Learning Curve

I have learnt a lot of things in these 6 months, a few being:

-pacifying a baby – considering the fact that I had never held a baby that small for more than 2 minutes, 

-decoding her cries – yes there is difference when she means ‘I am hungry’, ‘I want to be held’, or simply ‘I am bored’

-sleeping anywhere and anytime of the day,

-swallowing meals – they are no longer eaten,

-loo breaks do not depend upon nature’s call but on baby’s call,

-quick showers not lasting more that 5 minutes - having a long, relaxing bath is a luxury

-getting ready in 5 minutes – no matter what the cliché about women and dressing up is, the moms of infants know how to dress up in 5.

On a more serious note, I have rediscovered myself. With Angel I am a bundle of patience, which I never knew existed. But, its just with her. With others I am plain old impatient me. Or maybe even more impatient to balance out the patience levels, you see. I have met a more loving, caring, sensitive and responsible me.  Incidents of robbery, abuse and rape affect me like never before and I wonder if we have done the correct thing by bringing a new life in this unsafe world, but soon the optimist in me awakens and lists all the positive things and I realize that world is not such a bad place after all. There are so many beautiful places to see and so many things to do that one lifetime is just not enough.

I value my relationships much more now. Most important being my mother.  I think you realize the importance of your parents much more after you become parents. Now when I get up at 3 am for Angel’s feeds, I realize that my mother would have done the same for me. She is a working mom who led a very busy life with three of us and at a time when not many amenities were available. Yet, I can count on my fingertips, the number of times she had lost patience with me. (Maybe because I was not a difficult child. Or so I believe. Anyways, I am digressing.)  She is always very encouraging and very patient, strict just where needed. Next comes my father. Although his involvement in raising us, as in spending time with us was considerably less as compared to my mother, but he was always there for us,  just like a rock, providing steadiness. He was always available in the evenings, giving my mother some breathing time. He balanced his work and family life perfectly. I remember we used to patiently wait for him to come back in the evening and he used to give me and KayCee a ride around the colony on his scooter, every single day. He then used to take us for a walk, sometimes to a park, sometimes to a temple or airport, telling us stories or talking to us all the way. I believe that even if I do half of what they have done for us, I will be raising a very beautiful individual.  Just when I thought I knew him in and out, I discovered a completely new side of J* too. He is a wonderful father and its such a pleasure to watch both of them. They adore each other and completely enjoy each other’s company. And thus he gives me a much needed breathing space after he comes back from work. At that time, I just watch TV, read a book, surf the Internet or simply watch both of them, from a distance, of course, lest her mood changes and she wants to come back to me.

This turned out to be a pretty long post, longer than I intended too, but then, Angel is sleeping longer than she usually does!