-
Some Jarlie is better than no Jarlie
Yog and me achieved a new development milestone on a trip to the Supermarket, few days ago. We dedicate this milestone to Jarlie. This is how the story goes. Toyna, Yog and I love Jarlie. You may ask, “Who doesn’t?” but that is not the message of this story. Till date, whenever we go to a supermarket, we always pick two jars of Jarlie, to share between the three of us. On this historic day, Toyna caught one jar and Yog another, all the way till the billing counters. The two jars were the first items to be billed to ensure that we could start eating them while the rest…
-
Akka and Me
Yogs favorite person in the whole wide world is his elder sister Toyna, whom he fondly calls Akka. For everything that you ask Yog to do, he will immediately ask if his Akka is going to be joining him. This is how our conversations go: Me: Yog you want to go Broom Broom? (meaning scooter ride) Yog instantly nodding his head and asking: Akka? (is Akka coming too?) Me: Yog, shall we go eat ice cream? Yog instantly nodding his head and asking: Akka? (is Akka coming too?) Me: Yog, lets us go to sleep. Yog (first reaction): No sleep!! Mama: No, but it is time to sleep. (catching his hand…
-
The Gift of Good Health
Most days Yogs unlimited energy can be the source of real strain on everyone in the house. Jumping on chairs, climbing on tables, trying to get the TV down or putting his hands between the elevator doors, all these pranks manage to keep everyone on their toes. On extreme days, I wish he would be a little less active, a little more calmer and a lot more disciplined. I guess, my prayers were answered and I was gifted such a day today. Yog contracted a bad stomach infection and he lay in bed barely able to move, dirtying diaper after diaper. There was no jumping around, no broken cups, and absolutely…
-
One Afternoon
The afternoon clock said it was 2:30 p.m. The caller on the phone was desperate. My heart grew heavier as I listened in. Not again, not today. I just couldn’t manage to leave office today. I pacified the caller with an assurance that I would come home if the situation did not improve in the next ten minutes. I looked again at the clock in the corner of my laptop screen. It was not cooperating. It was just 2:31 p.m. There were 89 more excruciating minutes before Toyna would get home. I pushed my chair and got up from my seat. The document on the screen was no longer important. I…
-
The Mystery of the Dysfunctional Machines
Since the last few days, I have been struggling to uncover the mystery behind the strange behavior of electronic machines in our house. Some examples here to show how frustrating life is: I switch on the washing machine when I leave home, expecting it to be done by the time I am back for lunch. At lunch time, 4 hours later, I am surprised to see it stuck mid way. The inverter always refuses to switch on automatically when the electricity goes. The grinder automatically starts on when we switch on the plug, many a times leading to a huge spill. The lights, I keep on at night, mysteriously switch off on their own,…
You May Also Like
Red Wet Shoes
-
The Code Word
ummm, hmmmmm, mmmmm…. How do I tell about something like this? Should I even be writing about it? I don’t know. But since this is so important to me, I think I should go ahead and write about it. To all readers, here is my note of caution: This post may contain details considered dirty and smelly by some. We started potty training Yog about 2 months back. As the term suggests, we used to take him to the bathroom and beg him to please do poo poo in the bathroom. To help him understand that this is the place where such gifts are given, we used to make sounds like mmmhhh, mhhhhh…
You May Also Like
Red Wet Shoes
-
Maybe
There are two challenges I continuously encounter when taking Yog out for his daily walks. One, he loves automobiles irrespective of the fact whether they are stationary or moving. If he sees a car coming towards him, in place of moving away from it, he will try and run towards it. Even a split second distraction on my part can have him hugging the moving automobile in no time. Two, we have explored almost all nooks and corners of the road in our neighborhood so Yog is itching to go some place new each day. I don’t yet have the courage to take him to busier, unknown streets so he…
-
Classic Classy
One thing that I am quite happy Yog has taken from me, is my love for dogs. We don’t have a dog at home so we are always out looking for dogs on the road. There is a very well mannered pet dog in our neighbourhood by the name “Classy”. As soon as we turn the corner where she lives, our eyes strain to find her. As soon as Yog spots her, he runs after her to catch her tail. Classy on the other hand, doesn’t share the same feeling for Yog. She is quite scared of Yog because he often steps on her feet or hits her (when trying…
-
Unadulterated Adulation
Sometimes the Love that you have nurtured and held dear for a long time, has the capability to strangle you completely, till you are gasping for breath. Going through that phase with Yog. His attention for me, and demands of attention from me, are leaving me completely perplexed. When I am at home, the only way to get two minutes to talk, eat or even pee seems like a luxury, a gift granted from God itself. On one hand, I love the fact that he adores me so much. On the other, I wish there was a better form of adulation he could figure out.
-
Lesson on Change Management from Yog
I seem to be re-learning all Project Management lessons from my children. After a session on perception management from Toyna, Yog taught me a very useful lesson on Change Management. As Yog turned one year old, the pressure on me to give up infant practices and transition him into toddler ways started to build up. After his first birthday we took a small vacation and I made up my mind to start working with him on the transition, soon after we return. This meant weaning him from breast milk and formula to cows milk, stopping his bottle feeding and feeding in the middle of nights, not grinding his food and not having him watch TV…