Retired from work...not from life :)

Thirty Eight years is a long long time! These are the number of years that my Mother In Law has given to her organisation. Today, 30th of September, she is retiring from work. It is SUCH a big deal. Not just for her but for me- her daughter in law. Let me explain why :)

For the five years of my decision to stay at home to raise my children, I have been privy to a lot of reactions from people when I tell them that, "No, I am NOT working but my Mom in  Law is." It is a rarity as usually (at least with most of the women around me of my generation) it is the other way round. So far I have just smiled and told them- "Yes. That is the way it is in our house."

But from tomorrow morning, things will be different. Because while I am still at home-raising children- Ma will also be around full time. I know for sure that she will take some time to adjust to the newness of sitting at home after so many years, but am I used to her presence? NO. I am so NOT. From tomorrow, I will have her around me-

not bossing around as that is not her nature- but she will be there spending time with me, depending on me, eating lunch with me, going to the market with me, receiving land line calls, answering the door bell, signing on couriers, haggling with the maids, tending to V and N's homework, deciding what should we make for dinner, planning weekend etc etc etc. 

All these things so far were things I would do carelessly and lazily. Now for the first time I will get a taste of being a Bahu who has a Saas right next to her. But you know what makes it easy? Its her :)

Now that she has promised me that she will regularly read my blogs and my stories and also be active on Facebook (I am making her account today itself), I can address her here,

Ma,

Welcome Home. We salute you as you successfully end such an important phase of your life and we assure you that this new journey of yours too will be laden with happiness and joy.

Thank you for being a Mom in law who is less strict than my own Mom!!

With you,

Parul

Honeymoon on Facebook, never ends!

Saurabh and I have very busy mornings. With two school going boys, they are bound to be.

We put two alarms- wake up almost together- I head to the kitchen preparing their lunch boxes and water bottles- Saurabh roams around the house getting other things in order- we wake them up- spend ten minutes cuddling them- its time for their shower which is my duty- Saurabh then dresses them up- I recheck their bags and diaries to ensure they are equipped for the day- Saurabh drops them off to the Bus stop. 

These last crucial fifteen minutes when Saurabh is out, I spend checking the Facebook News Feed. And everyday I regret it. This is clearly something I shouldn't do. I should rather make a cup of tea and read the newspaper. But I wait for Saurabh to get back. Just so that while he eats his breakfast and reads the main paper, I sit next to him with my chai and Delhi Times. But on more than one occasions per week this chaitime is interrupted with my impressions from the Facebook peep I just indulged in. So we have a typical conversation where my disinterested and practical husband is seriously 'trying to read' and I am taking out my frustrations:

Me: This ABCD is always checking into airports. How much does he travel!

Him: Hmmmm

Me: (Knowing well that Saurabh isn't probably listening) And this XYZ got married six months back! But their Honeymoon has not ended it seems. Did you see the pictures they put from a holiday?

Him: No. Okay.

Me: (Still adamant to have his reaction even though we have had this discussion a million times) Guess what? That PQRS has yet again posted pictures of the food they had last night! How many times in a week can anyone eat at a restaurant?

Him: Hmmm. 

Me: (Obviously irritated) Why didn't you become a software engineer? Why couldn't you settle abroad? We would have also posted such exotic pictures then.

Him: (Reading and reading more)

Me: Say something!!

Him: I had already finished my education when you decided to marry me. Why are you asking such a silly question?

Me: Hmmm. 

Him: And baby, if you will go by people's Facebook lives their honeymoon will never end! 

Me: (Glad that we are having some 'meaningful' dialogue now) So does the reverse logic work too? We travel more than them but I have not posted pictures of my last four holidays! So are they sitting in their homes and wondering that my life isn't as exciting as theirs?

Him: I don't care what they are thinking. And I don't care how happy they are looking on Facebook. You read the paper. Log off the Facebook.

Me: How the hell are you so practical and I am not?

Him: (Looks up at me for the first time with a smile) Because I know this ABCD or XYZ or PQRS will never post pictures when he/she is cleaning utensils in their apartment. And I am not posting anything happy or sad about myself. Think about it. (Gets up and leaves for work)

Me: (Typed this Whatsapp message to him but deleted as I know his love isn't dependent on it) You are the ONLY reason I remain sane!




Image courtesy: Google Images