My little one turned 3 and is two months past that in a jiffy. She is growing and changing. The enormity of being a mum is driven home each day. Sometimes I am overwhelmed with love and pleasure for all the love and caring little Garima showers me with. Just this morning she pressed my back with her tiny fingers as she knows by now that her mamma has a bit of a back ache most days. Anyone who has had the good fortune of such a treatment by a child knows the immense joy little hands can bring, soothing, loving and easing away any discomfort. She seems to have a knack and could well be a little physio in the making. Who knows....or a little chef, dancer, singer, cricketer, academic....anything at all.
I see the little mind ticking away, absorbing information from everywhere, repeating verbatim so many things she hears the people around her say, inventing new games and pranks each day and at all times living life fully as only a child knows how to.
Worrisome thoughts flit across my mind as I listen to conflicting theories of child rearing from the near and dear. I wonder if I,m giving her too much attention, being too soft and yielding. Am I doing everything in her best interest, to help her lead her life in a balanced manner etc etc.
Suddenly the little imp calls out for me after her noontime siesta and clambers on to my lap for a hug. Everything falls in place. Love is the best guide and to trust it is my best bet.
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20 July 2009
30 April 2009
Mamma I didnt cry
"Mamma I didnt cry when u left me", said my little one as we hugged each other like we had been parted for days. This was last Monday noon when I went to pick my toddler from occasional care at the nearby school, which runs from 12.30 to 3.00 pm every Monday.
The first few times I left her, she didnt seem to mind at all and continued playing till I went back to pick her. After a health problem I had, which required me to stay overnight at the hospital, this changed. She wouldnt stay back even with her grandmum now and the Monday noon school would see her holding on to me and crying for dear life if I tried to leave her there. After a few Mondays of staying on and playing with her and the other kids, I decided to take the bull by its horns and left her there, while her teacher held her back. I lingered on unseen and she stopped crying in 10 seconds and I left at that point. Two weeks of this and then came school vacations and there was a break for two weeks.
When we went back last Monday, I thought she would bawl as usual. She clung to me kept telling me not to leave her and so I stayed on for 10 minutes. When I got up to leave she pouted and tears sprang into her eyes.....and she said, summoning all her will and courage, "Bye bye mamma", her effort made me proud and made my eyes moist. After a hug and a kiss and a promise to return soon, I left.
Later when I went back to pick her, her eyes lit up like stars like they always do at such a time and after all our hugging, she said to me with great pride, the sentence I started my blog with,"mamma I didnt cry when u left me here " .
I spoke to her teacher and after a few minutes, she smiled at me and said, "mamma I am sooooooo happy u came back to pick me". She kept repeating this for a while till I picked her up and told her, that when I left her someplace I would ALWAYS come back to pick her .
My little one will be all of three, in exactly 2 days from now. For the first time she is able to understand and enjoy all the preparations for her Birthday, though she is a bit mixed up with regards to the facts and figures which causes much mirth.
Dont grow up too fast my baby, enjoy your childhood and may life unfold her wonders and joys to you slowly and gently.
The first few times I left her, she didnt seem to mind at all and continued playing till I went back to pick her. After a health problem I had, which required me to stay overnight at the hospital, this changed. She wouldnt stay back even with her grandmum now and the Monday noon school would see her holding on to me and crying for dear life if I tried to leave her there. After a few Mondays of staying on and playing with her and the other kids, I decided to take the bull by its horns and left her there, while her teacher held her back. I lingered on unseen and she stopped crying in 10 seconds and I left at that point. Two weeks of this and then came school vacations and there was a break for two weeks.
When we went back last Monday, I thought she would bawl as usual. She clung to me kept telling me not to leave her and so I stayed on for 10 minutes. When I got up to leave she pouted and tears sprang into her eyes.....and she said, summoning all her will and courage, "Bye bye mamma", her effort made me proud and made my eyes moist. After a hug and a kiss and a promise to return soon, I left.
Later when I went back to pick her, her eyes lit up like stars like they always do at such a time and after all our hugging, she said to me with great pride, the sentence I started my blog with,"mamma I didnt cry when u left me here " .
I spoke to her teacher and after a few minutes, she smiled at me and said, "mamma I am sooooooo happy u came back to pick me". She kept repeating this for a while till I picked her up and told her, that when I left her someplace I would ALWAYS come back to pick her .
My little one will be all of three, in exactly 2 days from now. For the first time she is able to understand and enjoy all the preparations for her Birthday, though she is a bit mixed up with regards to the facts and figures which causes much mirth.
Dont grow up too fast my baby, enjoy your childhood and may life unfold her wonders and joys to you slowly and gently.
26 March 2009
My toddler and I - and some NRI banter
Reading a fellow blogger's recent post sparked this new post after about 7 months. Little Garima will be all of 3 in May and our days seem to be filled with all variety of learning and entertainment, errands, books and lots of "why,s" from her end and an effort to answer her reasonably on my end. I do have to strain the grey matter a bit when she asks for reasons for everything which for an adult would generally be obvious. Curiosity is the mother of knowledge they say, so I tell myself, its all good in the end. Apart from asking questions all day, she sings a line or two from her fast growing repertoire of hindi,kannada and telugu songs and also shakes a mean hip, wrapped up in her "Saawee"(sari) which is one of my dupattas being put to very good use.
She is our resident shrink too as she reads us like a open book and sweetens us in a jiffy in case one of us gets a bit sour with her. She is involved in all that I do and vice versa.
I,ve been a peoples person all my life and the entry of Garima into our life has slowly and subtly changed me in more ways than one. Every parent worth her/his salt knows what I,m talking about. Apart from the regular stuff I have learnt to really love staying home. Now this is an accomplishment for me and all who know me will understand why. Ever since I knew right from wrong I had a penchant for being out with friends in a lot of my free time. After migrating to Australia, weekends would mean regularly inviting others or being invited for dinner and chitchat long into the nights. This must be an NRI malady since most of them seem to indulge themselves in similar pursuits, at least till they have children.
Very soon something started gnawing at me. I had this huge group of acquaintances who were very familiar by now but still were likely never to become friends except one or two. This was a bit strange because back in India I never ever socialised in this meaningless manner. Only once friendship had blossomed would we start to hang out together making it a rewarding experience. To cut a long story short, now I,ve gone back to socialising with a few likeminded people and not very often at that.
I had intended to do some food blogging too but I,ve proved to myself time and again that my love of reading, cooking and eating far surpasses my photographic abilities and the pereseverance required to blog about it. All the food bloggers continue to amaze me and they provide me with constant inspiration to try new recipes. I will end this post with a thanks to them. Keep up the good work guys.
She is our resident shrink too as she reads us like a open book and sweetens us in a jiffy in case one of us gets a bit sour with her. She is involved in all that I do and vice versa.
I,ve been a peoples person all my life and the entry of Garima into our life has slowly and subtly changed me in more ways than one. Every parent worth her/his salt knows what I,m talking about. Apart from the regular stuff I have learnt to really love staying home. Now this is an accomplishment for me and all who know me will understand why. Ever since I knew right from wrong I had a penchant for being out with friends in a lot of my free time. After migrating to Australia, weekends would mean regularly inviting others or being invited for dinner and chitchat long into the nights. This must be an NRI malady since most of them seem to indulge themselves in similar pursuits, at least till they have children.
Very soon something started gnawing at me. I had this huge group of acquaintances who were very familiar by now but still were likely never to become friends except one or two. This was a bit strange because back in India I never ever socialised in this meaningless manner. Only once friendship had blossomed would we start to hang out together making it a rewarding experience. To cut a long story short, now I,ve gone back to socialising with a few likeminded people and not very often at that.
I had intended to do some food blogging too but I,ve proved to myself time and again that my love of reading, cooking and eating far surpasses my photographic abilities and the pereseverance required to blog about it. All the food bloggers continue to amaze me and they provide me with constant inspiration to try new recipes. I will end this post with a thanks to them. Keep up the good work guys.
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