That checklist in my head..

..before agreeing to a night out with friends.

Then,


"Do I like the company of people who asked me? yeah, sure!"

" Do I have an early morning tomorrow? Yes, no, maybe. It doesn't really matter!"

"Do I feel like going out? Yes, no, maybe. What the heck, I'm going!"

Now, 

"Can I ask R to come back home early at short notice?"

"Maybe I can ask the nanny to put him to bed! No, I should really tell R to do it."

"Have I cooked dinner for Pickles?" Check

"Wait, who'll brush Pickles' teeth?
R should really try but he won't. Its ok, I guess one night of not brushing teeth won't do him much harm"

" But will Pickles even sleep without nursing? He might but maybe not. Maybe I should get back by his bedtime. But that's too early! I'll come back if R calls to say Pickles is not sleeping."

"Maybe I should come back home after work and spend some time with Pickles and join them after he goes to bed! Yeah, right! That is provided I don't fall asleep by then! But I haven't seen my baby since this morning and he only woke up just before I left to work! Ok, I'll come home and spend sometime with him and leave in a bit, so at least I have spent sometime with him."

"But will Pickles let me go once I'm home? He doesn't even let me go to the bathroom without crying his heart out!"

"Will I be able to pull through tomorrow without much sleep, considering Pickles will wake up multiple times at night and super early in the morning? Oh no, I have that meeting at 9. Maybe I should skip it this time."

"It's really ok. I can go another time! I really ought to plan this better and in advance. I'll just cancel out!"

" But I haven't been out in a while..I really want to go out!"

"What the heck! I'm going!'

It sure isn't easy being a mom!

My coffee and I

I was at a conference today. And I had to rush to the venue without my morning cup of coffee. Since I was already late,  I had to attend one whole session in the morning without it. By the time it was over, I was trying hard to focus and also nursing a bad headache. Lunch was then served and figure this, there was no coffee anywhere in sight! I had something to eat, drank a lot of water but my headache still continued. At 10 minutes before the next session, I was frantically looking for any source of coffee that I could find but I couldn't find any!

So, I spent the next session fantasizing about my next cup of coffee. That got me thinking: I don't know at what point in life I got so addicted to this brown/black liquid, my life has never been the same again. Don't get me wrong, I use the term "addiction" quite lightly. My journey in graduate school would have never been the same without it. Two cups a day were a given and attending any seminar would mean gulping down some more just before it started. If I was writing something, that would call for a venti-sized cup of glorious coffee. I could point you to places for the best coffee and I could also tell you which talks served good free coffee. It was almost something that we, as grad students bonded over. To cut a long story short I couldn't have survived grad school without it.

When I say "addicted", I mean it quite lightly because for the two years when I was pregnant and breastfeeding Pickles, I had stopped drinking coffee. Absolutely! And guess what, I actually wrote out my entire PhD thesis without a drop of it! I'm proud of it because if you've not been there, you have no idea what I'm talking about. It is no trivial matter, this. Once I had my first cup after the long hiatus, there was no going back. We were united again like we were never apart, my coffee and I.

Back to this afternoon, when finally the second session was coming to an end, I had made up my mind that if there was no coffee, I would just leave. Anyway, my brain was almost useless by then. But somebody heard my prayers, and there it was, that aroma. At that point, it was the sweetest smell in the universe.  I went seeking it and I found my salvation. It's another matter that the coffee was quite bad but I couldn't have asked for anything more. I was happy again. Happy to go back, sit through and actually enjoy some more talks.

So, what's your poison?

November is here

and so am I.

When Shub, Sayesha and I did the April A to Z challenge, we had a blast and we talked about doing it again in November. But as it often happens, life gets in the way and I'm not sure if either of them would be up for it come November.  I have been excited about this project and was looking forward to November but today, I had almost forgotten about it. When Shub messaged me this evening (Thanks, Shub!) , I was shocked that I'd actually forgotten. But never you mind, I'm here now and I will be back here every day of this month.  But since this time there is no theme, this blog will see pictures, recipes, ramblings and a lot of random things, whatever strikes my fancy that day. I am really looking forward to the challenge and the feeling of accomplishment at the end of each day.Make way for NaBloPoMo.

That'll be all for today but hey, you'll hear a lot more in the coming month!

Parental Paranoia!

When Pickles and I reached the park yesterday, one little kid was waiting for us. He was Pickles' new friend, who he had played with on the day before. As soon as we got there, he came running to us all excited.

And he handed Pickles one of his toys, a gun!

Now, I have this thing that I don't want Pickles to play with guns at all. Not that he is never going to be exposed to it. He will be but I prefer it to be at an age when he can understand the perils and he can decide for himself if he still wants to play with it (I pray not!). I don't like the idea of watching kids shoot at each other without really understanding what it means. Call me paranoid but I don't want to raise a violent kid.

So here I was, unsure about what to do. I knew that this little boy had made an attempt to share his toys, which is a big thing at that age! And I did not want to discourage him. I also wanted Pickles to make a new friend and learn to share his toys as well. But I didn't want him learning to shoot with guns. As I was still contemplating what to do, Pickles quickly took the gun from the little boy. I just stood there, dazed!

Pickles behaved like any toddler with a new toy would, he was super excited. He didnt know what it was. So first, he set to explore it. Then he checked if it was breakable, he threw it to the floor. When he saw the other kid making sounds with it, he tried to press buttons on his toy to check if it would make the same sounds. Once it did, he clapped his tiny hands with glee. Finally, he decided it was closest to a airplane and started to "fly" it with his hands held high. Soon enough, he was bored with it. He put the gun on the floor and went to find something else that had caught his attention. And the other little boy followed suit.

And I wonder why I worry so much. :/

Pintsized wit

Pickles and I go to the children's playground every evening. It is our special time together.
We've made lots of new friends in the last few months. I am always amused by some of the thought processes of these kids. 

Overheard at the children's playground.


Kid 1: I'm superman!
Me: Ok. then Pickles is Batman.
Kid 1: No, he is not!
Me: Why?
Kid 1: He cannot be Batman. You can be Batman.
Me: But why?
Kid 1: Because you are Batman
Me: Oh, and he?
Kid 1: He can be Robin!
Me: Ok. But why?
Kid 1: Because Superman and Batman can fly. Robin cannot!


Continued with the same kid on another day
Me: Hello, Superman!
Kid 1: No, I'm Batman.
Me: Why?
Kid 1: Beacuse Batman can also fly.
Me: But, Batman cannot fly. Only Superman can.
Kid1: How do you know? I saw on TV.
Me: I saw on TV too. Batman cannot fly.
Kid 1: On my TV, Batman can fly! Your TV is spoilt!


Kid 3: Can you wait for a while longer? There is still some bubble solution left in the gun.
Me: It's ok. Leave some for tomorrow.
Kid 3: Oh! I'm not sure I will come tomorrow!
Me: :/


Kid 4 played with Pickles' ball and his truck and his bubble gun.
Me: Oh! Pickles has to go home now. Bye!
Kid 1: Can you bring his guns tomorrow. I like playing with guns.
Me: Oh! Pickles has no guns. Why don't you bring your own?
Kid 1(Totally ignoring my question): Just bring whatever toys he has. It's ok!


Kid 5 played with Pickles and his ball for a while.
Kid 5: I'm bored now. Lets play run and catch now.
Me: But Pickles is too little. He can't chase you.
Kid 5: But you can! Let him play with his ball and you can chase me.


Me to Kid 6: Hello there!
Kid 6: Hello! My name is xyz.
Me: Hello, xyz! His name is Pickles.
Kid 6 (totally ignoring an excited Pickles):But what is your name? I want to be friends with you!
Me: Oh ok. My name is Maya. Now can you be friends with Pickles too.
Kid 6: He is too little to be friends with me.
Me: How old are you?
Kid 6: Four!

Is that enough excitement for you?

This is seventh in the series of the"Escapades of the Jackdaws". If you've missed the earlier story, you can read it here.

"Did you think we'd end up like this on our runaway night?", asked Vee.

"I'm not sure I was expecting anything. I don't think I thought so far ahead. " quipped a sleepy Mee.

"What are you thinking, Shee?"

No answer.

"Soo?"

No answer again.

"Soo, Are you asleep?", Vee nudged her.

"Vee...Hmmmmm.. let me sleep, pleaaaase!" squealed a tired Soo.

Vee and Mee giggled. They always teased Soo and Shee. But tired as they were, they soon drifted off to sleep.

After a while, Soo felt a hand on her neck. "Vee..please leave me alone. I really wanna sleep", she said. The hand was still on her neck. She held on to the hand tightly as it moved towards her chain. Then she opened her eyes and looked at Vee. She then realised that Vee was fast asleep and her hands were by her side. It was then that it struck Soo that the hand did not belong to Vee. A terrified Soo shrieked as loud as her lungs would allow her. The hand, by then retracted to where it had come from. From the window!

The girls had been careless enough to leave the window open. Some intruder had noticed this and had looked to see if he could see anything on the window sill. Not finding anything, he had noticed the gold chain on Soo's neck and that it was within reach. He had then reached inside to tug at the chain when Soo woke up.

Soo screamed and ran to Aunty and Uncle V's room. With a shaky voice and six words, she explained the situation to them. "Aunty, thief, window, hand, my neck". Uncle V was too stunned to move. Aunty V immediately picked up a cricket bat that was lying there and opened the door. She turned on the lights around the house and walked out. "Who's there?", she asked. By then the other girls woke up and ran out too. They all walked out and looked around the house but couldn't see anybody around. When it was clear that the intruder had run off and that no one was around, Uncle V walked out and yelled "Who's there? Come out, you coward! If I get my hands on you, I will beat you black and blue". The girls rolled their eyes at him.

Finding no one there, they all walked inside the house and assembled in the living room. Aunty V pacified a shaken Soo and gave her a glass of water. She reprimanded the girls that they had left the windows open. They discussed what had happened. Soo told them that she had thought it was Vee. Uncle V made fun of Soo and said that she had run to their room in three long steps, one out the girls' room, one in the corridor and one into their room. "Good that you have long legs!",  he teased. After all the excitement had died down, the girls returned to their room. They immediately closed the windows and made sure that they would remain closed for the rest of their stay there.

Too tired from the tiring day but still high-strung from all the adrenaline, they decided they had had enough excitement to last them for a long time. They lay down on the bed for a long time without talking and eventually fell asleep waiting for dawn to wake them up and praying for no more excitement for that night!

On the run again?!

I realised that I haven’t still finished the “escapade” series. Recently I was reading this blog where the blogger started a very interesting story and had me hooked for sometime. But she didn’t finish the story and I got mad at her. And then I realised that was exactly what I had done too. So, I decided to come straight back to my blog to finish the story or at least continue it. My apologies to anyone who was waiting for the next in the series.

So here goes. This is the sixth in the series of "The Escapades of the Jackdaws".  In case, you haven't read the story so far, click here.

After Aunty V made them breakfast, she sat them all down and started talking to them. She asked them why they had all run away from home. She patiently heard their entire story and their reasoning. Although she was sympathetic, she didn’t once say what they had done was right. In fact after speaking to her, the Jackdaws almost felt sorry for what they had done. Well, almost! Once they finished, they went right back into rebellion mode. A decent lunch and a nap later, they were all bored. Suddenly, it seemed to them that all their initial excitement had fizzled out. All they had to do now was to sit and wait for Vee's parents to show up.

In the evening, Vee mentioned to aunty V that they would like to go out for a walk. Aunty V would hear none of it. She said that she wasn't stupid enough to let the girls run wild in the city. After much coaxing and cajoling, she finally agreed but only if Uncle V would accompany them. Being a softie, Uncle V agreed to go along. They finally got dressed and went out for a walk. Uncle V was very proud of the locality that he lived in. He walked along with them pointing to them and showing them houses of celebrities and even an ex-prime minister of the country. He was so vain he even told them, "Do you know the ex-prime minister and I share the same dhobi?!" The girls were quite amused by the man and kept egging him on for entertainment. Completely oblivious to the fact that he was being made fun of, Uncle V enthusiastically went on and on. Finally, he ran into a pretty neighbour and stopped to say hello. The girls quietly gave him the slip and walked on. 

Once he was out of sight, Vee suggested that they run away again. Mee said that they shouldn't do something rash and stupid. She reasoned that one, they didn't have much money left and two, they had no where to go. So she suggested that they should stay on with Aunty and Uncle V for a while longer until they could figure something out. They argued for a while but finally Mee's reasoning won and they decided to head back home but not before they had devoured a few plates of pani puri and other street food with some of the money hidden in Mee's pocket.

When the girls reached Uncle V's home, they found Aunty V giving he winker an earful for letting them out of his sight. She was mad at the girls for having run off too. She promised them she wouldn't let them go out anywhere again! The girls feigned their apologies and went to their room. Aunty V had assigned them a room with a huge king size bed and they would all have to live there together for the next few days. There was a huge window on one of the sides of the bed that overlooked the street. It was a good place to watch all the happenings on the lane. Later, they cozied up on the bed. Mee slept on one end with Shee and Vee in the middle and Soo next to the window. They talked for a few minutes after turning out the lights but exhaustion hit them after an eventful day and they were all fast asleep in no time. Little did they know that neither their day nor their excitement had ended yet.