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Mommydom

My Guest Post on “India Inspired Designs”

July 2, 2012

Hello people, what’s up? Hope you all had a good weekend. This week offered its own excitement and challenges to me. Excitement as little one is six month old now, that means we also started with some solids apart from milk and challenging as never ever I imagined that introducing new food to baby was going to be this tough a task! I mean really I don’t have words to describe the effort and patience required for this. 
A detailed post will surely come up on this :-), for now please check out my new guest post titled “Indian Inspired Designs” on Curating Fashion blog. Curating Fashion is an online journal for the Design Museum London website. For more information, you can check out their blog here.
Bbye for now, will be back with my next post soon.

MoMusings: 1

June 19, 2012

Remember the mayhem that happened when your baby fell sick for the first time? Yes, yes exactly that! So, it was quite a chaos at our place for last few days. Thankfully nothing to be worried about, just the general cold and fever but then I’m using this term “just the general” only when he is fine now. Ask us until few days back and it definitely seemed to be a big, like really BIG deal! 
And surprisingly more than me, it was the daddy dearest who was hyper concerned for junior. I have never seen him like this before; the man who always sounded super cool about any cuts, fever, cold etc was day in, day out fussing over the baby with such a worried expression that he had to be reminded that it was just a regular flu and nothing else. Like all human beings, even our little one would fall sick and there had to be a first time for it! Phew, speak of the changes in men once they become daddy! OK, I’m unnecessarily trying to act cool, frankly speaking even I was anxious like hell and kept on wondering what to do to calm him down. First two nights I just couldn’t sleep even for a moment and kept on looking at the restless little one beside me. It was so miserable to see our cheerful, super active darling lying dull and crying inconsolably. Don’t remember when was the last time I would have been so worried for something as minor as cold, but then I guess that’s what parenthood does to you. This also made me think about the number of sleepless nights my mom would have spent while raising up three of us. You know we all hear it so many times that we understand our parents better when we ourselves become parents, trust me this statement is cent per cent true and you need to experience it to understand what I mean by this. You indeed get a whole new perspective towards yours and spouse’s parents altogether once you enter this phase of life. Ain’t it? 
Ok enough of Mommy Musings rather MoMusings for now, shall be back with another post pretty soon. I have come to know of this kiddie book publisher who have got some real cool kids’ content. They definitely deserve a mention and review on my blog and I’m so looking forward to finish their series soon.

My First Mother’s Day

May 17, 2012

Normally I’m quite cynical about all these so called special “days” like valentine’s day, rose day, chocolate day, kiss day etc etc etc… I mean you name it and there has to be a day for it! Not that I don’t like to be wished or don’t wish my close people on such relevant days but somehow I’m quite repelled by the overall commercialization of these days. We now officially know that from marketing and promotional success point of view, Valentine’s day in India is actually a more celebrated event than Diwali or Holi. And belonging to the same marketing fraternity I can’t even say everything is irrelevant or not required, though like many other things there has to be a limit to it. Imagine a multivitamin health supplement ad being positioned as Valentine’s Day gift for your loved one? Oh yes, I did spot it in a mainline publication during Valentine’s Day marketing fever. Coming to emotional events like Mother’s day, imagine banners all over web that read sentences like “click here if you love your mom”. From Alphonso Mango to Platinum earrings, everything has to “the” gift, which if not given to your mother would just not prove your love for her! 
Owing to these reasons, I actually refrain from making a big noise of any such day in our lives that are more of marketing gimmicks than anything else. But have to say that all my cynicism and skepticism went for a toss this mother’s day when I saw the little one giving me his trademark gummy smile first thing in the morning. And when Nitin asked him lovingly to wish mumma a happy mother’s day, there he started to grin and gave a further bigger smile. Yes, a four-month can’t speak but his big toothless smile was reason enough to suddenly make me feel special that day, to make me pick him up in my arms immediately and hold tightly as the most prized possession of my life. After that I received a call from my mom and when I wished her “happy mother’s day”, she replied back with a jovial “same to you”.  Wow, there was something in that “same to you”. Yes, yes I know emotional glands become hyperactive the moment you enter parenthood but you know, you have to experience it to know what I mean by feeling most special by just a smile from the little one. Remember your first mother’s day or your first father’s day? Ya, ya exactly that kind of feeling. No gifts, no overtly emotional celebrations, just a quiet lunch-out with family, sweet wishes from close friends and acquaintances, light conversations with my mom and lots of fun with the junior – ingredients enough to make my first mother’s day just so special and memorable. Must confess that motherhood is one such experience that actually makes me look forward to be wished for being a mom on mother’s day, the day after and the day after and… well didn’t I tell you that mommydom makes your emotional glands hyperactive 😉

Kuch toh log kahenge…

March 16, 2012
No, I’m not taking about the television serial which is currently airing these days with this title (BTW since I’m at home these days, I have started watching TV and that too a lot but let me leave this topic for a separate post). Right now I’m in a mood to rant and crib and … well, two and half months into motherhood and I have concluded that you do whatever, there is always someone who will say you should not have done “this” or how could you do “that”. No, I’m serious… you do whatever but people will have something to speak about it. For e.g.,…ummm there are actually many but let me list down this one for now:
Like most Indian families, even my family had that forty days recuperating period where a woman is supposed to follow certain set of rules after delivery. Fair enough, as even medically a woman is supposed to take rest for first six weeks and hence I was ok complying with all those rules. Though did not understand the logic behind many things like certain food restriction including healthy items esp. when medically doctors ask you to eat anything, no walk etc but still I followed everything as suggested by elders.
The first few weeks were just soooo hectic, yes the joy of motherhood is incomparable and I don’t think I can ever find enough words to express the emotions attached with motherhood but then the reality is also that this phase is tough and tiring and unpredictable and exhausting and… well those who have experienced it know what I mean. After the elder family members left, one day my husband asked me to take a break for few hours from all the baby work and relax for a while. He was observing me coping up with my new life, continuously putting in all the efforts that a new mom has to and being awake 24×7 for last seven weeks. In fact I had lots of health issues in my last trimester due to spine problem, so had not gone out anywhere apart from medical checkups for last few months. So, he wanted me to have some change just for couple of hours and knowing my love for movies he asked me how about going for one in the nearby multiplex? Initially I was apprehensive about the idea and thought it to be practically impossible but then he planned it out on behalf of me. My mom who stays in the same town had come and even she insisted that it’s perfectly fine to go out esp. because baby was asleep in the afternoon and that’s the only time of the day when he sleeps at a stretch for 2-3 hours otherwise the max he sleeps continuously is for 1 hour and then it’s milk time for him. So, baby was duly fed, his next feed properly arranged and all his immediate necessity items were explained to my mom with an instruction that if he gets up and cries she should immediately call us and we would reach back in 10 minutes. Apart from mom, my brother as well as my maid was there at home. The kind of preparations and arrangements that I was doing, it looked like as if I was going out for a month. In fact my mom laughed at me and said that she is the one who had brought me up, so she could very well take care of my new born for two three hours. But she also added that she was happy to see the sincere mommy in me and how such feelings automatically come in a woman the moment she becomes a mother.
Anyways, so we went for Agneepath, getting the ticket was no big deal as movie was already running for weeks and it was an afternoon show. I loved the movie and more than that loved the free time I got. It was a pleasant change and in all my excitement I went and posted it on Facebook. Lo and behold, here I dug my own grave. While some were happy that I could manage to go out, most of them pounced back on me with a glaring “how could I”!!! From phone calls to FB messages, from acquaintances to relatives, almost everybody in the same accusatory tone – “how could I! I left a one and half month old baby and went for a movie!!!” Oh yes, it did sound like the biggest sin one could ever commit in the history of mankind. And thanks to same messages being communicated again and again, after sometime even I thought, oh yes how could I. There was this guilt trip suddenly within me, blame it to all the emotional hormones, which are anyways hyperactive during early stages of motherhood. Though when I discussed this with my husband, he had one plain simple statement – what the heck! We discussed and discussed and yes he was right – what the heck!
  • After all, the baby was not left just like that, wasn’t my mother whom I trust the most there at home to take care of him?
  • It was sleep time for the baby and by the time we came back, wasn’t he sleeping peacefully with a lovely smile on his face?
  • Weren’t all his necessities duly pre-arranged and explained to mom?
  • The multiplex was at a distance of hardly 2 kms from my home, so one phone call from mom and wouldn’t have we reached back in max 10 mins?
Well, everybody has their own ways of relaxing and instead of cribbing or sleeping, it’s actually a good movie for us. That one short break refreshed me more than what a nap or anything else could have done. Then why not take that break, get revived and take care of the baby with a happy smile? I would any day prefer to do something within possible limits which can energize me and enjoy this phase happily instead of just cribbing forever that a baby changes the life of a woman forever and alas life will never be the same! Trust me guys, motherhood is anyways so tough but I think it has been made tougher by all these so called “how could you” kinda people around us. And this is just one incident, I have actually many to share where all the efforts have been ridiculously questioned with more ridiculous “how could yous”. Maybe I would list them down in different posts later, as of now I have concluded it once again – kuch toh log kahenge, logo ka kaam hai…. Kya, of course “kehna” 😉
P.S: Phew finished this post in more than ten sittings, thanks to the attention span, which little one allows me these days. The moment I sit with my laptop, he gives me a killer smile and well here goes the laptop for a toss and mommy gets lost in his smile and aaooos, aagooss, geeesss etc 🙂

Letter from Baby to Mum-n-Dad

January 31, 2012
Got this as an email forward and just loved it! I so wish I could know who actually wrote it first. I think all new parents would be able to relate to it and those with grown up kids would surely feel nostalgic after reading this :-).
Dear Mommy and Daddy,
Please keep this letter from me in a place where you can read it and re-read it when things are rough and you are feeling down.
1. Please don’t expect too much from me as a newborn baby, or too much from yourselves as parents. Give us both six weeks as a birthday present, six weeks for me to grow, develop, mature, and become more stable and predictable – six weeks for you to rest and relax and allow your body to get back to normal.
2. Please feed me when I am hungry, I never knew hunger in your womb and clocks and time mean little to me.
3. Please hold, cuddle, kiss, touch, stroke, and croon to me. I was always held closely in your womb and have never been alone before.
4. Please forgive me if I cry a lot. I am not a tyrant who was sent to make your life miserable, the only way I can tell you I am not happy is with my cry, bear with me and in a short time, as I mature, I will spend less time crying and more time socializing
5. Please take the time to find out who I am, how I differ from you and how much I can bring you. Watch me carefully and I’ll tell things which sooth, console and please me.
6. Please remember that I am resilient and can withstand the many natural mistakes you’ll make with me. As long as you make them with love, I cannot be harmed.
7. Please don’t be disappointed when I am not the perfect baby you expected nor be disappointed with yourselves when you are not the perfect parents.
8. Please take care yourself; eat a balanced diet, rest, and exercise so that when we are together you have the patience and energy to take care of me. The cure for a fussy baby is more rest for Mom.
9. Please take care of your relationship with each other. What good is family bonding if there is no family left for me to bond with.
10. Keep the “big picture” in mind. I’ll be like this for a very short time, though is seems like forever to you now. Although I may have turned your life upside down, please remind yourselves that things will be back to normal before long.
Enjoy me – I’ll never be this little again!
– Yours.

Ain’t it just sooooo touching?

Santa did actually come to our home this year :)

December 31, 2011
Santa arrived with quite a clatter
we had to wake to see what was the matter
What a precious gift he left this year
a bundle of joy we love so dear!
Happy to introduce my li’ll bundle of joy to all my readers, I’ve been blessed with a baby boy this year. On this last day of 2011, I’m actually an 11 day old mommy now :), still can’t believe it but yes I’m :). 2011 has indeed been the most special year for me & my family, hope 2012 will be as blissful and joyous like last year.
While the li’ll one is keeping me on my toes, I just managed to sneak in five minutes to wish all of you a very happy and prosperous new year. Have a great & wonderful year ahead!
Phew, this is all I can manage to post while the new daddy is playing with the baby. Time to get back to my new life now :). Will be back with my new set of experiences as and when I can manage time.
P.S: These are the first pair of shoes of the li’ll one gifted by his nani. Gawd, I think I have never been as obsessed with any of my shoes, as much I’ve been with this li’ll pair :). Have kept it on my bedside table like a piece of decoration 😛