Parenting, meet the flu.. Flu, meet Parenting 🤝

Its been a long long time since I wrote a blog here. Do people even blog anymore? No matter how many video apps take over the planet (read Insta, tik-toks and youtube), the charm of reading never goes away, does it? Not for book lovers and readers like me.

When I decided to pen down my gazillion thoughts, it took me a good 10mins to recall my long lost blog's name. For a moment I thought Google had deleted it! And there went my hopes of showing blogs from my youth to my kid decades from today or even my grandchildren (will the next generation's kids even have kids? 🤔). But lo and behold, there it was, tucked away somewhere gathering years of dust. It took me another 20minutes to relive my younger 20's self through my old blogs - which also made me realise that all my philosophy and wisdom comes only with temperatures running high.

So this is yet another blog written with a fever of 101 degrees at 1 am in the night and too many delirious thoughts swimming in my head. To keep my own sanity and to ruin yours, here's some food for thought.

Parenting -  Good? Bad? Ugly? Lovely? Best thing in the world? Most exhausting job in the world? Jury's still not out on that one

I've been down with the flu for almost 5 days now.  Yes - not my kid, but me. I am the one down with flu.

What does a normal person (read non-parent) do when they catch the flu? Snuggle up in a cozy bed? Wake up a late? Get lots of adrak-chais and soups (rum for some?) and go back to bed?

What does a parent do? Force yourself out of the warm snuggly bed in the wee hours of morning, put extra efforts to get your kid ready for school, make him brekkie, pack him off to school - you DARE NOT miss this step. Because sir - if you don't, there goes your chance of resting even a little while your kid's away at school. Not to mention there'll be double penalty for you as you will have to find entertaining activities to keep him occupied at home. Also not to mention how he will miss all his friends and fun at school. 

Double. Trouble.

Ok so I forgot to mention - his most favorite person in the world (that never includes the parents, does it?) - grandma is also down with the flu running an even higher temperature than the mother. So its all hell break lose once the kiddo is back from school and can't play with his most favorite person. There's some level of drama and some level of wisdom going in circles from the toddler. As a sick parent, you are already frustrated .. at some point you'll even lose your cool but soon you'll realize what's the poor kid's fault? So you don your most understanding and loving self. What follows is a truck loads of hugs and kisses and then its all well - at least for a while. 

You might ask at this point - where's the dad? Dad is the superhero at this point -  already looking after 3 sick people at home + entertaining the kid.

My most favorite part of parenting and I know its all worth it when ...

Your kid comes back from the park and gets you a flower, gives you a million hugs and kisses and strokes your hair until you fall asleep because he wants mamma to get well soon 😊

Did your kid just turn into your parent? :)

Parenting - its all worth it! Isn't it? 🌻

"You are somebody’s reason to smile."

This one’s about a beautiful relation called friendship. It’s about compassion, it’s about being there for someone.

My first post on this blog was about friendship. When I had written it, I was 24 and not as wise as I am today. But when I read it, I know that I valued my friendships then and I value them now.

A lot of people come and go in our lives, some are there to cherish forever, some were an important part of your life at some point and some were just seasonal.

I met a friend yesterday. We used to talk everyday until a few years back. But life had plans which made us drift apart. We went our separate paths, to cross each other’s every now and then. And after growing some greys, and with every new “crossing of paths”, I look back and learn – learn more about the person, learn more about myself.

Sometimes you learn that the friendship you shared was more meaningful than you thought. That you made a difference.

That you are still the reason for them to smile.

And that realisation reinforces my faith in this relation every single time.

If each one of us keeps our egos at bay, and holds on to each other, sometimes selflessly, with a pure heart, 
the world, I am sure, will be a much better place to live in.

It’s a beautiful relation – cherish it.

“A true friend accepts who you are, 

but also helps you become who you should be.“  

What do we live for?

I was talking to my bestie today (only a 2 hour long talk) and we got talking about this and that as we had a lot to catch up. We were talking on the phone after 8 long months (we live in time zones that have barely 2-3 hours of overlap). We had been in touch of course, but only on dispersed whatsapp chats. People who have best friends and love talking about everything under the sun know that keeping in touch on whatsapp in as pseudo as buying a fake Prada (There’s a reason why I chose this illustration!).

That’s what has become of the new generation. Globalisation, IT, hectic lifestyles – everything is eating into our quality time. Our time with our families, with our partners, with our friends, with our neighbours, with our community.

Why?

What happened to us? What changed in the world? Why did our work make us unavailable to the people we most care about? Are we so lost in the rat race that we’ve forgotten our priorities? Is success in work the only parameter we live for? Are we truly happy with our lives?

If we are not happy, what can we change to make our lives better?

Tell me something – what is it that we are working so hard for? To buy things that will make us happy? A house, car, the latest iPhone, clothes to make us look great, showpieces to make the house look pretty.. be my guest and add on to the list! How many of these are our needs and how many are just add-ons to give us short-term happiness?

Is buying a Prada going to make us happy while we bust our ass at work, away from our family?

The day we realise what’s important to us and what we can let go of will be the day we start to live a truly “rich” life. Rich in happiness, rich in love and rich in compassion.