jayadeva and 2yr old b/g twins, Rama and Padma. I have an older son who is out on his own and my DH has a 9yr old daughter living in another state. We are trying very hard to live simply, to eat healthy and become more devotional, but we are having a hard time due to continual opposition from friends, family, coworkers, etc... so now begins my rant
We are on vacation..... at my mom's.....1759 miles from home...my husbands mom came to visit here for a week today....my mother is freaking out on what to feed my vegetarian kids and she has stressed me into a migraine. What I dont understand is that I have been vegetarian since I was 14 and she had no trouble feeding me...well, she actually made dinner and I ate what I could and simply didnt eat the meat....she isnt trying to undermine me, she is just putting too much FOCUS on what they CANT have, and I am afraid they will start asking for the forbidden stuff because now they know it exsists. Like she wants us to go to a restaurant on the pier, I said sure,having been there before I know that they have an awesome coleslaw salad and some of the best french fries I have ever had..she said what will the babies eat? I said salad and fries, she said, cant they have any of the good fried fish? I said no, they dont eat meat, her answer??? Fish isnt meat..so...I told her my kids dont eat anything that had a mother. Now my husband's mom (who he hasnt seen in almost 4 years) came tonight and when we took her out to eat after her very late flight she did the same thing.."well, they can have chicken nuggets, cant they?" I know they are not trying to be mean, they just dont understand this choice we have made. Now I think I have screwed up too, because I have given my kids soy nuggets and burgers and since they are small they dont have the ability to understand the difference, so they just ask for nuggets and burgers....I am going to have to start explaining the difference now.
Another thing...my hubby and I spent 2 hours last night trying to chase down a particular vegetarian product for dinner, the company website said that Publix carried it, THEY DO NOT!!!! Not the two I physically went into and not the three others the very nice girl at the service desk called for me. So now tomorrow we are driving 45 minutes to Whole Foods to load up on groceries for the next two weeks. Which makes me feel guilty for using so much gas and polluting the enviorment and so forth..but I have to feed my family and I look at it this way.. I am growing a garden this summer so SHUT UP!!!!! lol
We are going to take my MIL to the temple in Alachua for Sunday feast this week...should be interesting...also, look for an upcoming installment entitled What Vegetarian Kids Can Eat At Disney......I think they have carrots, lol...I remember from last year I was really glad I packed a lunch for them but I cant this year because they are not babies anymore and you can only bring in baby food...I might sneak it in anyway..OMG there will be BROCCOLI in the Magic Kingdom!! Look out!
Chant and be Happy.. I swear it works