Today is the third day in a row when I took Jahnavi, my daughter, yes I have a daughter, she’s about a year and a half now! Cliché but true, time flies! Anyway, so like any other working (read over working, taking calls till middle of the night) mother I always feel that I don’t get to spend enough time with my Baby, and as if to validate that Janu is sometimes more excited about the nanny than the mommy. Few mommies will be able to take this supreme form of insult and I am definitely not in that super tolerant group, so I decided to turn the tables. First, I identified a ‘low hanging fruit’ – evening play time! She loves her evening play time, that’s when she has most fun and there’s a lovely park nearby. Strategy prepared! Planning done!
Day 1 – Very enthusiastically, I took out the pram, some titbits, water, diapers, wipes… Yeah baby! That is how they roll! We set out and reached the park, and for the first time I realized the power of voice that this little person has. So Janu loves dogs, and the excited screams when she saw one pass by made the dog and the owner both run for their life, and Janu thought this was very funny so she added insult to injury by doing the baby-laugh-and-clap routine, which a few others also found hilarious and left the dog owner and me red-faced. Let’s say the road ahead was all downhill, literally and figuratively! Our visit ended with scattered food, wet shirt, dirty shorts and a new found respect for the nanny. But I didn’t give up.
Day 2 – Determined to do better, I got the whole caravan ready for a 60min park visit, the strategy was revised, water play ground identified as a sure-win! Once in the park, J shouted to get down, but as if delaying gratification will give her more happiness I pushed the pram about half a mile to reach the said winning formula, I had in front of me a frustrated baby and a sorry closure notice… Still cheerfully I got her out of the pram, to realize how quick her tiny legs had already become – I was overjoyed to see her run but afraid she might fall and sad that I missed all this till now, all was dim for a bit and a tear slipped. J was tired and wanted her snack, I took out the kiwi fruit and J fussed to eat it herself. Ever wondered what a combination of plastic fork with an unstable hold and thin kiwi slices along with an overwhelmed mommy and an excited baby would mean? A wasted snack and an angry baby, this was the bottom line of the second day.
Finally today, with learnings from the past and wisdom of the elders, no fork and no slippery fruit was taken. An orange and the sand play area with some lovely slides and a few colourful cork walking strips did the trick. Playing with a beautiful golden retriever named ‘Summer’ was the highlight for my supremely dog-loving darling, she saw Summer and kept saying “hi, babow” till the owner let her pet the dog. J was the happiest and I couldn’t have asked for more, when I ask- where does Jana go with mumma? She happily yells back “parrtttt”. For me that happy face is the reflection of success! Cheers to strategizing and planning!