Musings on my first Mother's Day...

Aah, my first Mother's Day just went by! I felt strange, weird, old, funny, emotional - all at the same time. Among all those mixed feelings, the best feeling was that I had one more day to demand gifts and a special dinner. Yes, yes, the bane of consumerism and all that jazz.

On a more serious note, I am a fairly young mommy - only 6 months old :D (yeah, i am still trying to get rid of that new mommy tag). But nevertheless, I tried to evaluate the characteristics that have evolved in me since November 6th, 2012, which definitely make me a "typical" mom! I could come up with only these:

• I can sleep soundly through most noise, but one whimper from her highness and I am up even from the deepest of slumbers. (Though that does not prevent me from cribbing about sleep deprivation.) 

• Though Manya has barely started on solids, I am already obsessing about feeding her, why she is not eating enough, what she should eat etc. etc. Infact I have an MS Excel sheet done up with color coding et al. for foods under various categories, her reactions, and so on.

• Mom knows best is the only mantra I live by. The doctor's recommendation comes a close second :D.

• My online browsing, shopping, and reading, infact most aspects of my being now center around M. I have to make a very conscious effort to engage in a conversation that doesn't revolve around children and parenting. 

• 'No' is the new favorite word around the house. I say that so often that I am beginning to worry if M's first word will be 'No".

• In any conversation that involves the three of us, Vish is no longer Vish but 'Daddy'. "Say bye to daddy." "Daddy will put you to sleep." Tell daddy to lower the volume, we need some peace." Daddy needs to buy mommy a present." :P

• The sight of bawling infants no longer appalls me - mostly because I now understand babies are so unpredictable, and more importantly, I am busy keeping mine in check!

• Whatever be the day of the week: Sunday or Monday, the routine never changes. I need to get up early for a head start to the day.

• Gone are the days of fashionable purses and bags. I now lug around an ugly monster everywhere that has diapers, wipes, ointment, extra set of clothing, changing pad, blanket, toys, burp cloths, wash cloths and other such 'basic' necessities.

• Impromptu trips - to malls, to movies, weekend getaways, off to an unplanned destination with just a wallet and cellphone - all are things of the past. I need a longish notice of atleast a couple of hours even to go do groceries. Manya should be well-fed, well rested - it should not be too hot, it should not be too cold, and other trillion such trifles.

Does this sound bad? Have I sunk deep enough into mommyhood? Or worse transformations are yet to come? Time will tell, I guess...

Goodbye to the "I am a new mommy" excuse!

Yes, I finally sat up this weekend and decided enough was enough. I had to snap out of the "just delivered"/ "have a new born"/ "am a new mommy" mould. I was beginning to feel old and decadent - and that is a very scary feeling. 

So here's what I need to do to "reinvent" myself, in the most cliched way: (I promise I will do a periodic analysis to see where I stand.)

• Get a hair cut: How simple is that! I read on a friend's FB status, "When a woman decides to change her lifestyle, she first gets a haircut." Very true. I was quick to act on this one and got some spring cleaning out of the way :D.

• Get back in shape: I am 3 massive kilos away from my pre-pregnancy weight (3 might seem a small number but those of have been there and done that know that it's the last couple of pounds that are the hardest to knock off). Not only do I need to shed those off, I need an intensive toning routine too. All the pregnancy and nursing curves and bags need to be tucked in!

• Get rid of my yoga pants: I need to just throw these away. My best friends during pregnancy, I have worn these everywhere: to the hospital, grocery stores, banks, restaurants, gym and to the bed! And now I have got so used to these shapeless comforting wonders, that these are the only clothes I reach out for in my closet every single day.

• Dust the cobwebs off the heels: Oh, how I loved wearing heels! It's been more than a year now. Wore them briefly once recently, and boy, it felt great.

• Get some paint on the nails: Ever since the 8th month of my pregnancy, when I no longer could see my toes, I stopped painting them. Trimming them was a huge exercise in itself, forget pedicures. While I still can't paint my finger nails (for obvious reasons of safety and hygiene for the little one), it's about time my toes got a makeover!

• Eat out atleast once a fortnight: This one depends a lot on Manya's comfort levels in restaurants  but we need to begin taking her out for the litmus test. I am really hoping for a nice wining and dining evening. Oops, wining can't happen cos I am nursing, but well, dining surely can!

• Blog regularly: And not just on this mommy blog, but my other one too!

• Resume reading: I seriously need to restart reading. And I mean proper adult reading, because all that I am reading these days (barring the few parenting magazines I received) is Sam and his little sister, Sleepy Owl, Goodnight Moon, Off we go to grandma's house, Bear on a trike, and the likes. You get the drift right?

• Call friends: I need to pick up the damn phone and make a few gazillion calls to all those patient friends, who have constantly kept in touch all this while, while getting a superfluous "Call you soon" in response from me!

Anything else that I am forgetting? Please feel free to use the comments section to remind me :)!