Miles to go before I sleep ...

Raising another human being is definitely a huge task... and especially, when it's your own... you are always overwhelmed with mixed feelings... To do or not to do!!

With two sons, having a mere 2.5 yrs of an age difference, my life is definitely blended into their routine. Their feeding, the showers, the manners...every single detail has to be looked in with the utmost care. Overwhelmed, tired or aything...life wouldn't stop. My kids are actually growing at such an amazing pace ( I mean.. i know every kid does..but when it's your own one, you tend to actually compare them when they are still in their diapers too... trust me, it can't get anymore bigger than my mother still recollecting all the toys she used to buy for my baby brother, who is now a 25 yr old handsome dude ! ) Strange are the ways of mom... Right ?

The other day, I was trying to organize the videos and the old pictures of my kids. What a joy swept over my mind when I was watching my older kid(a 9 month old baby in the video) trying to crawl for the first time and laughing at himself hilariously. It was as if it just happened yesterday. And its more than four years now.

As I realised, the various milestones in any baby's life are best recorded in a parent's mind..you actually don't need any handycam in handy..but then, a picture is worth a thousand words... and so are the memoirs of a diaper clad baby..when you actually have the same kid trying to solve complicated puzzles out of a kids' website. What's more funny is, my older one was asking who that funny baby was, and wasn't ready to accept that it was himself in those videos. He laughs at them saying how could he be so small ! The same question, I ask myself. When did he grow so big as to ask me if it's ok to watch the TV a little longer than the scheduled time??

First the milk bottle, then the diapers... I think these are the most challenging phases for any mom to help the baby fight off their addiction. I am the happiest one these days, with even my younger one fighting his bottle off. You won't believe, it's the first time in 5 years that my routine of sterilising the bottles has come to a standstill. BLISS ? You bet... :)

I've always maintained that a mom's best friend is a diaper. But, the euphoric feeling when your kid actually struts proudly with his diaper off, saying that he just hates it... is definitely unparalleled. I still remember the day, when my first kid went outside for the first time without a diaper. It was only for an hour, but I was more scared of having an accident than being happy. ( We were in Singapore and were travelling in a train, which had no toilets either. You should see my scared face, and my husband laughing at me the entire journey... ). After a successful one hour of no-show of the double p's, I've decided to put on the pull-up pants. Come on, my tension actually escalated to hyper-tension. But it was just a start. More days passed on without any accidents, and my tension just slowly descended to my younger one. Phew!! This time, I was a bit less worried... Experience baby! To look at it, if I had a third baby, I wouldn't make her wear a diaper even when she's an infant too,(only if I had one,..not that I have any ideas of getting the stork yet again..)

Then, the first tooth... what a joy to see a pair of upper teeth coming out of your baby, who had nothing but soft gums constantly chewing your hand. If only the moms knew that these teeth could be the main reason for most of the kid fights (HE BIT ME.... i think that's the most commonest dialogue found among kids' chaos).

I also wonder if this was the same kid who couldn't just hold a pencil, is trying to read stories out of cereal boxes. My older kid has the prettiest handwriting(that's what every mom feels.. i know i know).. and my younger one already started writing his first A. No one can feel it better than a mom about the first alphabet her kid wrote. Nothing can beat it...

I also remember how silly of me it was, to call up my husband and merrily tell him that Tej drank his juice out of a straw. It was such a big achievement, more so, when his girl-friend, who was a couple of months older than him, already was drinking from a straw from six months!! Such silly details can only be understood by a mom...hehehe

And right now, my back is hurting. With the endless rounds trying to make my 5 yr old son ride his bicycle without any support. His father, as if he did a favor, took off the support wheels one fine weekend, and declared that his son is ready to take off the bicycle. As if he was a trained pilot!! And the 'fine' is now on my poor back. But it's ok... This is another milestone. Who shall be happier than me when I actually find my son riding his bicycle all on his own, and fumes on his mom not to follow him( when he says that he's a big boy, and all the girls will laugh at him if I tried to follow him) Am actually waiting, or more so..my back is.

With all these milestones to be cherished, I slowly realise that there are so many 'miles' to go before I sleep. While you slowly help your child outgrow their childishness, you slowly grow into a child yet again,...especially when you cherish their childhood memories. :)

Cherish, They only will bring a smile back on your otherwise monotonous life. Trust me!!!!