Traveling with a toddler - Paris, Prague, Budapest

Dear Piya,

We just came back from a vacation.

This was immediately after you turned two.

In hindsight, it would be interesting to ponder upon why we did not take this immediately before you turned two, as it would have costed us two tickets less (full price, to & fro for you, baby!), but that would have hardly changed the non-monetary experiences we had during the course of our vacation.

The trip was planned for two weeks of stay in three different countries - Paris, Prague & Budapest.

These cities are usually popular with tourists, and so we decided why not pay them a visit. After all, Paris has Disneyland, Prague has Praha Zoo and Budapest has luxurious swimming pools in the name of thermal spas - all of which could cater to a young toddler’s interest.

What I forgot was that in addition to these wonder accompaniments for the trip, we had you - a wonderfully hyper-active toddler.

We posted a lot of pictures of our trip online for our friends & family to see how lovely these cities are and how much fun we are having enjoying in there.

But just like nobody posts online about the pain in their stomach over the lipstick on their face, we too did not share any sour experiences.

I think I am going a little harsh here with the use of ‘sour’ because what we experienced behind the scenes was more like a comic sitcom for the passerby, as a little toddler gave her parents a hard time playing ‘Catch Me If You Can’ on the streets abroad.

Yes, that’s you, our little roadrunner!

I ask myself what I was thinking taking a two year old to foreign land for a vacation.

The naive answer in my mind was that I expected to relax a little through time away from the routine of a working day.

The real answer now is that of the laughter of an audience who enjoyed quite a show watching us say ‘Please, baby, please...’ all through our tour, to make you sit, eat, walk, lay down, keep quiet, stay in one place, stop from throwing things around...you get the flow, don’t you?

Whew! I am getting tired just by re-living those memories!

And then I start to go over the mesmerising laughter on your lips as we chased you watching character after character on Disneyland. You couldn’t get enough of all the cartoons around you. Add to that the sheer number of toys you got lost in and our day was made.

The zoo in Prague had you with its first elephant! Every hippopotamus, every giraffe, every tiger and every lion after that were the cherry on the top of your cake of happiness.

And while a thermal spa wasn’t really the swimming pool you expected, you blessed us with a sound sleep in your stroller as your parents enjoyed some carefree time to their own, at a hand’s distance from you, in the thermal pool.

You cried. You got cranky. You ran away & fell down & did more such annoying things more times than I could count.

But you laughed.

You danced.

You jumped.

And you hugged me even more number of times.

You learnt of newer words, ones which I had struggled to make you repeat from a book.

You saw grand structures with awe & you jumped on every vast street for a stroll.

You stubbornly demanded any ice cream we ate & you relished many unhealthy snacks.

Don’t be surprised if I tell you that it was you who woke up your exhausted parents every single morning with a, “Get up! We are getting late for fun!”

All in all, it was an amazing trip.

And to all those people who say that traveling with a toddler is like doing a vacation wrong, I would like to say, “You bet. But it’s all worth the trouble if you do it well enough.”

Thanks for a lovely trip, honey.

As we returned home all healthy & safe, I couldn’t have asked for a better journey with you.

Love,

Maa.

Yesterday One, Two Tomorrow!

Dear Piya,

That time flies is what I am riding a running horse on, as we stand on your second birthday already!

I have not forgotten a single memory of the day you were born, but I an smiling from ear to ear since morning today as I vicariously live the best day of my life through replays of vivid sounds & pictures & sensory euphorias of this day, two years ago.

As cliched as this statement sounds, yes, I did have the best shine in my smile as I heard your first cry, as is said about how that is the only time a mother enjoys her child’s cries.

We had decided not to celebrate your first birthday, mich against the big whoop around Big One. Your father & I thought that it would be best to celebrate with pomp & fervour at a time when you understand some bits of what a little party is actually; for you to enjoy the fact that there are friends around you, there is cake & there are gifts for you to tear open.

It was clear to us that when one, this concept of celebration was still new to you.

But quickly after the the first twelve months of your life, you caught hold of the tradition of singing ‘Happy Birthday’. As you inched towards turning two, you insisted on a cutting any & every cake whoever’s birthday it might be, you wanted to pull out the cherries off the cake & ruin the cream layer in the processs and you most certainly wanted everyone around to clap & sing the birthday song  for you. So after having celebrated your birthday thus on every house-member’s birthday, we decided to throw you your first birthday party.

There are some few hours left for that to begin, yet.

And my letter to you had to be ready before that, because I have been singing merrily ever since I have woken up, looking ag your childly radiance, loving you more than ever through the proud feeling of being your mother.

I am wondering if I would want this day to be celebrated for my own self too.
Because I do not remember how I was on the day of my birth; probably crying aloud my guess is.
But I remember every tear of pain as well as joy later on that I experienced on the day of your birth.

In every way, hence, I should celebrate it as my day too, as yourbirth story is in every way  my birth story too.

Happy birthday, my little girl.

I love you to the moon & back.


Maa.

The Crescent-shaped Cave

Dear Piya,

Doesn't it feel nice when something makes us warm & comfy?
Like an icy treat on a hot day.
Like a soft blanket on a cold night.
Like a tight hug on a blue day.
Like your arms around my neck, any day of the year.
Like some few minutes of sleep for a young mother, any time of the day!

There are but a few things in life that fall under the category of 'snug'.
That is what sleep should be like - cozy, sheltered, relaxed & prolonged.

If only wishes as such were like apples on a tree, I would have climbed up to the highest of branches just to pluck a small fruit.

Hmmm...yes, sweetheart, this letter is about a nice & warm sleep.
But it isn't my sleep we are going to talk about; its yours.

But before the finer details, here’s a little fun fact-
The essence of somebody’s deep sleep lies in the posture they don when asleep.

Some people spread their arms out and spread like a bed sheet on their bed.
Some people curl up like a caterpillar in its cocoon.
Some others lie down straight, as if they were sentenced to sleep in an attention-position.
And some others like me keep changing postures all night long - sometimes on their back, sometimes on their tummy, but mostly on their sides with a curve being formed through the position of their hands above & legs below, like the entry to a cave.

Now, I have already written so much about how tough an ordeal it is to put you to sleep, you active, active kiddo! But here is something new - what happens when the world is asleep?

This is what -

It was a few weeks back when this started.
We were asleep.

It must have been a few hours post midnight.

You are aware that all of the bed falls short when it comes to your sleep-circling-tour across it, don't you?
Oh, well, now you know.

So it was during one of these topsy-turvy circling around round of yours that your leg kicked me in the face, yet again.
You would expect me to get used to this after having been kicked, slapped, hissed at, sniffed over & even bum-pushed into my face by your little body.
But as they say, hundredth time is the charm!

And as the charm left my face hurting I swung your body around with an angry gesture of 'Go back to sleep, and out of my face, Piya!"

Well, the expected happened.

Your sleep-cycle broke and you started crying.

I felt bad, but what can you expect from a person whose REM sleep you just disturbed with a kick-in-the-face?

Anyways, my motherly love towards my darling baby (You, darling, that's you), came into play.
I pulled you close to myself.
You turned away, and so I had to pull you back in.

As you neared me, your back took rest against my chest. You curled up into the cave that was formed by the position of my neck through my thighs - A Crescent-shaped Cave.

Your sobs slowly faded away into some lullabies that I sang to you, and soon enough you were fast asleep.
It has been weeks since that first time, but you have found and claimed your Crescent Cave every night ever since.

I experience your hair tickling my nostrils, at times.
Sometimes your head hits my jaw as you enter the cave with a thud.
I can also feel your chest breathing in & out, with the vibrations passing through my juxtaposed shoulders.
And then there are times when you rock my body awake when the cave is out of reach due to another posture that I am sleeping in, to put me into the desired C-shape of sleep wherein lies your comfort zone.

This cave through my curving body, seems to be your secure, warm, cozy shelter for a sound & loving sleep.

Tell you what, love?
This cave is my shelter of a sound sleep too as nothing in the world compares to feeling your heart beat through my chest, because that’s how close we are as you sleep with your head resting on my arm, in the Crescent Cave you love so much, that you come knocking every night on it.

Of all the tiring days when I have waited endlessly for you to get tired & fall asleep, this is one wonderful memory I wish to treasure.
I hope you will too.


Love,
Maa.