And the award for best mommy goes to....

Well, sure, if this was a competition there would be billions of contenders and each one a winner. After all every mom in every corner of this world, however primitive or modern (and I would include every female creature on the face of this earth), looks out for her little one and puts its well being above everything else. 'So what ?' is your question, right? The point is, I never considered myself as a stereotypical mom, thinking that I would have revolutionary ways of bringing up my kid. No over hyped drama for me..no way! Ha! Little did I know what a roller coaster ride I had ahead of me.

Now that I think about it, it was a weird start and looking at that time of my life I sure was not the best mommy! A year and a half back S and me were still going back & forth about the whole 'having a baby decision'. Parents were getting worried and trying to ward off any questions from people but trying their best to not put us under any pressure. I am sure other people back home (satellite relatives) were wondering what the deal was...5 years into marriage and no sign of a cradle...'surely the girl needs some medical or divine intervention' must have been the talk of town. Fast forward to Jan of 2009, we finally decided we would take this seriously and start working for it. After all it would still be at least 6 months before we got pregnant. Ha again..it happened just a month down the line!

The first time I saw the pregnancy test I wanted to rewind the whole thing and go back to being not pregnant. Family being super excited and throwing instructions and advice left & right , not to mention the constant questioning about my feelings about being pregnant just made me uncomfortable. I just did not want to talk about it. That was the first trimester. As my little one started wiggling and making his presence felt, I couldn't help getting more and more attached. I would enjoy the silly chats we had on the drive to work. I liked the feeling of not being alone and always having someone to listen to me without any questions or prejudice. Finally, D day came and little A said hello to the world on a cool December evening. The delivery in itself was an adventure and A made sure that we got desperate enough to see him ! He was a bundle of joy and who would imagine that such a tiny little baby would dictate our lives to his whims and fancies.

And now, here I am 91/2 months later, enjoying every moment of mommy hood, struggling with all the emotional ups and downs attached, being possessive and worrying myself sick over little things related to A. In short, I am doing every thing any mom would be doing...nothing revolutionary! I make sure that there is drama everywhere around me...what a surprise! But at the end of the day, my little baby looks upto me and I (of course hubby included...but since this post is about me, lets stay focused) am responsible for shaping his life. And maybe the decisions I take may not always be right but I always do my due diligence and hope that if anything goes wrong, I would be the one to take the hit. And to come back to where we started out, the whole point of this post is to reiterate that even though billions of women do the same thing for their kids, they each deserve the award for 'Best Mommy'!

Beach Bum(mer)

So the all-important first birthday came and went. Since we're away from all of my friends as well R's growing coterie of teeny friends, we decided to postpone the all-out cake 'n balloon celebration to later in the month. Instead, we marked the day with R's first visit to the beach.

R is total water baby since birth. He adores bath time and the mere sight of a tap causes him to dissolve into delighted squeaks. So, we figured, this would be treat for him - water as far as the eye could see and permission to splash away! But, as I have learned before, Fate and babies always have other plans.

We got to the beach just as the sun was preparing to set in all its orange glory. (I swear I heard music playing in my head thinking of how perfect the setting was for this momentous event). But the moment the first wave neared the lovely golden sand we stood on, sonny boy burst into loud, sobbing wails. Get a load of that! The water baby!? Here I was, all armed with a camera to capture that first touch of water, and R clung to me for dear life, staying doggedly turned away from the water. Something about the ocean had upset him enough not to give his darling water a chance!

With a lot of pacifying and coaxing, I got him to sit a fair distance away from the water in the sand. Once the pressure to like the ocean was off him, R spent a considerable time fingering the sand, curious about how it slipped through his chubby little fingers, enjoying the feel of it. He made sure I didn't move an inch away all the while, or so much as step towards the water. I wondered, just then, if I push him to do what I assume he would or would not prefer, messing up his own simple system of like and dislike. There did not have to be a logic, a need or reason to not like something. What is, is.

Persistent mommy that I am, I took him to the beach again the next day, in a totally different setting - bright warming sunlight, squealing children and no mention of water. I eased towards the water as I spoke to him, distracting him with other sights, and as I bent with him, tiny toes dangling, to a wave petering out, I was awarded with a tentative smile. We spent a good fifteen minutes dipping into waves this way, not moving from our station, letting the waves kiss our feet if they made it that far.

Whew, he could get to like it after all. In his own time.

And Mommy gets another lesson in taking.it.slow.and.easy.



p.s. Since there would be all too many A's in this set of mommies, I decided to opt for an R to stand for my A ;)