deviousways

Last night, big man and I stayed up till 3 am to watch the Argentina-Netherlands football match. And before we slept, he and I had a brief conversation. "Let him bunk school," said he. "No, I don't want him to miss school, when he is perfectly well and able," insisted me. Naturally, I woke up to regret that. Got out of bed fuzzy, woolly-headed and utterly disoriented. But also filled with what-a-worthy-mom-am-I pride. I'd had barely three hours of sleep, after all. And there I was doing my best to ensure that my child went to school well-fed, healthy and on time. What an amazing parent I was being, I told myself. Then sitting in the loo, trying to shake the cloudiness from my head, I hear a tinny voice reciting numbers. It's Ayush, our security man Naveen Bahadur's four-year-old. Naveen, his wife Nirmala, Ayush and their new baby boy live in a room in our building basement. And since our flat is a ground floor one, we hear practically everythin...

Are you a hands-on parent? Are you spending the holidays taking your child to summer camp activities--craft, art, sport, swimming, skating, etc.? Or are you the type who prefers spending time with him or her, creating make believe stories, doing finger painting sessions, building lego cities, together? And, do you ever wonder, how much 'parenting' is enough? And if you are doing too much 'parenting'? Well, I do. All the time.  I worry that if my five-year-old spends all his free time with me (especially during these holidays), he and I will no longer enjoy each others' company. I believe that it is not my job to constantly keep him occupied and entertained. More important, I believe that if we (that is, him and I) have some time away from each other, then both of us get the space and the freedom to be ourselves. Okay, to be totally honest, that applies to me, more than him. Time away from my son is precious for me--it's an opportunity to just be...