Dear Abhishek,
I love your life. You wake up whenever you feel like sometime between 6 and 7 am. Unless you decide that 5:30 am is also a good time to be up and about. The responsibility of managing you early mornings is mine. We sit at the window, read books, play with toys, or simply do our pillow-fights. As your mom works downstairs in the kitchen, we have our own little fun. Your attention span is incredibly low. So, I have to be quite creative in keeping you happy and entertained. (Presumably, you think the same about me!)
On the few days that you are not here (away with your mother to her parents place), life is just not the same. I wake up feeling lonely and depressed. I miss you so much. Like today. It reminds me of how life was for so long before you were born and I dont want to go back to those memories. I just want to be near you all the time!
Back to your day. Around 7:30 am or so, your mom will get your breakfast. Milk and khakras mixed together. Feeding you is an incredible challenge. It is almost like you are doing us a big favour by eating. It takes a long time for you to finish your breakfast as you wander all over the place with your mother chasing you. Once in a while, when you are real hungry, you gobble it down fast but those days are rare.
After breakfast, it is time for your bath. We had a bai till December who would bathe you and give you a little massage. Now, it is between your mom and me. You like baths with me because of the shower time that we have together. Then, its the process of getting the clothes on you or you in the clothes. Of late, youve been trying to make the decisions and that at times can cause consternation. You decide youd like to wear two pants, for example. Once you are ready, we go to the temple. We leave home at 9 am or so and go to the Jain temple at Babulnath. You are in your element in the temple. Then, I drop you and your mom home and I am off to work.
At home, you play around on your own for the most part. You create your own imaginary worlds, singing and talking, and perhaps thinking. You flit from room to room, toy to toy. And then it is time for lunch. On most days, you then sleep for a couple hours after lunch. Unless of course, youve slept in the morning which typically happens when youve woken up very early. Post-lunch, its back to play. Either by yourself or your cousins (my sisters kids who stay in the flat next to us). Siddharth is three years elder to you and Maya is a year older. You play and learn from them, and of course fight. But it is good to see you being social that was a worry your mom and I once had. How would you interact with other kids? You werent very outgoing when you were younger.
Tomorrow: A Day in Your Life (continued)
TECH TALK Letter to a Two-Year-Old+T
