We went to the doctor again yesterday! The whole of last month Mowgli has had a cough on and off refusing to completely go away. And its become really bad now. When he breathes you can actually hear the phlegm in his throat. The doctor says it is allergic bronchitis and since the BH’s family has a history of asthma we have to be doubly careful. I am sad today. He is just 5 months old and already taking in so many medicines. I have seen friends bundle up their babies each time they leave the house and I had always thought that I’ll not cover him up like that. Had decided to take him wherever we go so that he gets used to everything and will not fall sick at the slightest pretext. But now I feel guilty. Maybe I should have been more careful. As it is Bangalore weather is so bad and it does invoke allergies in so many people. Plus we live in a very very very dusty localityrootr. The apartment has absolutely no greenery around it. How much ever I try to keep the house clean and dust free, somehow or the other it gets in. :-(
He is sleeping now after his spoons of medicine and steam inhalation. Hopefully he’ll feel better soon. We have to see the doctor again tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed that things will be better by then.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
calming down
Things have settled down a little bit. At least mentally! All the other teams have been given deadlines by which they need to ramp up existing projects and start looking for new jobs. Severance pay packages and notice periods are being discussed. Final decision on our team is still pending, though most of the people have already started floating resumes.
I have not yet decided what to do. Want to really think before I take the next step. After having completed 4 years in this industry the prospect of continuing to do this kind of work just does not interest me now.
My dream of doing something related to environment management still remains. But have not yet found a course in Blore. Its all a question of not knowing where to start or whom to approach for these kind of roles. I would also like to get into a “Trainer” kind of role- Communications training, soft skills etc. Looking around for those openings also. Or else maybe we can live off the severance pay and I take a break. But whatever it is I need to make good use of this break or else it is going to be very difficult to get a job later.
Btw my April horoscope says that I’ll change my line of work pretty soon. Maybe my dreams are on their way to fulfillment?
This year is turning out to be pretty eventful!!!
I have not yet decided what to do. Want to really think before I take the next step. After having completed 4 years in this industry the prospect of continuing to do this kind of work just does not interest me now.
My dream of doing something related to environment management still remains. But have not yet found a course in Blore. Its all a question of not knowing where to start or whom to approach for these kind of roles. I would also like to get into a “Trainer” kind of role- Communications training, soft skills etc. Looking around for those openings also. Or else maybe we can live off the severance pay and I take a break. But whatever it is I need to make good use of this break or else it is going to be very difficult to get a job later.
Btw my April horoscope says that I’ll change my line of work pretty soon. Maybe my dreams are on their way to fulfillment?
This year is turning out to be pretty eventful!!!
Thursday, April 17, 2008
and the world comes crumbling down?
What will you do if one day on reaching office you are told that you no longer have a job?
My company is closing down India operations. Transferring all the work to Malaysia because its more cost effective!
I am not reacting.
Do not know how to react.
Should I react?
I have 3-4 months, the time required to do knowledge transfer, complete running projects, general housekeeping. But after that WHAT?
I donot want to go for a full time job now. Not with mowgli so young. As it is we are finding it so hard to get decent help part time.. forget about full time! if I take a break now will we able to manage? Will I get a decent job after that?
WHAT DO WE DO NOW?
My company is closing down India operations. Transferring all the work to Malaysia because its more cost effective!
I am not reacting.
Do not know how to react.
Should I react?
I have 3-4 months, the time required to do knowledge transfer, complete running projects, general housekeeping. But after that WHAT?
I donot want to go for a full time job now. Not with mowgli so young. As it is we are finding it so hard to get decent help part time.. forget about full time! if I take a break now will we able to manage? Will I get a decent job after that?
WHAT DO WE DO NOW?
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
140 days->20 weeks->5 months
You have completed 5 months this week. That makes it 20 weeks or 140 days.. Is it just that much? It feels like you have been with us forever…
This month was pretty eventful in many ways. Every Sunday saw us going to the hospital for one reason or the other. First the cold, then the cough and finally the dreaded Constipation! For some absurd reason or the other you decided not to poop. After 5 days of no poop and only smelly smelly farts (I am not exaggerating! Ask the doctor if you don’t believe me!) we took you to the doctor. She said we need to use a suppository. There are stool softeners and suppositories for babies!!1 I was shocked out of my wits. I thought constipation was for adults! You screamed and cried so much when we put the suppository I thought my heart would break. It reminded me of my delivery complications. The tears took an entire evening to heal. Now everybody’s first question is “Did Mowgli poop today?” All the gods are being cajoled and flattered so as to bless you with a huge quantity of poop daily J I am sure you are going to kill me for making this public, but this whole month we have all been preoccupied with just this!
You are still an insomniac. Daily naps totaling a miserable 3 hrs ( you don’t take naps.. u take power naps of 15 min, 20 min and emerge completely refreshed . on the other hand if I lie down with you wake up just when I fall asleep L). The books tell me that you should be sleeping throughout the night. Yeah right! How can you sleep for 8 hrs at a stretch when you have to check what mama and papa are up to every two hours? My son, we are too tired to do anything but sleep…
You have the cutest smile on earth and you are quite free with it. Total strangers come up to me and ask me if they can touch you, pull your cheeks, babble at you. Generally make complete fools of themselves in front of you. And you, like a king bestow that toothless drooling smile and they die and go up to heaven right there. Wow! I already dread your teenage years.
Rolling over is at an all time high where you can’t even lie still for a second. Crawling and creeping a lot on the bed or any soft surface. But if we put you on your play mat you absolutely refuse to crawl. Do your knees hurt, sweetie?
There is just one vowel “aah” which you twist to shout t us, roar at us, sing to yourself when you are sleepy and scream at the whole world when you cant get something. You have also been trying to stand! And also sit! The lazy bum that you are, I don’t think you will do much of crawling. Maybe you will just directly start walking.
Though you put up this brave show sometime you are just a scary poo :-) the pressure cooker whistle scares you out of your skin. You stick out your lower lip and wait a few seconds and then proceed to cry, howl etc etc. while an excited mamma runs around trying to capture the moment in camera( you sticking out your lower lip) . I haven’t yet been successful in this, but will be soon. And you still like to sleep like a baby frog :-) on your tummy tucking both your legs under your bum and looking soooooooooooooooooo cute (touchwood!) ummmmaaaaaa
Oh, how could I miss out this. You adore your papa. Whenever he is back from a tour, you somehow don’t sleep till he comes. And then you smile at him, act shy with him, gently explore his face with your stubby fingers all in all contributing to an extremely swollen head papa!
Right now this is all that I can think of sweetie. You are the best thing that has happened to me.
May the coming months ROCK!!!!
This month was pretty eventful in many ways. Every Sunday saw us going to the hospital for one reason or the other. First the cold, then the cough and finally the dreaded Constipation! For some absurd reason or the other you decided not to poop. After 5 days of no poop and only smelly smelly farts (I am not exaggerating! Ask the doctor if you don’t believe me!) we took you to the doctor. She said we need to use a suppository. There are stool softeners and suppositories for babies!!1 I was shocked out of my wits. I thought constipation was for adults! You screamed and cried so much when we put the suppository I thought my heart would break. It reminded me of my delivery complications. The tears took an entire evening to heal. Now everybody’s first question is “Did Mowgli poop today?” All the gods are being cajoled and flattered so as to bless you with a huge quantity of poop daily J I am sure you are going to kill me for making this public, but this whole month we have all been preoccupied with just this!
You are still an insomniac. Daily naps totaling a miserable 3 hrs ( you don’t take naps.. u take power naps of 15 min, 20 min and emerge completely refreshed . on the other hand if I lie down with you wake up just when I fall asleep L). The books tell me that you should be sleeping throughout the night. Yeah right! How can you sleep for 8 hrs at a stretch when you have to check what mama and papa are up to every two hours? My son, we are too tired to do anything but sleep…
You have the cutest smile on earth and you are quite free with it. Total strangers come up to me and ask me if they can touch you, pull your cheeks, babble at you. Generally make complete fools of themselves in front of you. And you, like a king bestow that toothless drooling smile and they die and go up to heaven right there. Wow! I already dread your teenage years.
Rolling over is at an all time high where you can’t even lie still for a second. Crawling and creeping a lot on the bed or any soft surface. But if we put you on your play mat you absolutely refuse to crawl. Do your knees hurt, sweetie?
There is just one vowel “aah” which you twist to shout t us, roar at us, sing to yourself when you are sleepy and scream at the whole world when you cant get something. You have also been trying to stand! And also sit! The lazy bum that you are, I don’t think you will do much of crawling. Maybe you will just directly start walking.
Though you put up this brave show sometime you are just a scary poo :-) the pressure cooker whistle scares you out of your skin. You stick out your lower lip and wait a few seconds and then proceed to cry, howl etc etc. while an excited mamma runs around trying to capture the moment in camera( you sticking out your lower lip) . I haven’t yet been successful in this, but will be soon. And you still like to sleep like a baby frog :-) on your tummy tucking both your legs under your bum and looking soooooooooooooooooo cute (touchwood!) ummmmaaaaaa
Oh, how could I miss out this. You adore your papa. Whenever he is back from a tour, you somehow don’t sleep till he comes. And then you smile at him, act shy with him, gently explore his face with your stubby fingers all in all contributing to an extremely swollen head papa!
Right now this is all that I can think of sweetie. You are the best thing that has happened to me.
May the coming months ROCK!!!!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Working from home
its been a while now...
my maid has left :-( apparently she had a wedding blah blah blah and blah blah blah and so on and so forth. The end result is I am juggling office work and an almost 5 month old baby for 8 hrs at a stretch, which is no mean feat! The office people have agreed to let me work from home as I have no other choice. So its me with my laptop and the myriad of wires and mowgli playing on a mat nearby. so far so good. i am still managing to get work done, attend to calls ( mostly.. if i speak fast and they speak fast and mowgli doesn’t speak at all!) and to tell u the truth I am enjoying this :-) its like I am getting the best of both worlds. I know this is possible only when there are no deadlines looming and work is relaxed. But for now this setup is really good. Mowgli and I talk and play and in between I catch up on work. His sleep times are reserved for the serious work and serious calls. We talk and sing and dance and make funny faces at each other all day( read the "WE" as "I". Mowgli usually looks at me with an expression that says" Gimme a break, lady!!!)
The BH comes by evening and by then I am totally tired and ready to hand over Mowgli to anybody. The only thing that’s lacking is cooking considering that there is no time. So the BH has been entrusted with dinner and he’s doing a good job :-)
A realization that’s come my way is that I need to work. I need to feel that I am contributing something to the family financially, that I am making good use of my education and that I have a life other than my family. If we do not get a maid by next month, then we will have to seriously rethink on my job. Even then I have decided that I’ll study something, do a correspondence course or else work part time or freelance work. For the time being we are managing fine :-)
my maid has left :-( apparently she had a wedding blah blah blah and blah blah blah and so on and so forth. The end result is I am juggling office work and an almost 5 month old baby for 8 hrs at a stretch, which is no mean feat! The office people have agreed to let me work from home as I have no other choice. So its me with my laptop and the myriad of wires and mowgli playing on a mat nearby. so far so good. i am still managing to get work done, attend to calls ( mostly.. if i speak fast and they speak fast and mowgli doesn’t speak at all!) and to tell u the truth I am enjoying this :-) its like I am getting the best of both worlds. I know this is possible only when there are no deadlines looming and work is relaxed. But for now this setup is really good. Mowgli and I talk and play and in between I catch up on work. His sleep times are reserved for the serious work and serious calls. We talk and sing and dance and make funny faces at each other all day( read the "WE" as "I". Mowgli usually looks at me with an expression that says" Gimme a break, lady!!!)
The BH comes by evening and by then I am totally tired and ready to hand over Mowgli to anybody. The only thing that’s lacking is cooking considering that there is no time. So the BH has been entrusted with dinner and he’s doing a good job :-)
A realization that’s come my way is that I need to work. I need to feel that I am contributing something to the family financially, that I am making good use of my education and that I have a life other than my family. If we do not get a maid by next month, then we will have to seriously rethink on my job. Even then I have decided that I’ll study something, do a correspondence course or else work part time or freelance work. For the time being we are managing fine :-)
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Why Blog??
How did I start blogging?
Started off on reading some random posts by Sidin (a friend used to forward some of the funnier posts).. totally bored at office one day was browsing through Sidin’s friends and landed on Sayesha’s blog.. interesting…. I had always kept a diary on and off and this way of recording incidents seemed very novel and exciting.. more random browsing and landed on the madmomma’s blog. At that time I was 6 months pregnant and was at crossroads in my life and career.. at a stage where I wondered how my future would be.. going through her blog and reading about her delightful children, made me realize that life doesnot stop just because you have kids. In fact life continues and you are more the richer for this experience. In a way, I should thank the mad momma for inspiring me to start this blog and to record mowgli’s anecdotes and memories..
I also wanted a platform where I could write about issues I feel strongly about, little nothings, anything and everything…. This blog was born out of the hope that these words will help mowgli in understanding me better and knowing that other than his “momma” I am many more things to different people…
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
We are alone again…
The grand parents are off after 2 weeks of carrying around a junglee and laughing at all his antics and loving him and cuddling him and spoiling him the only way grand parents can.
It was such a comfort to leave for work everyday knowing that there is family at home looking after Mowgli. Whatever the disadvantages of a joint family are, it just evens out when you have kids. Mowgli also has been very happy basking and revelling in the attention showered. He has been very comfortable with them, no crying when I’m gone. Funny how they seem to recognize family immediately. Can they sense the genuine affection?
The first time I left him alone with the maid was for an hour and he howled the place down. But with his ammu (paternal grandmother) he was just playing around. Pretty strange considering that he last saw her when he was 2 months old! The grandparents have downcast faces today.. busy cramming up memories to last them till the next visit.
The difference between grandparents and parents:
Mowgli picks up a toy. Proud parents: “oh look, he has picked it up himself”
Prouder grandparents : “ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.. looooooooooooooook.. look at the way he has picked it up. Clasping it with his finger and thumb.. he is soooooo intelligent. Look look look.. he is doing it again. Mowgliiiiii babyyyyyy…You know Mr.X’s grand daughter? She is 6 months old and still cant pick up a toy… we should tell Mr.X what all our Mowgli can do..” and this is repeated through out the day and the week and the month :-)
Well! Mowgli’s got quite a loyal fan club
***********************************
Our maid is off tomorrow for 5 days (!!!!) so am at home ready to relish these 5 days with mowgli… having a baby has taught me one thing, to live in the moment. As a true blooded Virgo, I live by lists. “What to do next” is my favourite mantra. But after Mowgli I realize that I need to stop and smell the roses more often. The Better Half lives life fully, never planning for the next day. For him a phone call is all it takes to pack his bags and troop off. There are no planned vacations, just vacations when the mood strikes. I am trying to change myself..a small step at a time. If Mowgli laughs at me today when I fool around he might not do it again the next time. So when he does I laugh with him and fool around a little more. The lists can wait… for today I have my baby...
It was such a comfort to leave for work everyday knowing that there is family at home looking after Mowgli. Whatever the disadvantages of a joint family are, it just evens out when you have kids. Mowgli also has been very happy basking and revelling in the attention showered. He has been very comfortable with them, no crying when I’m gone. Funny how they seem to recognize family immediately. Can they sense the genuine affection?
The first time I left him alone with the maid was for an hour and he howled the place down. But with his ammu (paternal grandmother) he was just playing around. Pretty strange considering that he last saw her when he was 2 months old! The grandparents have downcast faces today.. busy cramming up memories to last them till the next visit.
The difference between grandparents and parents:
Mowgli picks up a toy. Proud parents: “oh look, he has picked it up himself”
Prouder grandparents : “ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.. looooooooooooooook.. look at the way he has picked it up. Clasping it with his finger and thumb.. he is soooooo intelligent. Look look look.. he is doing it again. Mowgliiiiii babyyyyyy…You know Mr.X’s grand daughter? She is 6 months old and still cant pick up a toy… we should tell Mr.X what all our Mowgli can do..” and this is repeated through out the day and the week and the month :-)
Well! Mowgli’s got quite a loyal fan club
***********************************
Our maid is off tomorrow for 5 days (!!!!) so am at home ready to relish these 5 days with mowgli… having a baby has taught me one thing, to live in the moment. As a true blooded Virgo, I live by lists. “What to do next” is my favourite mantra. But after Mowgli I realize that I need to stop and smell the roses more often. The Better Half lives life fully, never planning for the next day. For him a phone call is all it takes to pack his bags and troop off. There are no planned vacations, just vacations when the mood strikes. I am trying to change myself..a small step at a time. If Mowgli laughs at me today when I fool around he might not do it again the next time. So when he does I laugh with him and fool around a little more. The lists can wait… for today I have my baby...
lick-o-mania
lickomania
pronounced as [lee-ko-mey-nee-uh]–noun
defined as excessive excitement or enthusiasm to lick every object in sight
The initial stages of the disease are manifested by stuffing small bony fingers in to the mouth and pushing them in as far as they will go (and in turn retching and bringing out all the milk that one has drunk!), to putting tiny toes in and sucking furiously on them. At the later stages the fascination has turned to licking the collar of own t-shirts, sucking the threads out of any clothes nearby, bed sheets, pillow ruffles, stuffed toys, whatever is reachable. And if there is no object nearby one can just flip over and lick the mat/bed or whatever one is lying on!!! And god forbid if anyone tries to pull away the object. SCREAM SCREAM SCREAM... harassed neighbours put in ear plugs.. sigh...
We at the jungle house are hoping that this phase will pass soon, coz Sher Khan is running out on patience ( and dettol to sterilize everything!) .
Btw a small snippet that I have filed away for future blackmail (wicked!!! aren’t I)
While changing mowgli’s nappy, the moment I turned to get a clean nappy, Mr. licker had the soiled one in his mouth and was enthusiastically sucking away.. now if only he would display similar enthu for milk!
pronounced as [lee-ko-mey-nee-uh]–noun
defined as excessive excitement or enthusiasm to lick every object in sight
The initial stages of the disease are manifested by stuffing small bony fingers in to the mouth and pushing them in as far as they will go (and in turn retching and bringing out all the milk that one has drunk!), to putting tiny toes in and sucking furiously on them. At the later stages the fascination has turned to licking the collar of own t-shirts, sucking the threads out of any clothes nearby, bed sheets, pillow ruffles, stuffed toys, whatever is reachable. And if there is no object nearby one can just flip over and lick the mat/bed or whatever one is lying on!!! And god forbid if anyone tries to pull away the object. SCREAM SCREAM SCREAM... harassed neighbours put in ear plugs.. sigh...
We at the jungle house are hoping that this phase will pass soon, coz Sher Khan is running out on patience ( and dettol to sterilize everything!) .
Btw a small snippet that I have filed away for future blackmail (wicked!!! aren’t I)
While changing mowgli’s nappy, the moment I turned to get a clean nappy, Mr. licker had the soiled one in his mouth and was enthusiastically sucking away.. now if only he would display similar enthu for milk!
Wishes and Cheers...
“This is my wish for you: Comfort on difficult days, smiles when sadness intrudes, rainbows to follow the clouds, laughter to kiss your lips, sunsets to warm your heart, hugs when spirits sag, beauty for your eyes to see, friendships to brighten your being, faith so that you can believe, confidence for when you doubt, courage to know yourself, patience to accept the truth, Love to complete your life.”
Lynnie Buttercup
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