Skip to main content

ONE

Remember when some old relative pinched your cheeks at a wedding and said, "How small you were. Look how big you've gotten!" I always wanted to say, " Well. I can't remain 5 forever! And... You used to be so thin.. look how fat you've gotten." And somehow I look at my almost-a-year-old daughter and seem to want to say just that! "Remember how tiny she was. Look at her now!" Just that it ain't moist eyes that accompany that line but "O my god, please don't put that shoe in your mouth..again..grrrr"

ONE year seems like a long time but time has slipped by so quickly that I can hardly believe I'm a year old in the parenting business (Daddy J: You agree, don't you?!). Life and everything around me has changed such a big deal, that it sometimes feels like some parallel universe...

And here I go again with my "10 Things that have changed...."
1. I have new-found respect for cows... Need I say more.
2. "Serves you right!" takes on new meaning- It's almost always your own mother saying it followed by "Now you know how I felt when you were little.." (there might as well have been some 'evil laughter' background score)
3. Alarm clocks have been locked up or donated or have ended up in the Toy basket or have been engineered into 2 toys...
5. I'm thinking of cooking nutritious food! Ok Wait- First I'm thinking of 'Cooking'. Next I've taken it to a whole different level with the 'nutrition'. Didn't think that day would ever come..Kali yugam pah!
6. Days are groggier than nights- without any partying! And I seem to have missed No.4.
7. Engaging discussions have flipped from politics/Bollywood/economies/gossip to diaper brands/weaning/potty training/birthday parties/Gerber vs. Cerelac...
8. She's beat me at what I thought no one could: her tailoring bills are larger than mine!
9. Curfew time is back (and I thought my parents were strict!).
10. The most consistent I've been on a fitness program ;) Month 6 to Month 12 and counting (Personal trainers could take a lesson or two from her).

In all the craziness, there's a new world that I've been in for these last 12 months that I've enjoyed like nothing else. I only now truly know what 'missing someone' means. I now really believe that a smile can erase a bag full of worries. I now know what I mean to my parents. I now know what 'selfless love' is. I now know that all those soppy movies with the "Amma sentiment' are not complete nonsense. There's a sense of belonging that sweeps within and all over me when she holds on to my T-shirt to fall asleep. She's created bonds between me and the rest of my family in a way that I never imagined I could. When she babbles I hope that she never grows up. When she walks like a little duckling, I wish that she remains a little baby. And then I tell myself- she will always be my 'little' baby!

Congratulations Daddy J. We are turning a year old!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MY ALONE

A few days ago, my daughter walked off to a birthday party saying "I will go my alone." MY ALONE was her new English phrase for the week meaning 'all by myself'. Not just 'myself', "ALL BY MYSELF"! And as I watched her walk down the hallway to the neighbour's house, I felt a funny feeling in the pit of my tummy. Of all the funny-feelings-in-tummy motherhood brings you, this one was new. WAS MY BABY GROWING UP? You see, mothers are usually programmed to be blind to any of these so-called hints of growing up. So obviously it surprised me that I was thinking this at all! Growing up in Mommy language usually refers to other things like: 1. Baby Being toilet trained after months of cleaning up and mopping up and coercing and making sssss sounds while the bored baby sits on the Potty. 2. Baby Being able to chew food -accompanied by a lot of "CHEW CHEW CHEW" and nudging the food stuck in the cheek. 3. Baby Giving up the feeding bott...
Post a Comment
Read more

Look who's learning

The whole world of new mothers seem to be logged on to at least 4 of the zillion parenting websites and have bought at least 2 of the many parenting/baby milestone books. Not to say I ridicule any of them- I have done so myself. All of them proclaim "let your baby explore" - and they have me mighty confused for mine insists on exploring the dirtiest or the most dangerous of things/places... bathroom floors, the underside of a tap, the dustbin, the stove, plug points... and the same books proclaim "these things are normal". While I cannot confine her exploring and discovering to anything hygienic and safe, I can at least get her immune to chaat germs and loud music. Destination 1: the beach It was too dark to get her into the water but the bright red blinking horns and flying discus were good enough. Next time aound- molaga bajji and butta. Destination 2: Art Gallery (Art appreciation is closely linked to EQ)  uhmmm...she fell asleep! Destination 3: A2B on...
Post a Comment
Read more

Aham Brahmasmi

The Atman cries out to the Brahman “Who am I?” Not hearing a response, he cries out again “Why am I here?” Baffled by the silence of the Brahman, the Atman proclaims “I am the supreme manifestation of reality.” To which he hears no argument but what stirs within him is an unexplained restlessness. He is angered by his mute spectator. “Your silence only tells a story of ignorance”, he reluctantly exclaims, half in anger, half in despair. “I will figure this out on my own”, he says determinedly and sets out.  He travels far and wide. He consults with magicians. He consults with ascetics. He asks the winds and the rain. He asks the swift sand about her maker. “Who made you?” she retorts sarcastically. Stamping her into the earth with a hurt ego, he sets out further. He speaks to the mountains, he speaks to the snow. “Shouldn’t you aim to climb up once in a while?” he asks the snow over Mount Kailash. “Your descent is your end- as you melt and trickle down the plains only to end...
Post a Comment
Read more