Monica Bakhle thinks aloud on how she is more busy being at home babysitting her kids than when she was as a full time HR Executive with a software firm
Monica Bakhle thinks aloud on how she is more busy being at home babysitting her kids than when she was as a full timeu00a0HR Executive with a software firm
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I say mixed because when you have worked for a whole nine years and this was the only life you had known of, so far, you wonder if you will be able to adjust to being at home full time. So while on one hand I was relieved that I would be able to devote more attention to my health and the progressing pregnancy not to leave out my first child, I also wondered how long I would last in this frame of mind.
However today having gone through the grind of being a stay-at-home mom I am proud to say I have no regrets. And to those who think working in the office or outside home is a much harder task at hand, let there be no illusions this is equally tough or at times harder.
While you can always switch off your phone at work, or put the lights out in your cabin or just go off for a coffee break to get that breather, you have no such option at home. Just when you feel you are desperate for a literally 40 wink nap which is imperative for your survival for the rest of the day, in comes your toddler calling out to you , first a little hesitatingly and then a little more aggressively, wanting to show you her doll's new hairstyle. Or the elder son rushes in excitedly holding out a drawing of a duck which he has only recently learnt how to draw and is eager to show.
At work you can probably pass off someone when you don't have the time, but try doing it at home with your kids.
There are innumerable and countless times, when you are exasperated and are looking for that one window of relief or breather but do you get it? Oh no! And if you do I would count you amongst the rarest of mothers, and term it almost a miracle.
I have forgotten what it is like to impulsively step out for a meal or movie or shopping trip with the kids. That would be blasphemy. What would you do in such a case when the toddler suddenly messes up her clothes or goes for a poop in her diaper or gets a cough fit and you wish you had carried that boiled water of hers.
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But hey, lest all you mothers-to-be out there get an impression that God, what have we got ourselves into, fear not. For all this makes it worth the while just to feel your baby climbing up the bed on her own to give you a surprise peck on the cheek. Or the elder child running up to you from behind, hugging you very tightly and saying "I love you". Amd what about that absolute incomparable boost to your ego, when the child quietens down in an instant just by coming into your arms, having cried incessantly earlier.u00a0
Yes you are probably sacrificing an evening out at the pub, or the latest flick showing in theatres or even a basic thing such as an uninterrupted restful sleep at night, but you take comfort in knowing that this is transient, superficial and very temporary. You can always get back to these at a later stage but these growing years of your children will never come back. So there is no element of masochism, if you were getting a pleasure amidst these discomforts. I would just term it as irony and continue relishing every moment spent among the kids for as the popular song of the 70's emotes, "Zindagi Ke Safar mein nikal jaate hain jo makam, who phir nahi aate, who phir nahi aate"!
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