The Kiss Goodbye

Time flies by so quickly. Just a few weeks back I was writing about Yogs first day at school. Today, I am writing about how both him and me reached another set of critical milestones in our journey.

Yesterday, as I dropped him at school, I was expecting him to cry his heart out, seeing me leave.  Till we reached the school gate, Yog was smiling happily, sitting proudly in any arms. In my mind, I was counting seconds and preparing for the outburst. Any moment now, he would start screaming at the injustice of having to separate from his one and only biological mother.

We entered his classroom and the Teachers assistant came forward to take him. From my arms to hers, the transition was smooth. No tears so far. I was praying, “Yog, please remain calm for a few more seconds till I disappear from the scene! How I hate to see you cry.” Then, to my surprise, he waved his hand at me and in his adorable voice said, “Ta Ta”. He then stuck his palm to his mouth and gave me a flying kiss. My eyes welled up with tears. I wanted to go back and hug him, but prudence demanded that I leave before this moment passed.

Holding the moment close to my heart, I rushed back to office to immerse myself in work. Meetings, calls, emails, documents ate up my morning and the clock slowly inched closer towards lunch time. In the middle of an intense meeting, my phone rang. It was a call from home inquiring about Yog. Why hadn’t Yog reached home till now?

My heart sank. Of course, I knew the answer, “Because his biological mother had forgotten to pick him up from school!” It was 50 minutes past his school closing time and I was extremely upset with myself. I dropped everything at work, picked up the car and rushed to his school. Five minutes later, as I parked my car outside his school, I strained my ears for his cries. Nothing! Something must be wrong. Maybe he was so tired, he slept. Maybe, he wasn’t in school at all. Maybe someone stole my precious bundle from the school. Maybe…You can imagine how a mothers heart can cook up these monstrous stories within seconds.

I rushed to his classroom to find him playing happily with his friends and teacher. They had to call him twice before he realized I was there in the classroom. He came running towards me and we came back home happily.

On this momentous day, Yog finally settled in school and I settled in office, so much so as to forget to pick him up from school. What kind of a mother am I !???!!