And off we go

D day has approached and in two days this time I'll be boarding the flight to Zurich with the two little ones.
Am I prepared?
Not nearly enough. I've not learnt much cooking. A is still not sleeping properly at night. S is still having milk from her bottle. Three things to be ticked off in the last month not done
Am I looking forward to it?
Yes, with some trepidation. Its going to be a lot of work, running a household, cooking, driving to each place, looking after the two brats. But somehow I'm looking at it as an adventure and an opportunity to spend time with the kids without the pressure of work. It helps that Switzerland is such a beautiful place and the plan (as of now) is to drive out as much as possible in the summer months. My brother is visiting in June and my parents are coming in August for a month, already looking forward to it. It helps that some of the groundwork has already been done- we are getting our flat tomorrow night, the hubby is getting the car on Saturday and S has got admission in her school (touchwood).
And why am I confident that I can manage
I am not. I've been sleepless nights over the last week wondering how I will manage. Even my mom yesterday said she was worried about how I will manage. I'vebeen terribly spoilt my whole life - i took up my mba college to be near my parents and have the comfort of home. Even for both kids, my mom was there for more than 2 months around the delivery time, and then I pushed off for 3 months each to my parents place! Even my friends pamper me! I'm going to have to manage it by myself (the hubby has already spent 15 days out of the last month outside Zurich and warned me that this is the way things are going to be) and that too in a place where I don't speak the local language. The only thing which gives me hope that I can manage is that I don't have a choice. And sometimes that's the best way for it to be..

A conversation in the dark

Yesterday the electrcity was off from the evening onwards due to the heavy rains. So it came to pass that after the children's dinner, S and I went to sit in the balcony, instead of congregating around the TV to watch Karadi Tales (if S has her way) or the IPL (if Ajji has her way). A was inside with Ajji while S was swinging on her red swing, and I was swinging on the cane chair (you know the kind which hangs from a hook in the ceiling). And S and I have the following conversation...
S : I have six things to tell you mama
Me: Yes
S: Don't scold A. If she is not sleeping tell her nicely and she will sleep, don't scold (the last few days A has been sleeping very badly and resultantly I have been getting more and more bad tempered)
Me: Ok
S: And don't scold her if she does not have her food. Say nicely, thinnu ma (eat dear) and she will eat
Me: Ok
S: Today you scolded me so much no. In the morning you scolded me and I felt like crying
Me (feeling bad): sorry dear. I was just telling you not to spend so much time washing your hands (S reaches the sink in her Ajji's bathroom and her favourite pastime is to keep washing her hands, turning the tap, pressing the liquid dettol soap, turning the tap....)
S: And today, when A fell down in the park, I felt very sad (A fell in the roundabout when she was trying to reach for the central post, which S was doing!)
Me: That's very sweet of you. You must look after your little sister no.
S sudden change of topic: Why are there two Bombays?
Me: You mean , we have two houses in Bombay.
S (not really getting the point): Yes..
Me: See we were staying in one house, then we had to pack our luggage for Zurich and so we moved into a hotel where we stayed for some time
S: But why do we keep changing houses in Bombay
Me: But we moved only once recently dear, as I explained above to pack..
S: but why do we have to move so many houses in Bombay
Me realising this could go on and on : Ok dear
S: Why does the current keep going in Bangalore
Me: Because of the heavy rain . Don't worry it will come back soon
S: It keeps going in Bangalore no, it doesnt go in Bombay
Me: yes dear. The electricity problem is less in Bombay
S: But why does the current keep going in bangalore
Me again realising this conversation this could go on and on
Me: So we are going to Zurich next week
S: You stay in Bombay with Aditi and Daddy will take me to Zurich!!!
Me not knowing what brought that on.
S then kept chatting to herself on some topic or the other, while I watched and wondered where my little baby had gone and who was this big girl!

The snack corner is open

Its true. Children pick up their eating habits from their parents. In my case, the hubby and I are snackies and so are the children. And in their Ajji's house, they have been having a ball! The first two weeks were restricted by their tummy upset, but have they made up for it over the last few days! The usual delights are chakuli (home made) and mixture, and they each get a bowl which they take into their snack corner- the window ledge behind the sofa and we don't hear a peep from them for the next 5 minutes. S often calls A to come with her behind the sofa and share her bowl of snacks and they look so cute that my dad has named it their snack corener and keeps asking S during the day when the snack corner would be opened.
S was always a snackoholic, and A has also turned into one. We have a ledge next to the dining table, where bottles of mixtures, chips (I have to have khara chips with my sambhar rice!) biscuits etc are kept, and once in a while A will walk upto it and point to one of the snacks and will not relent till some piece is offered in her mouth! Luckily A has also developed a taste for healthier things like palia (vegetables cooked with no gravy, just seasoning) so I try to give her some between her snacks. S is also encouraged towards healthier snacks like apples, cashewnuts etc but what is one expected to do when they see their mom huddled up with a packet of kur kures at 11 pm in the night :)
Speaking of food, I've started another blog where I'm posting my home recipes. The site is http://wwwmyhomerecipes.blogspot.com. If you have any home recipes to share, do drop in to the site.

S ear piercing

We finally pierced S's ears! We went to the jewellers the week we landed in Bangalore (I wanted to finish it in the beginning itself, so the ear lobes have some time to heal before we leave for Zurich, and if any complications arise we can see to it here itself) S was great most of the time. In Bombay she had been asking when she would get her ears pierced and she was quite excited all the way to the jewellers. Then when she saw all the people there she suddenly got a bit nervous. As expected when the lady put the black marker on her ears to mark the spot where they would put the earring, she started howling- she hates ink marks on her hands/body etc . For the actual gun shot she was ok and didn't cry much! We chose a small diamond stud for S. The first gun shot went ok, S got slightly upset and I took her out for 2 minutes to distract her. She came back willingly for the second shot, and sat with a resigned look on her face! But during the second shot she suddenly moved away- luckily the lady ws super fast and managed to get the entire earring in- I was worried that the ear may have torn but it was fine. S was treated to french fries at the restaurant downstairs for being so brave. Its been two weeks now and the ears seems to have healed well touch wood. We've been putting the ointment/oil twice a day on the ears and turning the earrings round. Initially they were paining quite a bit, and she was finding it difficult to sleep on the ears and we had to be extra careful while removing her t shirt over her ears. Now the pain is mostly gone and S is looking forward to wearing a pair of dangly earrings (I've been wearing danglies for the last two days and she's been asking for her own set!). We've decided to wait till A is older to get her ears pierced. She might pull her ears when it pains, with S she understands not to, but A is too young. Speaking of earrings remind me of how I got my second hole pierced. We were in London and I'd gone shopping with my mom and sis-inlaw to the local mall. I wanted some dress and my mom refused to buy it for me (and rightly so I dont think i would have ever worn it). In a fit of defiance I announced that I was going to get my second hole pierced at the local shop there (not a jewellers but a small shop in the middle of the mall) and when I did not meet with any protests I had to go through with it. But the gun was quite painless and it didn't pain much as the earlobe is soft. Taking inspiration from the painless procedure, a few years down the line I decided to get a third hole pierced, this time at the top of my ears. Ouch it hurt like mad (the cartillage is much harder there) and even after a month the pain was bad and the ears were bleeding when I removed the earring to clean it. After suffering it out for another month I just took out the earrings and the third hole closed on its own. My aunt has a third hole in the same position and I still wistfully look at the earrings whenever I see at a function..

Trying times

The last week has been extremely trying. In my last post I had mentioned my choc o block schedule in the last 2 weeks in Mumbai when I was managing both kids without a baby maid and a busy husband . I had caveated that it was manageable as long as one of them did not fall ill. And how I was looking forward to coming to Bangalore for a month before pushing off to Zurich where there would be absolutely no help. Well one should never expect anything to turn out the way they expect as far as kids are concerned as they are random variables and the times when two random variables behave the way you want is quite rare. And true to it, A was extremely cranky the night we landed in Bangalore and the next morning her nose was running and she had a cough. So the first thing I did on my first morning here was to go to the paediatrician with A. The next few days passed ok, A was a bit cranky and troublsome for her meals but ok otherwise. Then last Friday night, suddenly S complained of stomach ache in the night, and vomited every fifteen minutes from 12:15 am till 3 am, at which point I was exhausted and asked my mom to take her. A was woken up by the night activity and refused to sleep till 5 am. I slept from 5-7 am and when I woke S was still unwell. She had again vomited the milk she drank in the morning. Then I rushed her to the paediatrician who prescribed some vomiting medicine. S was then ok for the next few days, partly because I completely stopped her milk and also because I cut down her food intake also quite a bit. Suddenly on Sunday, A vomited out her lunch, and then when I gave her some milk, she vomited that out too. I managed to give her some milk and put her to bed. She again vomited out the evening meal. When she again vomited out the night meal I got really stressed and again rushed to the paediatrician- but this time my dad had to find one and take us as our usual paediatrican was on holiday. The doctor said to give mainly liquids for the next few days and again prescribed vomiting medicines. A and S were somewhat better on Monday, but started getting loosies and A became extremely cranky, crying for long periods and wanting to be with me all the time. Tuesday again both kids were off their food, and I had to go to the paediatrician again who prescribed medicine for loosies. Wednesday was a really bad day for S as she didnt retain any food (she vomited three times) and Thursday I restarted her vomiting medicine and took her off milk again. A has been better today and eaten most of her meals (though much reduced quantity) and had some milk. But she also vomited twice today, and every meal for both has become an exercise in coaxing and judging when both have had enough. both kids have become thin (when the hubby saw them on skype yesterday he was quite surprised). S gets tired easily, and vomits at the drop of a hat. A has become very clingy and has to be carried by me most of the day, or sit in my lap all the time, and I can't step out of the house for more than 1/2 hour without her getting very upset. I am unable to spend much time with S as a result, and sometimes she gets quite upset. As usual I gave grief to my mom about how awful this was (and now I'm feeling guilty). I hope and pray the kids recover soon, and enjoy their vacation here. I also hope for more patience and strength to manage them both alone in Zurich, I was lucky in a way that this happened in Bangalore where my mom was there to look after S and help me look after A.