I have been away (from Jambav) for a while now. There are so many things that have happened in the past couple of weeks. First… I have quit Dell and have decided to venture on my own. This means, I'm around to supervise home and Nitu dearest. All this while I have been (desperately) trying to cope up with  the pressures of the new assignment I have taken on, along with the distractions of working from home with a 3 yr old and a husband who comes home after a night shift.

I realize that it will be a while before I will be comfortable with my new work schedule. And this was one of the many reasons why I was unable to blog.

Nitu has been unwell for the past few days starting Thurs last week and for the first time since she started school in April this year, she had to miss school for two days (Mon & Tues). Today she was much better and so was sent to school.

This bought of illness was the worst Nitu has faced in her 3.3 yrs. I have never seen her so ill. But then hopefully that phase is over and she is slowly getting back to her normal self.

When Nitu started school she could never recollect names of her class mates. She would always say... I don’t know their names, teacher has not told me their names.

But now a days she is full of names….Hemanshi, Aayush, Gurjot, Antapreet, Mannat, Smart, Anchita, Narun, Parth, Arsh, Vikram, Yuvraj, Arvind. Every game she plays involves school and her first friends. She is always playing her teacher and calling out…”Parth idhar aao”, Aayush sit down. “ Main tumko nahin bola bache, idhar khade raho”, “Tara inko bathroom le jao” !! I’m amazed at what all she says these days.

One day she said, "Ma Hemanshi used to wear different dresses first but now wears the same dress every day. She also brings rotis everyday. I think her Raj bhaiya comes to pick her up. I don’t think it’s her Appa."

Nitu doll is growing up.

Niyati has always been inclined towards cleanliness. She does not litter, is very careful to put waste in the dustbin, dirty clothes in the laundry basket, will always keep her shoes & toys back in place. After we had moved to Mohali, Niyati was totally off fruits and to my relief had lately started enjoying a fruit drink on her way back from school. I was happy about this little change in her till I found empty packets of the juice being thrown in and around the car park.

Yesterday, I happened to mentioned this to her and she said that she threw it out cause Appa said it was ok. I explained that all waste needs to be thrown away in the dustbin. To this, she innocently replied that there was no dustbin inside the car or anywhere in the car park. I was touched and reasoned that she should carry the waste and throw it in the dustbin in the kitchen. The little doll nodded in understanding.

Today Arun proudly told me that after she finished her juice on her way back from school she checked with him where she could throw the empty pack and he offered to throw it outside the car. But the little one reminded him that waste was meant to be thrown in a dustbin and held on to the pack till she reached home. She threw the empty carton in the kitchen dustbin. Bless you doll !

Personally my patience levels are pretty low and I have been trying to work on this for some time now. Yesterday, after a harrowing day in the office when I reached home, I realized that my day was far from over. Nitu was in a mood where she wanted to do what she wanted to do. She refused to concentrate on her home work (yes you read correctly…she is in pre-nursery but gets homework back from school) which was coloring different shapes!

So I thought of being generous this once and offered to let Nitu play if she was not in mood.

Nitu happily agreed and began a combination play with her marbles and stickers. I switched on the TV which I rarely do, and was just getting engrossed in a documentary on Discovery channel when Nitu wanted to know what I was watching. She kept pestering me to tell her “the story of what I was watching”. I patiently explained the story 4,5 times but she wanted me to repeat again and again. In the midst of all this she wanted to play with the buttons on my kurta.

As I was unable to concentrate on the program, I suggested we go and brush / change for the night. Nitu playfully agreed after a lot of cajoling. Then refused to step out of the bath. When I finally got her dressed and hoped to catch what was left of the program, she started again…story bolo, buttons on my kurta. Something really snapped in my head and I said “beta enough! stop playing with the buttons. I can tell you the story only if you let me watch!” Nitu burst out crying, she was really hurt and kept asking – “Main kya bad hoon kya?” I had not really scolded or even raised my voice but Nitu was shocked by my reaction. She didn’t expect me to be irritated by what she was doing.  I didn’t know how to react, till she came and hugged me and said sorry.

I was really guilty and felt awful. I hugged her and tried to make up. The darling that she is, she forgot and insisted that I play with her for sometime before we went to bed. I was almost over this episode, till Arun told me that she had recalled the incident this afternoon and told him about mama scolding her.

Hmmmm…so Nitu is growing up. She can now recollect and recall incidents. I really wish I could have handled her better yesterday. Sorry baby..