Before n after V😃

The day I realized I was pregnant, I was walking on cloud nine. So when my doctor cautioned me to sleep as much as possible since as per her wisdom, once the baby was delivered, I would surely be sleep- deprived, I totally ignored her worldly wise words (to regret later) thinking how hard could it be to make a child sleep.

Ask me the above question now (after 1.5 years) and my answer would be – the baby’s growth is directly proportionate to the number of reasons for NOT sleeping.

Till this date (and I have heard that there are many many more years to come) I am having sleepless nights owing to issues with my baby like – colic, bad dreams, “just want to play” time (the last being invariably at 4am).

Whoever coined the term “sleeps like a baby”should be made to take care of one, especially in the night!!!!

Prior to Vivaan’s birth, I was the sort who loved to sleep and eat on time, and when deprived of either, I used to become like the “Dementors of Harry Potter” fame sucking the happiness out of everyone around. However, now after his birth Vivaan’s smile is enough to take me out of the cranky mood.

With this I realized that many aspects of my life has changed after the birth of my child, some of them are as follo

.Fears

Before Vivaan 

• Cockroaches, lizards and moths would make me shriek and scream so loud that the entire colony would wonder who got hurt!!

After Vivaan

•I am a superwoman in my son’s eyes for bravely shooing away the nasty insects and reptiles of the world. However my fears are now more on the grounds of of self doubt -Will I be able to keep Vivaan from hurting? What if I end up being a bad mother? How do I teach him the good from the bad, how do I save him from various monsters and bogeymen?

To that my wise hubby answers – no mother can be a bad mother and if you think good, things will happen good, if you think bad, bad things will happen so be positive (even if that is not your blood group- oh yes my husband has a sense of humor)

 

2.Me/Us time –

Before Vivaan 

• Sit comfortably on our couch with coffee at hand distance and Read, Read and Read as much as possible as many fictions as possible.

•Every weekend watch a movie in the theatre with hubby dearest no matter how pathetic they might be. We have watched movies as bad as  ‘Fool n Final’ (bet many of you have not even heard this Ayesha Takia movie while we watched it-not that you missed anything) 

• All the saas-bahu serials found an ardent follower in me. 

• Catch up with school friends, college friends, family, distant cousins on phone (monthly bill was never less than Rs5000/-)

 

After Vivaan

• Reading time (when I do manage to squeeze in) involves books on good parenting, blogs on various parenting methods, Baby Centre sites to see if the milestone of my son is proper (Believe me with the kind of research I have done I would surely acquire a PhD in parenting methodology)

•Theater?? Ummm.. how does a theatre look like ? We manage to see one full movie in an installment of 6-7 sittings that too only if its DVD is released.

• The drop in the TRPs for most of the serials in the past one year is thanks to yours truly.

•Phone Monthly bill is hardly more than Rs1000/-

 

3.Shopping

 

Before Vivaan

• Handbag ‘must-haves’ includes – house keys, wallet, tissues, lipstick, comb.

• Shopping at leisure (hand-in-hand) inclusive of window shopping and trying out 10-12 dresses before choosing one.

 

After Vivaan

 

• Handbag ‘must haves’ include-house keys, wallet, 4-5 diapers, wipes, milk bottles, snacks for Vivaan, extra dress for Vivaan, Small towel for vivaan, hand sanitizer

 

• Going to malls and shops only if required and that too with a list. Rest all online shopping and home delivery (the shops that do not home deliver are struck off the list)

While one of us shops the other ensures that Vivaan does not cause catastrophe in the shop!!

4.Travelling out of town 

 

Before Vivaan

 

•Reach airport with one hour to spare, check in all the baggages and have one handbag comprising of the must haves(prior Vivaan). 

 

• While waiting to board listen to i-pod or window shop 

 

• Give seat in the bus to mothers with kids and senior citizens 

 

•When my seat was continuously kicked by joyful 18 months old, i scowled at his/ her apologetic parents

 

After vivaan

 

•Reach airport with more time to spare (though I always end up feeling hurried)

 

•Run behind Vivaan and keep an eye on him (what if he gets kidnapped or lost or hurts himself bad by falling down the escalator) 

 

•I end up getting seat to sit !

 

•Sometimes get scowls from ladies because of my vociferous joyfully kicking-the-seat child. I apologies meekly and whisper into Viv’s ears “I love you sonny boy -keep shouting and kicking hard as much as you want for once you grow up you just wont get to do so 😉

 

So yes, if you ask me would I do that all over again- 8 hrs of labour, sleepless nights, packing suitcases just for a trip to the mall, the paranoia … then my answer would always be Yes, yes and yes because at the end of the day, after all the mess,histronics,  screaming and tantrums I also get tight hugs,  laughter and a house which is now a home:-)

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