Aaru on Solids

My elder son, Sanju, was a darling when it came to food. He had his own favourite choices but he would eat when it was put before him. But the second one has a mind of his own when it comes to food. According to him, meals are over-rated. I just made a list of all the ways in which he is unlike his brother:

1. He refuses to sit on his high chair and prefers mummy's hip as the best place to have a meal.

2. He needs continuous live entertainment during his meals. He prefers a non-stop repetitive rendition of '1...2...Buckle my shoe' especially during meals involving veggies.

3. He prefers the plain Cerelac Rice and cannot understand why in the world he can't have it more than once a day!

4. He has perfected the art of shaking his head 'no' and loves to perform especially when mummy hovers a spoon in front of his face.

5. All said and done, he just does not understand why he should have any other food when he can have the great perfect yummy mummy milk that also gives him a chance to snuggle close to her. Boo to solids!

So, you can now understand what a tough job each meal is proving to be.

Should I say "Keep your hands off!"?

Aaru is down with a cold. He is slightly warm to touch and his voice has also changed a bit. Courtesy - my maid! She had fever, cough and throat pain but couldn't keep her hands off Aaru. She loves both the kids a lot and I didn't want her to feel bad. So, I tried not to say anything much to her. Since she never kisses the kids or anything, I thought it would be okay but I was wrong! He has caught it now!

Surprisingly, this time, my hubby demanded why I hadn't asked her to 'keep her hands off the baby'when she had a cold. I am surprised because when the source is the maid, he reacts so but when the source of infection might be a friend, neighbour or relative, his reaction immediately changes. He asks me not to offend them!!!

This poor maid who toils all day in my house so that I can have some peace to look after the kids, who loves the kids so, accompanies us to doctor visits and gives me a hand when I need help with the baby seems to me to be a far more important person than everyone else put together. In fact, I am sure right in not offending her by asking her to not pick up Aaru.

Its okay, Aaru, put up with your cold. T-minic syrup will save the day. If it gets worse, there is Ascovent and our Dr. Potnis. (And to visit him, once again, we need our maid. Dad's too busy in office!)

An endnote: Folks who read this... please keep your hands off any baby whenever you have a cold or any other sickness. Also, don't handle baby without washing your hands or using a sanitiser. And, please don't get offended when someone suggests that you use one before handling their child.

Life's Questions...

In the death camps of Nazi Germany, Victor Frankyl learned to ask himself the question,
'what is it that life is asking of me?'
instead of
'what is it I want from life?'

As I read these words in the book, 'Living the 7 Habits' by Stephen R. Covey, my mind paused a second and I wondered upon this question. I could think of a few things that life has asked of me - most of which I ignored, blaming the circumstances.

Then my phone beeped. It was an sms,
'An Essential Writing Trait: Perseverance. Maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement.'

Sounds good! Ok! But what is it that life is asking of me? The first thing that popped to my mind was 'rearing my two sons in such a way that they are physically cherished, mentally fit, emotionally nurtured and socially skilled'. Not an easy job for any mother. Still somehow, I have never felt satisfied with only that single role of 'mother'. I have always wanted to do something else too. But what?I know I will go to a job in another 3 years. What should that job be? Lets see the options:

1. Should I join as a CA in some company? Or
2. Shall I start my own firm? Or
3. What about trying to crack the civil services? (a long-term dream) or
4. How about a career in marketing/copywriting? (I have a few years experience in this and love the job).

As I pondered on all this, the thought nagged me - 'why don't you continue with what you are doing now - writing?' and then the questions start,

Am I any good in what I am doing?
Will I earn anything via this?
Isn't this good only as a hobby?
What right do I have to call myself as a writer without having even a single published book to my name?

Then slowly a voice hushes all my concerns. "You write because you want to do it. It is not for the money, fame or status. It is just an urgent need to talk out loud about what is going on in your head. Just do what you want to and everything else will follow in its own time," it says.

Anyways, I have another 3 years before I take the decision. Till then, I can only write...

Emotional Blackmail

Yesterday, Sanju watched too much television. I lost my patience and punished him – “no TV for a day!”

Obviously, he was upset…he tried to reason with me to no avail. So, he decided to try some emotional blackmail, “You don’t love me anymore! You love only Aaru.”

For a fraction of a second, I became disturbed but quickly I turned around and told him, “That is not going to work with me. I know and you know that I love you lots but that doesn’t mean I am not going to correct your faults. And just because you make such statements, I am not going to get upset.”

And you know what he did? He grinned impishly. He understood these emotional tricks are not going to work with me anymore.

Kids! OMG!

A Little Summary of the Last Month

Aaru

Lots of thrilling happenings...

25.10.2010 Rolled over for the first time
30.10.2010 Attended a party for the first time (Vineesh's Bday party). Seemed to actually enjoy the proceedings. Was not perturbed by the screaming kids, blasting balloons or even the shrieking music.
31.10.2010 Laughed out loud for the first time. It was so funny to see that!

Sanju

Seems to start on a case of Sibling Jealousy...

* If I scold him, he asks me if I still love him? Then, why do I scold him?
* Why is the baby taking up so much of my time?, etc.
* Becoming tooo mischievous
* Refusing to be anywhere without me
* Not even attending evening classes

But loves n adores Aaru too...

For example, when I was scolding Aaru after another sleepless nights, he tried to pacify my grumpling by calmly explaining to me...

"Mom, babies don't know anything. Some of these babies are tough to manage. So, please don't scold Aaru."
Isn't that sweet?

Now I know why I shouldn't start work again so soon!

Now I know why I shouldn't start work again so soon!

I was ecstatic when I started on this small temporary project a couple of weeks ago. The deadline for the same was the 8th and I was making progress perfectly.

By the 7th, I had done around 80% of the work and was planning to complete the balance in the next 2 days. How optimistic this sounds!!! The blow struck and how:

6th Night 12.30 a.m- Sanju is bawling. He has too many mouth ulcers and they are paining like crazy.
7th Morning 8.00 a.m- Aaru is due for Triple Antigen. Decided to show Sanju to the doc too. Sanju diagnosed with Hand, Foot & Mouth disease. (Got it from school where an epidemic of this disease is going on) Doctor says there is a high risk that Aaru may catch it from Sanju too. (I am still crossing my fingers that this doesn’t happen!)
7th Entire Day- Sanju crying while Aaru is down with fever because of the shots.
8th Morning 7.30 a.m- Hubby unable to get up from bed – severe dizziness…
8th Morning 10.30a.m- Doctor rushed home and diagnosed a mild(?!) case of Vertigo. Hubby unable to get out of bed for the next 3 days.

So, what did I do? Quit? Nope. I completed the project as promised and dispatched it on time. It was tough to do that but I had no choice. I feel that once I promise that a work will go through, there is no choice but to make sure it happens even if it means I have to give up sleep.

I am not only a writer but I have also employed writers before and it did irritate me immensely when a writer wanted the deadlines to be extended. Maybe that is why, I did not want to do the same!

Anyway, it is done and over with now and I am pretty excited to see my name in print once again!

Working again!

Guess what? I am working on a project again. It is a supplementary paper with the Times of India and DNA (Kandivali Special) and the topic is all about toddlers. Though the deadline is driving me crazy, I just love it!

Bye for now! I'm back to work!