My Parenting
Experience
When I first learnt that I was pregnant, I had a nice rosy
picture in front of my eyes of me cuddling a tiny bundle of joy just like I had
done for my cousins’ babies. To me it was just that. Little did I realise that
pregnancy and parenthood has much more to it than just holding a baby as per
your convenience and handing it back to the mother the moment you feel bored.
So read on.
Pregnancy
As I entered my 9th month of pregnancy, each day
I was praying to God to bring the baby out as soon as possible and relieve me
from all the 3rd trimester discomforts. I mean I was fed up of
having to go to the toilet every 10 minutes, not being able to sit and watch TV
even for half an hour without backaches, etc. I was longing for the moment when
my baby would be born and I would be relieved of all my uneasiness.
Infant
My baby was born and brought so much joy to everyone. When I
first looked at her, my first thought was how beautiful she is. But even before the celebrations quietened
and I could rejoice about my pregnancy nightmares finally being over, other challenges
crept in. I mean I had heard from others that feeding the baby is not easy, but
it turned out to be a huge challenge for me and took a while for both me and my
baby to get accustomed to. Also, babies
have a way of knowing when their moms are at lunch/dinner, for that is the
exact moment they will choose to soil their nappy. Sometimes my daughter would
have marathon nappy wetting sessions and I would literally have to change her
every 5 minutes. And then there used to
be days or rather nights where she would stay awake the whole night .I remember
dozing off many a times while rocking her in my arms in my futile attempts to
put her to sleep! It was then that I began to realize that pregnancy was a lot
easier!
Days as a toddler
As she got a bit older, her sleep started stabilizing and
she started eating other solid foods. I started relaxing a bit. But no, God
does not have mercy on mothers. She soon started crawling all over the place and
always kept me on my toes. From reaching out to the farthest objects, to
mouthing all types of junk, it’s a harrowing experience. From morning to night
I would continuously be on the run, either picking up thrown toys, or running
after her with a bowl of cereal, or simply making sure she doesn’t hurt herself.
I would wait for weekends to be over so that I could return to the peace and
quiet of office on Mondays. I began to miss the days when she was an infant and
it was a much quieter and a lot less stressful!
First steps and now.
The day she took her first steps, I was swelling with pride.
Small steps by my little princess were a big achievement for me. However, she
soon started discovering new pleasures and I found new causes to worry. She now
stands on her tip toes and reaches out for newspapers, pens or any new object
for that matter. Another thing I dread is meal times. Before every meal, I hope
and pray that the meal would be finished without any ado. The tantrums have also
started. If anyone dares to refuse something she wants, she starts howling and
crying and yelling and a huge drama will ensue. Be it during meal times, or mid
way in a tantrum, I in turn coax, beg , shout, bribe her and many a times find
myself helpless in front of this little monster. Sometimes I feel life was much
more peaceful when she was a toddler.
Looking back.
When I look back now, I realize how joyful each phase has
been. While in pregnancy, everyone took utmost care of me. When my baby was born, how I would enjoy
talking to her and watching her smile and gurgle. During her toddler days, I
loved the way she gestured and drew our attention and even now miss her
incoherent blabbering. Now that she is almost two, she has turned so inquisitive
and asks so many questions. She tries to
form huge sentences by joining words and some of her pronunciations are so
funny and yet so cute that it’s a sheer pleasure listening to her. All in all,
parenthood can be challenging, exhausting and overwhelming, but it can also be
a huge source of happiness.
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