Originally written in my other blog space on 14-Oct-2015 - Syncing here today
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Warning – total
incoherent rant alert!
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~~Gone are those days –
When we had no qualms of travelling alone on an overnight journey in a
bus… Where parents could leave kids with neighbors in case they had to
attend to any urgent work outside….When parents could let their kids play with
other kids in a colony/verandah/park without having to watch them like
hawks! When parents used to feel great about their kids being
clicked for being cute! When we used to feel happy about being clicked for
being cute! When we used go to school, without any fear, on the way or in the
school! When parents had no necessity to educate toddlers about what is
good touch and what is not! Believe me, when my 4 year old looks at me with
those lovely small curious eyes holding a puzzled expression as I explain her about
good/bad touch – my heart breaks! I am not sure if the current media is
successful in doling out sensational/breaking/important news, but it has
successfully managed to create a new breed of paranoid parents!
~~ Speaking of paranoia –
I have to say, ever since I started working, I have almost always travelled
alone, however long be the journey ….But after my little one came along, I
realized I couldn’t travel alone anymore! For the 1 or 2 times that I did have
to travel alone with her, I couldn’t sleep a wink the whole night – Well, apart
from the fear about the reasons stated above, there was this another aspect of
having to leave the baby alone, when bus stops for just few minutes at
unearthly hours for loo-breaks! You see, how do I leave my sleeping baby alone?
What if something happens to her in my absence? What if the bus leaves before I
come back? What if she wakes up when I am away? What if I board a wrong bus and
that wrong bus driver refuses to believe that I am in the wrong bus and just
speeds away? – Oh, there were so many other awful thoughts running in my
mind that I simply let the loo-break pass! There was also this another
guilty-part of me wondering why I had never thought about these important
possibilities earlier (well, there is an explanation to that as well – I had
never ever used these loo-breaks ever in the past – I would probably be snoring
away to glory to not even realize when the bus had stopped and resumed its
journey back))!!!! After the horrible experience during the first travel, when
I had to gear up for my second lone travel with her, I decided that I would
fall asleep as soon as I board the bus so I would never know when the bus stops
for a break next! But as always the case, Murphy had other plans for me &
well, I spent another sleepless night in the bus staring outside at the passing
trees, blinking stars and thinking about adult diapers!! I had decided by the
end of my second lone travel, that, from then on, I would book flight tickets
if I ever had to travel alone with my little one! It meant spending more in
terms of money and almost took the same duration as an overnight bus travel
(airports are quite far from both FROM and TO homes).. But I knew, I would be
one relieved (if you know what I mean) mommy at the end of these lone travels!
~~ Speaking of relieved,
well, as I had mentioned in one of my earlier post, you can feel good about being the world’s best
mommy, only if the other experienced good mommies let you feel so! Oh boy, the
amount of sniggering that I had to face when I declared my decision and
practiced it too – I was literally considered a show off (and am probably still
considered one) for opting air travel when an overnight bus journey would have
saved me (point to be noted – not them) a couple
of thousands! Would you believe that almost all who did have a thing or
two to say for this convenience choice of mine, were of my own gender and were
even mommies, at that? (no offense to any nice mommies reading this) Well, I
couldn’t believe & I tried offering explanations to a few about why I
preferred spending than suffering – It was after all for convenience &
safety! Ok, take it from me – explaining such things to other “great” mommies
is BIG BIG BIG FAT MISTAKE! They would simply roll their eyes and snub you by
saying that they have full control over their (in) secure thoughts & full
bladder! Well, I know, if they really cared, they would have understood
without me having to explain or would have just volunteered to accompany me
during these journeys to save poor-me from MY unwarranted
expenses! Wouldn’t they?
~~ Huh, to think I
started with paranoia spread by media to ever-evaluating-great-mommies, maybe I
should rant often!
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