And then it was done...

When babies are small, they need you so much. So much that sometimes you want a break from being their mother, their caregiver, their one true need. After all the stress of work and baby, you are often wondering, when will my baby start doing things on her own...well...apparently now for my Babs girl!

By the time she was two she was off diapers, thanks to Pinky, her baby sitter. She started to eat on her own before she turned three and by the time she was four, eating out was not a challenge any more. She started to choose and wear her clothes, get her hair done and sometimes even make up done before she turned five. A few things left for me or G to do were her bath...this was a major ticket item, one that G and I fought over when we were tired...

This past Saturday a friend was coming home and our home was a mess. I was trying to clean up and G was helping me. Babs after playing outside was a mess and desperately needed a shower. G took her in, turned the tap on at the right temperature and told her to call him when she was soaked enough to get her lathered up...and completely forgot about it. Fifteen minutes later when I asked him if he had helped Babs finish her bath he stared blankly at me. Both of us rushed to our room to find a clean Babs, neatly dressed and doing her hair. "Now what else is there for us to do?" we both wondered.

It is true that every time your baby weans off a dependency a new one comes up. They are never going to not need you, at least that is the hope. I think I would be an emotional wreck if my girl told me that she was done needing me...But at the same time you make me proud every time you take on a new challenge.

Love
Your Amma

PS: Babs, you were showering the other day and you had secretly used your Papa's soap. When I wanted to cream you up, you begged me not to do that. I asked you why and you said, "I like the smell of Papa's soap, it reminds me of him, please do not take it away with the cream smell."

PPS: You sang for the first time on a mike at a karoke party! Now I am officially ready to go to a Karoke Bar with you...cannot wait!

7 Years!

During my first eleven years in Trichy I moved three times. When we moved to Chennai, we moved four times. That is times in eleven years until we finally settled down. And then I should remember my internship in Bangalore too. Then it was time for me to move to US. In the last thirteen years, I have changed cities, five times and houses five times too. I have pretty much been on the move making memories at every single place as I flit between homes. I really wonder how much fun it would have been if we had an ancestral home where we would have lived all our life and could also go back to it during vacation. I am jealous of all the people who have this opportunity. Then again, this moving is what makes me, well, me! 

Over the years, I have developed this detached attachment to places. I know I will leave them one day and hopefully move to better life and opportunities. When I came to America from Chennai, I carried, like all others, two suitcases of important things and tons of memories. That single experience changed me. Now I am a hogger for anything and everything that means memory-making. I have unopened boxes labeled as "Trinkets."

So anyhow, now after seven years we moved last week. The past seven years, have been the longest stint for us in one single home. And surprisingly the same holds good for the husband. We are nomads! We hate the change and we did not want to move out of the condo, until now. We are literally being forced to move for the sake of the daughter. Babs has to go to school and for that we had to move to a neighborhood with a good school district. So here we are, in our own home finally. We had tried to look for homes in the past but each time we were ready to close we backed out. We liked the comfort, the static life, the ease of lifestyle that our Condo provided. We were not ready to take on the adventure of being home owners until we had no choice.

Finally, we moved in. Into our very own nest. The feeling is different and I can compare it to having a baby. The home needs attention, love, caring, nurturing, just like a baby. Sometimes even more attention than a baby. We are constantly thinking of things to do, things that need to be done, or this and that and all about the house. Not that Babs has taken a back seat, that will never happen but that house is a close second now.  

Honestly, it is tiring, back breaking, never ending...but at the end of the day, with wine in one hand and feet up, sitting by the pool with friends, letting the pleasant July air waft by...it's all worth it!

Love

ART

PS: Surprisingly beautiful July Dallas is enjoying this year.