Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Notes from a Mother's Diary

Sometimes the biggest luxury I can have is to be able to take a bath at leisure...without worrying about what is happening outside.

Looking after one kid is like riding a roller-coaster....many highs some lows. Looking after two kids is like a NON-STOP roller-coaster.

There are moments when I just need to take a break.. for one moment, at least, please! So, I close my eyes, lean my back on the diwan and relax. At that point, I don't care if my elder son is busy scribbling on the walls or if my younger son is crawling away to some unsavoury place. I will handle it later. But right now give me one moment's peace, please!

My younger son is trying to get up with the help of suppport. And like it often happens, he falls down and gets a bump on his head. But he's at it again, many times! Sometimes, I wonder at his determination. He will continue doing it until he masters it. When exactly do we lose this determination that all of us must have had when we were kids? Probably not very late, judging by my elder's impatience and reluctance to learn anything now. 
 
My elder son who is a toddler is now able to speak everything, albeit in a language only his parents can completely understand. Now, children have the amazing ability to pick up entirely unnecessary and politically incorrect phrases and language from other kids(often elder to them). So when my eldest was in this particular stage, where if he was angry or wanted to be rude, he uttered one word in Telugu which was 'potty-related', unfortunately. But thankfully because he still had the baby language, others couldn't completely understand what he was saying. So, when they would turn their head and ask, "What is he saying?", it was all I could do to control my laughter and say, "Nothing!"  while inwardly, it would be, "Trust me, you don't want to know!"

The one thing that is freely given to mothers and that too unsolicited is ADVICE. Everyone is ready to give advice on what we should feed our kids, how we should dress them, what morals we should teach them, how much TV they should watch...blah  blah blah. I have just one thing to ask them - Haven't you heard - Mother knows best? - No, not Father, Mother-in-law, Cousin and least of all, not Friendly Neighbourhood Aunt Knows Best. It's not that I don't need advice.  Of course I do. But I will ask my mother or my sister or sometimes, peers (mothers who have children of the same age as mine). And, I realize the best source is my mother. So, again Mother knows best!

All mothers are fed up with the constant cartoon watching. But sometimes, watching one can be a stress buster. For me, watching an episode of 'bubbleguppies' or dora or even a new episode of 'bheem' is honestly the best pick-me-up for the day. By the way, how adorable are the bubble guppies?!

My eldest son has just joined kindergarten. He rarely tells me anything about school on his own. So, when I asked him to tell me some rhyme, he looked at me and asked me accusingly, Nuvvu teacher aa? (Are you teacher?) Sorry, I am not and that is his way of saying, "You have no business to ask". Just one month of joining school and my son has already grown up! :(

After all the morning hungama, I have finally 10 minutes of rest before the next round of chores start. My eldest is at school. Hubby's in office. Younger one is asleep. I finish my breakfast and sit next to the sleeping infant, with newspaper in hand. That's when junior opens his eyes lazily and looks at me. Now I know he will wake up if he sees a slight movement from me. so I stay frozen, with my hand holding the paper in air. I don't smile. I don't move an inch. I hope he will close his eyes again and sleep, and give me just 5 minutes extra time to relax. But no he opens his eyes wide, gives me a beatific smile and gets up. If he knew how to talk, he would say, "Mom, do you think I'm so stupid that I don't know that you are very much there and are not my dream?" 

What's with children and sleep? It's like my kids have been born with FOMO ( fear of missing out) syndrome. They will control their sleep with superhuman effort until even they (gasp!) cannot control it anymore. I mean, what's with this sleep control struggle? I'm surely going to have my revenge a few years down the line when they will finally realize what they have actually been missing - hours of blissful sleep!

P.S: The title is completely hypothetical... for 1. I don't have a diary and 2. Even if I had one, would I have the time or patience to write in it??