Browsing category

toddler fun

Talking Parrot – 3

August 25, 2014
Crazy days, crazier nights! No wonder I have not come back to this space for almost 3 months now. 3 months and I must have got at least 13 posts saved in my drafts folder and another 30 in my must-blog-on-this list but damn… this daily madness of my life. A detailed post on what’s keeping me on my toes these days in another post later. For now, let me come back to yet another anecdote in my Talking Parrot series.
Yesterday it was one of those very tiring days; by night I was literally dragging myself to finish the daily chores. It was almost midnight and little one wanted to play basketball at that hour! Oh yes, craziness like these are normal affair in my household now. I have no idea from where does he gets all this energy, I have concluded that he runs on a battery and that too something more powerful than Duracell… chalta hi jaye, chalta hi jaye types. Anyways coming down to the talking parrot series, here’s a replication of the late night conversation between Mumma & Ni:
Ni: Mumma, tya hua? Abhi thelo na piliizzzz. Pilizz, pliiiiiizzzz (He uses “T” for “K” in hindi, so thelo is actually khelo in his language as of now :))
Me: (With a very tired expression), Not now Ni. Kal subah khelte hai
Ni: (Upset & silent with a pout, looks at me intently)
Ni again: Mumma tya hua? Tum thatt dayi ho (Tum thak gayi ho)?
Me: (with a sad face) Haan beta, bahot thak gaye hai. Sach mein
Ni runs to the fridge, comes back with something in his fist & asks me to sit down.
Ni: Mumma idhal aao, neeche baitho ne et (ek) min mere paas
Me: Haan baith gaye, bolo kya hua?
Ni immediately opens his fist, shows me some grapes and brings one to my mouth saying: Mumma ye grapes tha lo, tumhara sab thatt theet ho jayega, fruit thane se hum strong bante hai na (Mumma, ye grapes kha lo, tumhara sab thak theek ho jayega, fruit khane se hum log strong bante hai na. Of course it was me who was giving me this gyaan on eating fruits the same evening). 
And lo, Mumma was suddenly all awwww & oooo & teary eyed & lumpy throat! The next moment Mumma ate that grape and hugged him in her cheerful “ole mela beta” mood. Trust me just one grape fed by those tiny little hands and with a face full of innocent love were sufficient enough to charge me for another hour to play many rounds of basketball & football matches with him.

At times I wonder if moments like these are sudden or seeded in life. As they come unexpectedly on days when you’re really down or frustrated. And one such moment, just one is sufficient enough to make you realize that all this effort is worth it. Totally, absolutely worth it! :). Thank you God for this blessing in life!

Motherhood & Guilt (Talking Parrot – 2)

January 31, 2014
Last day of the first month of 2014! Wow, time flying, running and what not. So, what’s up with you all? Hope you had a great start to the new-year.

Well for me, life’s going on with more hiccups but some fun too, busier but with new learning too, tougher but with more… errm wait, what’s my life if it’s not tough. Don’t remember when was the last time that it was simple, or as per plan or easy. But whatever it is, it’s going on. More on some key changes in my life this year in my next post. As of now, I’m back with my talking parrot series with the little one :).

Early morning I was standing in the balcony when suddenly I heard the gas lighter being clicked. Surprised I wondered who was in the kitchen, as husband had gone for his morning run and little one was sleeping. Immediately I rushed inside only to be completely horrified by what I saw next. The little dude had pulled a small stool near the kitchen slab, stood on it, had switched on the gas burner and was clicking the lighter from a distance. Oh god! I can’t explain how scared I got for a moment. Immediately I pulled him down, switched off the knob and got mad at him. I shouted for good a minute or two I think – “why didn’t you call me when you woke up, why do you try to do things which are beyond your age, kuch ho jata toh, oh god why can’t he sit peacefully even for a minute, how can a two-year old be so difficult to deal with, blah blah blah & some more blah”.
When I was done with my shouting, little one climbed up on stool again and innocently asked me:

He: Mumma Tai peeogi?
Me: What?
He: Tai Tai (Chai).
Me: Dumbstruck I looked at him silently
He: Aaj Ni Mumma te liye Tai banayega!
Once again I don’t think I can express it in words how I felt at that moment. With welled up eyes, guilt within, I looked at his innocent expression. And within seconds my emotions took hundred and eighty degree turn! Thousands of thoughts flashing across my mind – why wasn’t I more patient, why did I get irritated without trying to understand what he was trying to do and many more… Gawd, motherhood is one hell of a complicated thing. Apart from making your emotional gland hyperactive, it also makes this emotion known as “guilt” super productive. You do whatever, this damn guilt doesn’t leave you at peace!
While the sensible brain told me that I reacted for all right reasons, after all within few seconds something really bad could have happened with that gas stove on but the emotional side kept on telling me – has anyone ever offered you tea in the morning since you left your mom’s house? Wasn’t it the sweetest thing a two year old could think of doing for you? It was, it really was…

The Talking Parrot Series – 1

October 27, 2013
I have a talking parrot at home these days and that parrot is none other than my little one! Yes, he talks now and that too a lot. Time flies, we always say this, but wait till you have a baby and see him/her growing in front of you. You really will see this term “time flies” in a different light altogether . So, this talking parrot has to repeat everything we speak. At times, his sentences leave me totally amazed wondering if it’s really him who said all this! And the reactions range from Awwww to WTH to Oleeee to WHAT! Yes, yes parenting emotions are all about diversity and that too at a speed which you won’t even know is humanly possible 😛
So, yesterday I was trying out a dress and little one was as usual messing up with things kept on the dressing table. What’s with the fascination of these kids with dressing table and kitchen utensils! As usual my brain was multi tasking and while I was looking at the fitting of the dress, I kept on saying, “Ni No! Don’t throw this! Don’t open that” A total irritated WTH stage I was into when the little one suddenly stopped and started looking at me intently with a smile.
Me to Ni (that’s what he calls himself these days): Ni, Mumma achchi lag rahi hai?
Ni: Aan, Mumma achchi. After a short pause, with gleaming eyes and pointing to his own clothes, he asks: Mumma, aul Ni achchi?
Oh that shining eyes and that cute “Aul Ni achchi”, I immediately bent down, hugged him and replied:
Me: Ale Ni toh hamesha achcha, har kuch mein achcha, sabse achcha!
Ni: Otte. Mumma bi hamesha achcha, hal tuch mein achcha, shabshe achcha!
I can’t tell you how I felt at that moment! An immediate transition to “Awwww” from “WTH” within seconds! I know he didn’t understand what he said, he was just repeating my sentence by replacing Ni with Mumma but still it was such a different thing to listen to it from his mouth. #WishfulThinking by the mommy in me – Wish he will say this someday when he understands the meaning of it as well .
And the mommy in me has decided to document such tidbits of my current phase of life. On those gloomy, clueless, lost-in-life days I must come back and read these to remind myself that life is not only about pre-decided goals, fierce ambition, planned holidays, showcasing our perfect life on social media and socializing with so-called friends! At times, it’s just about living in the moment and experiencing it then and there. For you never know, when one of those moments will actually become memory that you would like to cherish forever! A memory that’s sure to bring a smile on your face whenever you will think of that moment!

Meri Adhuri Kahani…

April 13, 2013

Without any deliberation, I think I should title this post as “Meri Adhuri Kahani”… yes, that’s what the status of my life is these days. Almost everything adhura or half complete! Blog posts – half complete, books – half complete, paintings – half complete and millions of things at work – half complete! Ufff where are days flying by these days? In past few weeks, I have saved soooo many posts in drafts. I thought to share about my excitement of watching a movie in theater after almost an year and what better movie than Kai Po Che to write a post about but that too half complete. Women’s Day, Holi, some positive updates at work, some not-so-pleasant updates of motherhood but everything half complete. And this also reminds me that I have a new template for my blog and even that work is – half complete! Phew, let us see if I manage to complete this post till end or this also becomes a part of my “Adhuri kahani” series.
Anyways, coming down to this post… last two weeks have been no less than mayhem at my household. Maid lapata (ufffff this misery never ends ) and to top it, little one terribly sick. High viral fever followed by body rash and super fussiness! But what was the highlight of this phase was his blood test. Yeah, blood test and you might be thinking what’s so big deal about getting a blood test done. Ain’t we all get pricked all the time? I, for one, have always managed to get all my tests done alone without much ado and after reaching adulthood at times have even wondered on few women who shout and create hungama during blood tests. Yeah, I met many such ones esp. during pregnancy checkups. During those days, checkups and lab visits used to be quite frequent and so were the encounter with such screaming and ‘oh-i-m-such-a-delicate-baby’ kind of women. Trust me I never could fathom the big deal about it! But things were different this time when I went for the first blood test of my little one. The moment he entered the lab he started howling, maybe the setting around made him scared or whatever. He was anyways in high fever & then came out three needles. Okkkk, and then I was suddenly nervous! Rational mind said it’s after all few pricks that would get over in seconds but the mommy mind said – oh my god, all these would be inserted in his veins. Yes, I was sweating even in that AC. And this little hyper active brat – uffff you do anything but he could manage to free himself from that doctor’s hands and roll over to the other side of the lab table. Then came another worry – what if the needle moves inside if he would be this unstable! Hee hee, I am laughing now while I am writing this. But this, as well as millions of whats and ifs and buts were coming to my mind during those few minutes of his first blood test. He was screaming at the top of his voice and both me and my husband were standing still, silent, apprehensive with our fists tightened and brows joined! It took 2 nurses, 1 doctor, 1 lab assistant and 2 of us to finally make him stable to go through those three needles and yes, those were just another pricks. Little one was crying more because of being scared than pain and we were worried more for… ummmm…. Ha ha ha I think no idea why on earth were we so worried that time. But we were! Didn’t I say earlier that parenthood makes your emotional glands hyperactive . And at the same time it does make you strong, far stronger than what you were before.
Thank God, he is better now and everything seems to be coming back to normal. But I had no idea that something as small as a blood test can evoke so many emotions within me. This had to be jotted down somewhere for us to read and have a good laugh later .
So, tell me how was it for you when you took your little ones for blood test for the first time? Were you like me or your normal calm composed state?
P.S: Yayyy, finally I could manage to finish this post. But guess how many sittings did it take to complete this? 5! Yeah, that’s how my life is these days 🙂