Today is my little one's 3 rd birthday. When people say the birth of your baby is a life changing event, you don't grasp the meaning of it, until you have one. But again, when I think about it I feel the birth alone did not change my life. Did I imbibe motherly qualities over-night? Did I fall in love with my child at the first sight? Neither of them are true. What actually changes your life happens over a period of time - a period of time when your crazy, fussy baby becomes a hyperactive toddler and this hyperactive toddler becomes this defiant 3 year old, you realize amidst this craziness your love for your child has grown deeper and stronger and you are hooked for life with this little CRAZY thing you brought into this world :-)
"0 comments" post is like a lady who has never been wooed or rather never been wooed to the knowledge of the another potential suitor. Such a lady might have all the qualities a man desires, however is never wooed just because nobody else has ever wooed her to his knowledge. That is the state of a decent post with no comments - nobody wants to comment on that post, just because nobody else has!. :-)..just a crazy thought...
As parents we always want to teach our kids the right things - how to share, how to treat other people with respect, how to be fair to everyone, how to be humble and so on. But how many of us really believe in the morals we teach our kids? Do we really, truly believe in all the values we teach our kids? This is a question we need to ask ourselves. At an early age, kids can figure out that our actions do not sync up with our words. Also, recently there is a growing obsession with one's kids. I understand we all love our kids to death, however we have to remember that every kid is born with a special talent and is different and wonderful in some way. Every parent thinks their kid is smart, creative and intelligent little human being, even if he/she is not. So please stop talking about your kid as the "gifted" one. I am tired of such parents in playgroup and social gatherings. They will not directly tell praise their kid, however will use every opportunity to indicate that their kid is ahead in the race..what race you may ask? like potty training, learning to walk, talk, knowing their ABC's, being social, the list goes on.
Life is too short. Enjoy your kids AND also others kids. Learn to appreciate the beauty in God's every creation. Stop this obsession. No matter how "gifted" you kid is, there is definitely a kid in some part of the world who is better than your kid. Learn to love your kids as they are...sorry for being so preachy, but I cannot take it anymore!!!
Image Courtesy: http://themomcoach.typepad.com Oh my God! I am totally at crossroads in my life right now. It is comforting to know that Laksh also went through the same thing. I am so torn between working full-time and being there for my son. I know very well that he is getting the attention he needs and is being well taken care of emotionally and physically, yet I cannot get over the feeling that I ought to be with him. I do not think it is guilt. I just think that I enjoy being with my son so much that I miss him during the day when Iam at work. I would love to work from home at least 2 days a week, but I do not have that choice now. Even if I work from home I do not think that is equivalent to being with him all day, focusing on him, doing fun activities with him. I just miss that. I have the choice to quit, but that would mean more struggle down the line – giving up a good career and starting all over again. Since you kids will need you in some way or other for the next 10 years, re-starting a dead career will be more of a challenge, when you are not doing something. As it is, this break has been difficult for me, as I took off from the workforce for 2 years. A mother is not allowed to take even 2 years to raise a child? I really hope the work environment offers more part-time and flexible options for mothers. Also, I really hope the workforce is lenient towards mothers taking a break to raise their kids. In the end, it will be a win-win situation, because happy mothers mean happy kids and happy kids hold promise for better generation that is secure and high-achieving. As a mother, I never underestimate my constant presence in my son’s life. I wish I could have it all!!!
Well, what should I be doing now? Studying, applying for jobs, catching up on sleep, exercising?? After all this is my break time (my son is napping). Instead what am I doing? Blogging. Why? Because it is so very difficult to stop and capture the train of thoughts, for a later point in time (anyways there is no later point in time to blog).
Coming to the topic, isn't it strange? I mean to love the things we once hated and to hate the things we once loved? Here are few examples:
When I came into this country I had to work in an ice-cream shop. Of course we got free milk-shakes and ice-creams anytime we wanted. I wish I knew more about fat/saturated fat/trans fat/empty calories back then, I wouldn't have made ice-cream my lunch and dinner. Well, I always thought I would be a 'back of bones'. I was wrong. Age and weight catch up with you fast. Anyways, back to the point..I used to hate mint-chocolate chip flavor. I used to think why do "these" people like this tooth-paste (min-choco ice-cream used to taste like indian tooth-paste to me) so much?
When my roommates used to drag me to Tacobell, I used to crave the indian wrap (whatever they call them, i forgot the name).
I used to love the idea of returning back to India to live close to my relatives. I loved the idea of meeting them everyday and they being part of our lives and spending time with them. I loved the idea of joint-family system.
Fast forward, 9+ years:
I really like indian tooth-paste for an ice-cream. I crave tacobell food over the indian wrap. I am happy being in U.S of A, my independent self, leading an independent life-style. I hate the constant interference of relatives when I go to India. I find life claustrophobic with too many rules to adhere to and too many pretensions to live by with my relatives constantly hovering around us. However, I love to live close to my parents (i hope that does not change :-)).
Sometimes, it is scary to realize that you change so much. Is this what they refer as becoming "Americanized"?
Happy Birthday dear!! 
