Okay, for one, certain things need to be sorted out. Issues:
1. Office says I have work for 4 hours in office and 4 hours at home. Now I am really uncomfortable working 4 hours in office after being rather used to working from home. Not that I mind being in office, its quite a lot of fun, its rather that I miss being with my kids. Well, they do join school end of May, but till then, I really really miss being with them. More that that, theres my little girl to think of. She's been an absolute gem till now, playing/sleeping for a solid 2 1/2 hours after her feed so that her mom can go to office and finish some sizable work before getting back. I am really really worried that I will miss her to madness once I decide to get back fulltime.
2. I have become so addicted to the process of staying at home and working flexi hours that this whole thing of shuttling to and fro has become very unsettling. Neither can I leave the kids feeding to anyone else, nor am I able to work the full 8 hours and still do all the things I used to do for them.
3. As any other mom, I looove the kids too much to be without them the entire day ..may be I should not have started this work from home at all. I might have not known the heaven of staying at home, of being there for every hurt, every tear and hear every laughter. Pat them to sleep in the afternoon, be there when they come searching for me, sing them songs all day through and play rough and touch and bring huuge smiles to their faces. I just should not have experienced all this. Then the pang of weaning away would not have been there. I still have time to decide...

All my posts now seem to have the same content, as this is all I am able to think all day long. Maybe when I am out of this crisis, I will have more content for you to read, till then, do bear with me!

Dedicated to the organisers of the mega baby shower...

For all those ladies who spent so much time and came up with the amazing baby shower....

Hi you all and sorry for not keeping in touch.
My baby's been keeping me busy pretty much.
Congrats to you all for the amazing work done
Inspite your busy schedules and your little ones.

Lovely poems and wonderful clues
Enough to drive away the MTB's blues
I saw from Boo's what fun they had
That I couldn't take part, I am very sad.

I've joined back work but still no maid.
Its like walking in the sunlight and seeing no shade.
Hours stretch from 7am to 12 midnight
And the three wake up every 2 hours at night.

So sleep is nil and work is more
My eyes are heavy and my back is sore
But it brings a smile to my face
to see you all doing so much with grace.

I wish someone would give me a shower
Just raising three kids gives any one a shudder
I am digressing, I just wanted to say
That I am proud of you, if I may!!!

Here is the originator and what she had to say....
Hats off to you all.

Sitting with two in my lap..

Kautu on the chair armrest and Kachi on my lap, as I type away, I realise that I just don't want to send them to play school so early, would in fact prefer joining work two months later so that they cross two when they join school. Would someone convince my husband that a two months loss of pay is bearable? Or is it not? I don't know. We are just mildly out of some financial crisis and thats why it is so critical that I get back. Critical and heart wrenching, cause I sent of the previous maid and now, I cannot leave them at home but have to compromise for a playschool cum daycare centre (as all the play schools are closed for summer) for the next two months. The montessori we have chosen opens in June and till then, I plan to send them in the mornings to a day care and that is sooo difficult. I am still going to work from home for Krithika, but its near impossible to do that with these two hanging around! Even as I type, one is busy standing on the chair behind me and trying to ursup my place and the other is trying to push him out of the chair. Oh...what do I do? What just do I do? This question has been eating my head for the past two weeks, it comes in my sleep and every waking moment. When I see them playing peacefully, I tell myself I can actually manage keeping them at home and working, but the next moment, they turn on each other and then I am sure that I need to send them to a place where they will be occupied and will not get bored of just playing with each other. And these feelings keep oscillating and time is running out. I need to join back by April 7 and if they have to go to school, then I need get them comfortable there at least two weeks before. We actully tried sending them to a day care. They were playing happily when we left. We bought diapers and bottle and returned in 15 min to find Kachi clutching onto the gate and bawling his heart out and Kautu sitting in the swing and crying. Aw..we just couldn't leave them after seeing that and Karthik and I bundled our precious goods into the car and came straight back home. I know kids do tend to cry when they join school, but I guess we are just not ready for it still!! Anyways, if anyone has a suggestion, please do tell me about it. I am truly in a big dilemma right now!!!

I just found the time

To pop in and give a small diary entry. How is it that when your hands are full, you find yourself having more time to do the things you never had time for before? When the maid was there, I valued the rest I got, the free time I got much less than now. So, anytime I am not doing anything is like a boon, so precious that I cherish it to my hearts content. And believe me, its so wonderful not having to see the maid day in and out (though she used to leave at a prompt 6 in the evening). I just love the feeling of having the house and the kids to myself. To play with them all the time, get them involved in the household chores (well, so far, Kachi has found his niche with the broom and Kautu in the kitchen, though knowing Kautu, he is more interested in finding out just what all his mother has stored away beyond his reach) and shout the worst songs loudly to them without facing a silent censure from anyone! For this reason alone, I have wished that I had lesser number of kids, just so that I can manage them all on my own, but now that I am doing so, its really a blessing that I have my three!! For, Kachi and Kautu fight, play, laugh and sleep together and Krithika, she's as of now a no problem child, taking her feeds, playing and sleeping. She's begun enjoying the play gym we had bought for the guys. Infact, you put her in it and she forgets to cry for a nappy change and hunger!! She holds very amusing conversations with the smiley facing her in the gym and kicks the musical teddy bear with her legs! We are thoroughly enjoying this little bundle of joy and god bless her with happiness life long!
Okie, the time is up and I need to get the noodles ready before the kids and their dad return from the park, plus the sweeping and mopping the house is still pending and ofcourse, dinner has yet to be ready.....ah..all with an ailing stomach (I don't know what I ate yesterday, but things in the middle have not been good since last night!)..but I am cherishing every moment of this. For, I might need to keep a maid when I start work next month, and all this privacy would be a distant memory soon.
See you all.

Taking a break..

Sent my maid off last month...and the cook. So, with the housework and kids work, Iam totally pooped!!! Till I get another maid, I am taking off from the blogworld. Sending you all my love and wishes and may you all be having a great time every minute of your day!!
Ciao and god bless,
KP

PS: Kashyap, Kaustubh and Krithika are doing fine. Only their mother is a poor overworked soul right now!

She's gonna get a name!

Tomorrow is our daughter's naming ceremony. The 28th day after she was born, according to Malayali traditions. Well, we followed everything tamil for Kachi and Kautu and this time, I wanted whatever I could have to be the Kerala style..like it was done for me.
And she's going to be named 'Kritika C Karthik' where C stands for Chakiyat, my family name. There's a small story behind Kritika too..I don't know if I have mentioned this, but after coming to see the new born baby in the hospital, for another 4 days Kautu kept singing 'Kritika'. For that time, everything in the house was Kritika, all vegetables, tv and in fact, all his toys too! My mom asked him what the baby's name was, and he repeated the same...Kritika!!! After 4 days, he hasn't repeated it till yesterday. Infact, yesterday and today, he's again been singing this name, and I have a feeling he will stop after the naming ceremony!! To add to this, another four people have inadvertently asked me what are you naming her? Kritika? !!!! Imagine our surprise! We asked them if they had heard us mention it before and they all said they had thought of this name just then.
After all these coincidences, how can we not but name her 'Kritika'? Agreed it not a very uncommon name, but it does have a poetry to it, and Kritika Karthik does sound strong and independent, like what I am hoping my daughter would grow up to be.
The preparations for the function is hardly done, lots of vegetables to buy and her black bangles and Kajal. But I went out today and got her what I wanted the most. A lovely infant dress from fabindia. What I had been eyeing the past few years. So, no matter that my back was aching and that its been just 3+ weeks since the c-section, I just had to take a rickety auto to the shop, pick out a printed floral cotton frock and a printed shirt with bloomers for the baby and completely averted my eyes from the XL kurtas that lie just across the aisle!
So, please send in your blessing for my daughter (I shall formally start calling her Kriti from tomorrow) and all your good wishes!

A sighting too rare

Kautu and I were standing by the window just a while back and looking out into the courtyard of the commodore (theres a lovely lawn there and an alsation which is a prime favorite with the kids) when I saw a huuugggeee black striped snake crawling in our garden! Well, the garden below our bedrooms belong to the house below(we stay on the first floor) and the one to the left of our house is ours. And there it was, crawling from our garden, under the wired fence to theirs, right below our bedroom window, stopping on the way to sun itself. By then I was frantically shouting for my mom(she had taken Kachi to the bathroom) who came running to see what the matter was. We showed the exited Kachi and Kautu the snake which was trying to climb onto the wall and get to the neighboring house! It could lift its body to almost half the wall .....and shattered my belief that snakes can do only the crawling bit!
It then decided that climbing walls is not its thing and found a tree nearby to be more friendly. It lifted itself again and wrapped itself over the lowest lying branch. From there, it was a piece of cake for the snake to climb over the tree and onto the adjacent wall. Till it disappeared from view, the stunned lot (me, mom, Kachi, Kautu and the maid) couldn't take our eyes of it. Inspite of our fears, we spent some time marveling at the sheer beauty of its movement and true to his style, instead of fearing for our safety, my husband, on being called up immediately to relate the incident, enquires why I didn't click a snap of the snake!!
I wanted to come close to nature and thats why we picked up this house. But I really don't think I fancy being this close and I shudder to think of even opening the windows to the right of the house all of which have trees touching (more than just touching, the branches almost enter the house) the window through which our acrobatic snake can easily make an entry!

Heres a snap of the lawns our bedroom overlooks. The garden I am talking about is in front the wall, not visible in the snap.