One Day in New Delhi
Once upon a time I woke with two tiny kids in my bed who didn’t start there the night before. One was fast asleep and the other was tugging at me and whispering. A blissful moment it would have been, without the splitting headache I had from staying out too late last night and not drinking enough. Water, that is, and too late to have three tiny kids out with me, wedged against me in the careening taxi. Bless Satya for falling asleep in the car. And Violet and Tara for quickly following suit after a bath.
So on that day I woke up (after a week of springing out of bed to attend to the wee ones) only to lie there, miserable, for an hour or so while they fended (quite nicely) for themselves. Then a bite of guava, vomited, later a sip of water and bite of banana and threw it up, and knew I wasn’t taking them to the swimming pool after breakfast. It was going to be a home day. I was awake for about an hour – long enough to thank goodness for class privilege and the cook it has brought into our lives; Ramreet made the kids breakfast as I staggered away to dry heave at the sink for a couple of minutes and fall back into bed. I’m certain no little teeth were brushed, but the kids will live to see another day anyway.
What happened next? Oh, yes, saved by technology. So today yours truly, the downwardly-mobile Luddite ate humble pie and slept while the kids watched Young Black Stallion on the tube. Or is it a plasma screen.
Woke up in time to play some with Tara and put her to sleep while briefing our new nanny, Manju (the kids call her Didi, but as yet have no visible fondness for her of course). She’s worried that the job will not suit her because of the language gap and I can’t blame her. I also wonder if my kids are more rambunctious than the norm. Anyway we’re checking each other out. She’s a little quiet – I hope she’ll rev up and be able to play with / manage the kids.
Managed to hold down a little lunch, failed to get Satya or Violet to nap, and then packed V off to play with cousin Mehek down the street. (She came back hours later with red tight elastic marks from having worn Tara’s tiny underwear. Note to self to check her when she dresses herself.) Popped in Cinderella for Tara and Didi to watch while I failed to get Satya to nap. But managed an hour of sleep myself. I think Hukum Singh and Taoji and Ramreet enjoyed Cinderella too. Thanks to Meghna for the DVD player.
Off to Vijay and Sonali Primlanis’ place to play – got my best aerobic workout in months (sad but true) playing soccer with young Dev against Vijay and Satya. Then a couple more hours of excellent play in the park, mostly swings and slide for Tara and Violet, and soccer and chase for Satya, (and with Manju standing by, having her offers of help snubbed and meeting the other nannies), ending with a family closing circle – intention: to honor earth and sky and end our day – reality: satya and violet clobbering each other.
In to a simple meal of dal, rice, yogurt and boiled veggies. Violet was in her own world – because of the underpants no doubt. Tara as usual ate almost nothing (has lived for months mainly on the milk I give her at night and on popcorn). Satya ate a ton of spinach.
After a toffee quickly off to baths and bedtime, one fight over toy Indian flags subdued,etc etc etc. Good thing I’m almost to the end of the story because midnight will come and the blog god forbid will have tomorrow’s date on it
After dragging Manju through the post-bedtime cleanup routine was done for the day and ready to blog when Sukumar called on his way here from the airport – got things lined up for him, and we had a chat when he got here and that’s about it.
Took Violet to pee and started typing and here I am. Tara woke a few minutes ago for milk and to pee. I’d better quit while I’m still awake and not drooling on the keyboard.
For future blogs (by request)?
Insecticides
The class divide, including: Who Sits?, Separate but Equal Dishes, and Musings on Color
Kids and Hindi
Zero to Five household staff in 3 seconds flat
by Ajay
So on that day I woke up (after a week of springing out of bed to attend to the wee ones) only to lie there, miserable, for an hour or so while they fended (quite nicely) for themselves. Then a bite of guava, vomited, later a sip of water and bite of banana and threw it up, and knew I wasn’t taking them to the swimming pool after breakfast. It was going to be a home day. I was awake for about an hour – long enough to thank goodness for class privilege and the cook it has brought into our lives; Ramreet made the kids breakfast as I staggered away to dry heave at the sink for a couple of minutes and fall back into bed. I’m certain no little teeth were brushed, but the kids will live to see another day anyway.
What happened next? Oh, yes, saved by technology. So today yours truly, the downwardly-mobile Luddite ate humble pie and slept while the kids watched Young Black Stallion on the tube. Or is it a plasma screen.
Woke up in time to play some with Tara and put her to sleep while briefing our new nanny, Manju (the kids call her Didi, but as yet have no visible fondness for her of course). She’s worried that the job will not suit her because of the language gap and I can’t blame her. I also wonder if my kids are more rambunctious than the norm. Anyway we’re checking each other out. She’s a little quiet – I hope she’ll rev up and be able to play with / manage the kids.
Managed to hold down a little lunch, failed to get Satya or Violet to nap, and then packed V off to play with cousin Mehek down the street. (She came back hours later with red tight elastic marks from having worn Tara’s tiny underwear. Note to self to check her when she dresses herself.) Popped in Cinderella for Tara and Didi to watch while I failed to get Satya to nap. But managed an hour of sleep myself. I think Hukum Singh and Taoji and Ramreet enjoyed Cinderella too. Thanks to Meghna for the DVD player.
Off to Vijay and Sonali Primlanis’ place to play – got my best aerobic workout in months (sad but true) playing soccer with young Dev against Vijay and Satya. Then a couple more hours of excellent play in the park, mostly swings and slide for Tara and Violet, and soccer and chase for Satya, (and with Manju standing by, having her offers of help snubbed and meeting the other nannies), ending with a family closing circle – intention: to honor earth and sky and end our day – reality: satya and violet clobbering each other.
In to a simple meal of dal, rice, yogurt and boiled veggies. Violet was in her own world – because of the underpants no doubt. Tara as usual ate almost nothing (has lived for months mainly on the milk I give her at night and on popcorn). Satya ate a ton of spinach.
After a toffee quickly off to baths and bedtime, one fight over toy Indian flags subdued,etc etc etc. Good thing I’m almost to the end of the story because midnight will come and the blog god forbid will have tomorrow’s date on it
After dragging Manju through the post-bedtime cleanup routine was done for the day and ready to blog when Sukumar called on his way here from the airport – got things lined up for him, and we had a chat when he got here and that’s about it.
Took Violet to pee and started typing and here I am. Tara woke a few minutes ago for milk and to pee. I’d better quit while I’m still awake and not drooling on the keyboard.
For future blogs (by request)?
Insecticides
The class divide, including: Who Sits?, Separate but Equal Dishes, and Musings on Color
Kids and Hindi
Zero to Five household staff in 3 seconds flat
by Ajay
posted by Sara and Ajay at 10:32 AM
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