Hey there,

This is your guest host, Geeta Nadkarni. I'm a long time DNTO listener and fan, so honestly, when I got the call to host the show, there may have been some wild dancing in my living room. The dancing was made wilder still by the fact that I'm currently 33 weeks pregnant. It's an exciting time, but I'm also pretty ready to have my organs go back to where they used to be. Being this close to popping means that I'm thinking a lot about parenthood and what I'd like to teach this little creature that I'm carrying.

While we were brainstorming for a theme for this week's programme, we realized I kept telling personal stories about my crazy family and what it was like growing up in Mumbai. You'll hear some of those stories on the show, including a description of my family's rather unconventional bedtime ritual and the time my dad made a parenting choice that he later came to deeply regret. Yup, the Nadkarni skeletons shall be dusted off and paraded around for your listening pleasure!

Meanwhile, since I seem to have your attention, here are a few random facts about me...

 

1. I'm 5'4" inches tall. My six-foot French Canadian husband calls me "shrimp", but, as I like to remind him, I'm tall in my country. Or my former country. Whatever.

2. I swear like a pirate with a flesh wound. In four languages (English, Hindi, Marathi and French).This does cause me a certain amount of anxiety when I think about having to say "fudge" instead of its more satisfying equivalent around the sprog. Which is why hearing "Sweara" Schmidt's story on our show was a source of great comfort.


3. I'm an avid animal lover and animal rights activist. But I eat meat. Free range, game or organic as far as possible, but I've grown to accept that all beings have a sort of duality to them and renouncing one side of my nature just didn't work for me. For all you fellow animal lovers, we have a story on the program that involves a bonfire, a doberman and a life lesson (don't worry, no dogs were harmed in the creation of this particular life lesson).

4. Things I love (in no particular order): long runs with our dog Lucie, a well stocked bookshelf, sparkly eyeshadow, long lingering kisses, afternoon naps with our cats Elvis and Molly, and spicy Thai fried rice. Yum!

5. I am unable to keep basil plants alive. Unable. Can't do it.

6. I am an avid (some would say obsessive) knitter. I have an obscenely large collection of luxury fibre just waiting to be turned into warm, cuddly garments. My favourite thing to do when not knitting, buying yarn or thinking about buying yarn is reading Toronto knitting diva Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's blog.

7. One of my favourite parenting books is Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman's Nurture Shock. It's now my default shower gift for other expectant mums. That said, I'm totally going to add Lenore Skenazy's Free Range Kids to my reading list. After all, you can't ignore advice from the woman that CNN billed as "America's Worst Mom". Lenore will be joining me on the show to talk about what she learned from letting her nine-year-old son ride the metro in NYC (and then blogging about it).

8. I'm eating homemade chocolate pudding (with nutmeg) as I type this. My neighbour Elizabeth brought it over. My life rocks. It's the perfect dessert to go with a main course of naked beans. You'll have to listen to Emily Carlisle's story to find out more!

9. I love writing letters longhand and have an enviable stash of stationery from all over the world. I spend a lot on stamps.

10. On the day my husband Pat asked me to go steady (seven years ago), he presented me with this adorable book that he, a Francophone with shaky English, wrote IN ENGLISH. It was called "How to be a Canadian" and featured little tongue-in-cheek snippets of Canadian trivia and silly advice for a fresh-off-the-boater like me. It remains, to this day, one of my most treasured gifts.

But enough about me. Here's a little more about the show we've got in store for you: Mike Layton will join us to talk about lessons his father, Jack Layton, taught him accidentally. And JJ Lee, raconteur extraordinaire and author of The Measure of a Man: The Story of a Man, His Son and a Suit (nominated for a 2011 Governor General's Award) will be in to share what he learned from his troubled relationship with his father. Plus the story of a boy, a chicken embryo and a scam (I'm not making this up!).

So there you go. Hopefully you'll be adding your voice and story to this list when we air Your DNTO in ten days or so. Can't wait to have you join me. It's gonna be fun!