Mommy Memoirs - Parent Pledges

Am back with my next in the Mommy Memoirs series. This one's slightly different... It's more of what he and I wish to follow as parents. Jotting it down as our parent pledge list so that it serves as a reminder... Sharing it on my blog space so that I get more ideas from my readers... Your thoughts and comments will surely help... And I won't charge a fee if you want to borrow some of our pledges too :)

 

 

Parent Pledge #1
Will do what WE think is best for NiVi... And not what nosey self-proclaimed well-wishers around try to force on us.

Do not mean to be mean, but I strongly believe that ideas should not be forced. What worked for one parent with their children need not always work for ours. So though we would love to hear everyone's story and learn from them, we would definitely not want anyone breathing down our necks when it comes to our baby!

 

Parent Pledge #2
Will try and keep NiVi as far away from technology as possible so that she gets to experience her childhood like a child. Mobiles, tablets and the likes can come in a little later.

We may be tempted to boast about how technologically brilliant our kids are, by ranting about how they know to glide their way into our smart devices. But in the long run, this 'skill' is definitely not worth it so early in life! There is a beautiful 'real' world beyond all things smart. We wish every new parent encourage their little ones to experience and explore that world. Believe me they will end up way smarter than any 'dumb' smart device around!

 

Parent Pledge #3
Keep her off disposable diapers as much as we can. Modern Cloth Diapers are the way to go.

She is doing pretty good so far... flaunting her fluffy colorful butt :) She can be proud about herself for doing her bit to keep the environment clean and the landfills diaper-free.

 

Parent Pledge #4
We will not nudge her into doing things that we want her to do... We will rather nudge ourselves to try and understand what she wants to do... and help her get there!

As parents we do get carried once in a way, and weave dreams for her future... only to realize in a jiffy that we are probably getting pushy and sign off the moment with a 'Baby, you do whatever you want' :)

 

Parent Pledge #5
We will never compare her with others around... She'll be a star by herself and in her own way.

Every child brings along his or her own plan and they live by that each day. They decide and live their own milestones too...when to sit, when to crawl, when to stand, when to eat and how and how much... everything!! Each baby is uniquely special waiting to surprise you with what he or she comes packaged along with... so let us just let them be!!!

That is all the pledges we have for now as we have also pledged not to tax ourselves too much just because we are parents now. Hoping to stand by each of these each day, in  between changing diapers and humming lullabies that is :)

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Mommy Memoirs - Months 4 to 6

Am back with my next couple of posts in my Mommy Memoirs series. The delay in getting this blog up, is yet again a series of 'mommy excuses' :)
 

While the first three months of having baby in tow was a mix of happiness and anxiety bundled together, the next three months were equally full of surprises.

 

I learnt to bathe my baby myself. I learnt to massage her myself. I learnt to enjoy her being around more than even before. With the physical pain and post partum effects gone away now, it became easier to focus on NiVi and watch her every move, with more awe than ever before!

 

NiVi had some surprises planned for us too. Her wobbly head began to get steadier and it was during these months that she even decided to roll over. It is such a blissful experience to watch your baby reach and cross her milestones. Poor NiVi was so excited about turning over that she ended up doing some head and nose banging on the floor too, only to realize that it hurt her. Wails and shrill cries would only naturally follow. Guess all of  that is part of a baby's self learning curriculum too!

 

With an overseas move becoming more definite now, the little one and me were on our toes to get all our paper work done. NiVi, of course was oblivious to what was happening around her. She posed (or did she even do that!) for a several 100 clicks in my attempt to get the perfect picture for her passport sized photo! I almost gave up after seeing the myriad expressions she had in each one of the pictures. If she was smiling in one, her eyes were closed in that one. If her eyes were twinkling ok in one, she was making one of her cute funny faces in that one! And if all was OK with her nose, ears and mouth I would realize the background was not white! Thanks to the photo studio guy and software available today, one such picture that I took got tweaked and we finally had her first passport sized photograph in our hands... and to multiply the satisfaction... we had 10 copies of it :)

 

She got carried in to the passport office, got priority treatment there, thanks to her 'infant' status. Her passport reached home, literally Godspeed. It got dispatched the same evening as we had her appointment and reached home the very next day! Our visa formalities followed, again with Her Highness getting carried along with all her travel must-haves, right from diapers to wipes and warm water to baby food! The visa officer got her picture taken, with a bit of struggle too. He had a clapping musical toy that came to his rescue. It immediately caught Nivi's attention and her amazement is captured forever on the visa photograph too :)

 

With all the paperwork done and dusted, we set out to Mumbai for a two week halt. NiVi had her first train experience, and again 'we only travel First Class' is possibly what she whispered to her dad over Skype. My parents, sister and me happily towed along in a comfortable first class coupe, all to ourselves. 

 

Mumbai meant more relatives and friends coming over. NiVi had to face her first tryst with sharing the limelight with someone here. Her little cousin sister who was just about a month and something was around too. I am guessing NiVi only loved the experience. She did not miss a single opportunity of holding on to her little cousin. Maybe her way of saying she cared for and loved her :)

 

Meanwhile the bags got packed, the goodbyes were done and we set off for her first flight experience and her first overseas experience too :)

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