Quite
a lot of us have our very own bucket list and nothing gives more joy than
crossing out the items in it. Though officially I never made a bucket list, I
had my list of things to do too. But now, being a mother, my bucket list sure
has changed and I find the new list much harder to conquer than the earlier
one. While there is more to the list, here goes my top ten in no particular
order:
1. Have
an hour long bath without any interruption - The usual escape
zone in the house is suddenly public post baby. For the ignorant souls who
doesn't understand what interruption a bathing mother faces, here goes - The
baby wants milk (or his grandmother/great grandmother thinks so) at the exact
time his Amma is having bath, the boy running inside the bathroom all of
a sudden wanting to see his Amma (while all the time she was out there, nobody
paid any attention to her!), the only time a toddler opens his mouth and says
"susu" hearing which any mother would grab the kiddo into the toilet
for the so called "potty training" and the little one forgets the
"susu" and starts playing with the water (more fun!), persistent
knocks on the door (if you lock the door) by the
husband/mother/grandmother/father/brother/mother in law because, just because,
the baby asked for his Amma (really? couldn't you just tell him that his Amma
is having a bath?).
2. A
potty trained baby - Trust me, I am sure this ranks high up in most
moms' bucket list. After countless diaper changes from day one, we look forward
to a potty trained baby who says "susu" and "potty" without
wetting/soiling his pants and yet act cool as if nothing happened. If this is
not reason enough, the highest household expense is that of buying pampers (if
somebody told all the new parents how expensive this underwear like thing is,
we would've thought twice before baby making, for sure!). And if, fearing you
will run out of money buying pampers, you leave the baby pampers-less, then he
is so happy to go "susu"-ing around the whole house that you are sure
to end up thinking wearing pampers, irrespective of the expense, is better than
breaking your back mopping the house every half an hour!
3. Eat
an ice cream/chocolate without a little voice shouting
"ikeem/chokate"- As much as I love my little one, it will not
hurt if I can have an ice cream/chocolate all by myself. I call out my little
one as loudly as possible and he will not hear me, but the moment the divine
word is uttered anywhere in the house or even, for that matter, in a big ground
where he is nowhere in sight, the boy would still come running to me and say
"Amma, ikeem?".
4. Getaway
time, let alone a day, without the husband and the kid and without the husband
calling every 15 minutes to check why the kid is crying, what to give the kid,
how to entertain the kid and other irrelevant doubts - Admit it, when
there are two kids (the husband acts like a kid most of the time) and though
you love the giggles, non-stop entertainment and the fun, there are times when
there are tantrums and emotional drama, and you just want to get far away from
the two people who matter to you most and have some time just for yourself.
5. Go
back to the pre pregnancy figure with no flab, whatsoever, bulging out from the
sides and front - Though I don't have time to bother about this
nonsense called the pregnancy fat, still at times, those rare moments, we do
think of those long forgotten days of flat tummies and yearn for the body to
look like how it was pre pregnancy. Because, sometimes it seems like a dream
long gone and I really don't remember my body pre pregnancy!
6. Live
a day, just one day, without hearing unsolicited advices from the (not so) well
wishers on how to raise your baby better - They are the all pervading
lot and many a times I've felt like giving them a punch straight on their face
or just say, very very loudly, mind your business. They are the ones who tell
me how I should feed my baby, what I should eat, when I should make my baby
sleep, and so on and on. They are the ones who ruin my day and give me a
headache. Given a chance, I will stay away from them all my life but sadly,
that does not seem like how it is going to be.
7. No
paediatric visit for atleast a three month stretch - The number of
times I went to the hospital in the last two years is way higher than what I've
gone in the 28 years before that, for sure! This boy of mine has to fall sick
once a month. And each time the boy falls sick, it affects every single nerve
in my body, it tires me out and I become this two faced monster who acts strong
outside but is so worried and weak inside. Each time he falls sick, I am
reminded of the time he fell really ill and I had a dreadful two weeks which I
don't even like to think about and it's scary. I really need a break from this!
8. Sleep
peacefully and undisturbed for 8 hours at a stretch - I've
been blessed in this. The boy had always been good from the time he was born,
sleeping through the night as if he needs his sleep much more than us and
thereby letting me sleep. Also, I must add, I am blessed with two amazing souls
- my mother and husband, who was ever ready to sacrifice their sleep during the
initial days and let me have my sleep. However, off late the boy seems to
get bored of sleeping during the early hours of the day. So he pokes me, tries
to wake me up with a "Amma... hii.. morninnng" and that seems to be
the best time in the whole of 24 hours he gets in a day to strike a
conversation with me. If that is not the case, I have a little finger poking my
eyes or using my eyes as if it was a joystick in the middle of the night and it
is still a mystery how, even in his sleep, he knows if the eyes he is poking is
mine or not!
9. Have
the baby eat his food (on his own?) and empty the plate without any fuss or drama
- Whatever happened to the 6 month old boy who was a total
foodie and was way too eager to have the food in his plate? Now, the boy
prefers testing Newton's law of gravity with the dosa, bathing his idli,
feeding milk to his high chair and such other similar activities. When this
mother has so much to do, feeding this boy who seems to be so disinterested in
what is in front of him (other than if it is chocolate, ice cream or cake, of
course) is time consuming and exhausting.
10. A
neat house with toys arranged in one corner and not scattered everywhere
- This is a dream definitely. The house looks like earthquake struck
all the time and if at all I get to clean the house without any interference,
it just takes him a maximum of 60 seconds to get the house back to the
earthquake mode.
Though things in my list is sure to be checked
one day unlike the uncertainty that usually remains in the bucket list, right
now this seems to be quite unconquerable. While I would love to do all those
adventure and see-the-world activities, this seems to be my priority now and
the joy of achieving this list of mine is way higher than anything else!
