My Lady of the Lantern

I tried new dresses for myself yesterday at a local store. *Groan* because I was not very happy seeing my selections on me.  Eventually, I ended up buying nothing, because I deserted my cart right at the cash counter as there was a neat time-sucking queue ahead of me. And I had a bad case of momma guilt because yesterday noon I decided to head out of the house and catch a movie in the theatre, so I did not have the time to kill more time.  When I was in the trial room, and faced my moment of truth with the very first dress, my initial thought ran to the gym membership my husband got for me, which I could not utilize. 2015 is a year of lot of things, but "personal fitness" feels like a priority much lower than full night's sleep.  M's birthday is 50 days away from today. Wow, right? Figlia has joined her Dad on a office trip/short vacation that I was invited to, but too many things were out of place for me to join in. And that left just M in Gracy'...

'Mummy, in case you are scared, I am standing right outside the toilet."

We had been meaning to try out a newly opened eating joint in the city, and last night DH decided to get dinner packed from there. He came home from the office, and took Figlia along for getting the food.  They were in the parking lot, and Figlia had opened the car door to let herself in. DH saw three boys on a motorcycle coming towards the car from the opposite direction. They themselves must have been trying to get out of the parking and onto the main road but had decided to weave a shortcut of some sort. They were speeding, and Figlia's door was wide open.  DH yelled to the boys and got to her side, in time to shut the door. The boys stopped their bike just as Figlia's door was slammed shut and she barely made it inside.  They thought it was some rush, because they just decided to go through the same trajectory.  DH stood right in front of them. The guy driving the bike, set one hand on acceleration while the brake was already pressed. If yo...

( Inspired from a blog with a different name, and in no particular order & full of TMI ) # She did not get to eat anymore the rice she already finished.  # She refused to pee because there is no pee in her after a full night of sleep, but she does not appreciate her mother's raised voice.  # I am not letting her play with the matchsticks. # I asked her to not wear the plastic bag over her head. # I did not intuit her desire to bring the diaper for M and made the mistake of bringing it myself. # I straightened her pajamas without her asking for it.  # She chomped my finger while I was feeding her food.  # I asked her to please stop talking to me while I was trying hard to relieve myself in the toilet.  For more stories, go to Mel's .

Last night, we went out for a party for the first time as a family of four. Our experience of taking Figlia out as an infant when it was her bedtime was such that we were not sure of how things would pan, but, maybe our beginners' luck worked, and no adults were harmed in the making of the evening.  Figlia slept in the car while we were on our way back from the party, and M was happy to stay awake and regale us with his babble on what the outing meant to him during the return trip. In fact, he was so trippy that it took us some efforts at home to finally get him to shut his eyes for the night. At 2 a.m., he roused us with twin distress: Gas Pain and Clogged Nose. The cold has landed back into our pad.  Figlia is amazing, and is completely my pal when we are not sparring with each other. I had a tight workday yesterday, and was tired before we left for the party. I barely changed my clothes.  'Mumma, I will bring something for you to wear' My daughter ...

Running But Not Running Away Can you suggest another caption?

I love my movies the way I love my books. I like to ruminate on messages in the books I like, the life of the characters, and the same behaviour transfers to movies. Savior is one of my favourite movies. My understanding of the world's dynamics is pretty dodgy, so I cannot say or vouch for the veracity for the way the conflict was presented in that movie.  And in the movie, there is a scene where in Quaid smothers* the infant because he is trying to not make a noise and get caught by terrorists who are slaughtering a group of civilians including the infant's mother.  I saw that flick before I had children. And my heart raced the first time I saw that scene, and it goes wonky every time I have seen it, even though I know the outcome, and it is just a movie. I can't get Aylan out of my mind. I have been reading and reading and reading about that boy. Right before the last time they got on the boat, he took a nap on the beach. I cannot get his face out of my m...

So I belong to this group of mums who are in the same birth club as I am. Since everyone gave birth at almost the same time, our struggles often match even when they vary. We talk vaccines, diets and milestones. And yet, almost every mom thinks that their babies are growing up far too fast. I happen to also be the tiny minority of repeat moms. Almost every other woman is a first timer. Me?  I could not wait for Figlia to grow up fast enough. I can't wait for M to get out of infancy.  And then these feelings get amplified after two consecutive nights of disrupted sleep. Last night he slept at routine 7:40 pm-ish, but woke up half an hour later and did not sleep till almost midnight. And then, the night before he woke up 2;30 a.m.-ish and began to play! He slept only around 4 a.m. Last night however, M's wakefulness made me spar with DH.  DH was irritated about this guy's lack to desire to close his eyes, and I was upset because on normal nights, DH...