Belly bean, sunscreen and TV screen!!

Today, was one of those days, which tested me in every sense and challenged me- especially with my neck n shoulder pain. Not to say, by te mid evening, the back also has, ompletely, gone for a toss. Sigh! As if mommyhood by itself was easy, that I had to experience it through this pain.

The day started with my usual perky chinipie waking up, clutching her tummy, complaining of a 'broken bone' in her tummy. Their cuteness multiplied with their innocent faces just make me sail through these times easily. So, momma checked for the broken bones and declared that she was fine enough to brush her teeth and go downstairs for her breakfast. Each chore was done with much grumble and she declared that she cannot go to school tody as she definitely was sick. finally after many-a-futile trips to the bathroom, a huge throw up on the recently-polished-living-room-couch and carpet, lightened her up. And after shedding tears for 'ultee-ing' on the much prohibited areas of the house and being duly consoled by a calm ( even, I surprised myself) momma, she chirpily went to her room, only to return, perkier than ever, dressed in a fancy tutu( which momma saves usually or the parties). Momma's shoulders had already started throbbing with pain after scrubbing the mis-routed meals of her darling child, so she just smiled n requested her to put something similar on the little sister, afraid that she might throw a fit otherwise. A few minutes later, she heard a couple of shouts(read pleas) for help n rushed upstairs to dress up a super-wiggly sugarbun.

Momma's attempt to keep them outside to get the most of the weather went vain as they kept coming back, asking her to join them. Given the pain and the amount of work (which meant cooking) that she had to, she just couldn't. So, they would play inside and after making a complete mess of their room, they came to the playroom where they spilled crayons all over and then proceeded to momma's room. Luckily, the sun was shining bright by then, and momma lured them on the deck - feeding them their lunches there(which ws khichdi n was declared the yummiest lunch ever!). Everything done fr the day, momma decided to let her tired bones absorb a little vitD and she relaxed under the smiling sun- well at least she tried to.

A distint 'arghh' 'yuck' from the washroom along with the sound of running water, disrupted chinipie's story. Yep! Tht's how a mom gets to relax- listening to non-stop chatter, that is(but who's complaining :)). So the elder one returned with the news tht sugar has cream all over her hand and shez trying to wash it off. Now, sugarbun's half day is spent wither washing her hands n feet or brushing her teeth or applying cream on herself, so momma just ignored that it will just mean the usual extra task of wiping off all the water, soap n cream off the powder room's floor n counter. Okay. Maybe, changing sugar's wet dress, too. As if taken aback by momma's non-reaction, chinipie asserted - it's the sunscreen. WHATTT!!?? THEE NEEWW ONE!! Yes, momma. HOW did she ever get it??? And, mumbling things like," you guys make things o ough for me!" and he usual, momma rushed to see sugar's face, hands, dress, bathroom counter n sink all smudged in sunscreen, while the poir thing was trying really very hard to get it off! And the more she tried, the more it got smudged!! And seeing her in plight, I just grabbed the kitchen towels (tht she had unrolled and spread all over the house earlier) and started wiping her off. Finally, getting rid of all the smudge, poor sugar relaxed and that's when I just started laughing uncontrollably and the girls, joined in too.
Sugar, why r u so naughty?
I m nt naughty!!
Then who is?
Momma is!

Ht's when chinipie led me to the couch, where the whole tube of sunscreen was squeezed out. The exact same spot where chini hd puked earlier, during the day! And thus started scrubbing -round 2!

With so much UV protection on them, the girls definitely needed a bath n then came the newer struggles for momma. Invariably, for past couple of months, they give me a tough time first getting them in the bath tub, then the whole process in there in itself, and later coming out. All in all, the toughest part of the evening was over. Once in their pjamas, they had calmed down and put in front of the 'television' while momma took a quick shower n warmed up the dinner fr them. Once dinner was done and over with, chinipie declared tat she felt much better. My tummy likes to watch tee vee. It wasn't hurting while I was watching it!

So, that and not pedialyte or momma's khichdi n lauki is the remedy for the tummy ache!!

Mom's guilt

So I was told to take it easy for a while. That meant no cooking for a while. Well, I did follow it - for a while that is. Until today. It so happened that we had the veg curry and a side dish, *(courtesy a friend and DH) but, a very important part of our diet was missing - dahi(yogurt). And another ingredient missing from our dinner plate was roti(bread). We came to know of an aunty who provides home-made rotis to the destitute like us. The dad was told in the morning to get them while coming back from work. Also, he was requested and reminded, at least, a hundred times to come home earlier than usual (not his normal 10 o'clocks). So, the dad cancelled his 6:30 meeting to pick up the rotis and dahi for his darling daughters. As luck would have it, he could reach home not before 8:00.

Of all days when momma rushes after them with the food, the girls chose this day to dutifully sit at the dining table at 6:45 sharp! It broke momma's heart to see her girls hungry- waiting for the dinner to be served. When she didn't have the plate ready. Mentally she calculated the time it would take to make the dough and roll out two breads for her jigar ka tukdas, but then, she remembered the last time when it had sent her head rolling and she toughened herself to save her emotions for later when she gets completely well. And that would happen only if she gave her a chance to recover. And then, it would be a few minutes when dad would be home! So she distracted the kids with their favorite episodes. Meanwhile, the veggies were heated up, the salad was cut, and the water bottles were filled. At 7:15, she checked on the kids again. Looking at their momma, they rushed back to the dining table, seating themselves. While momma wondered at her little marvels, who chose this very day to show such obedience, she wished within, for them to return to their normal bratty self - when she had to scream, at the top of her lungs, to have them seated - unmoving, so that she could shove the meals inside them. Not today, though. "Momma, what did you make? what did u make? And the guilt-struck momma, right then, there would have melted in water, if she wouldn't have seen those two faces - waiting for their dinner. So, she started feeding her little bird-lings - the salad, the veggie and the curry. And hungry as they were, they could have eaten a horse right then! Half-way through, the dad made his royal entry and the chicklings spared the horse and nibbled on the tiny bits of, probably, the yummiest roti they had.

Scrubbing away the flu bug

It couldn't have been a better evening(than my usual ones). By 8:30 p.m. Both the girls were tucked in bed, happily snoring. Momma had big plans of finishing the book she was half- way through, ad then, posting an entry on her own blog while listening to some nice numbers, post- dinner. She just couldn't believe her lucky stars that she did get that 'me-time' she craves for, after all. Momma being momma, had to do the dishes, and finish just 'a few' chores before she could enjoy that much dreamed 'me-time' guiltfree. By the time she worked on sating her conscious, it was 10:15p.m. She checked on the dad(obviosly still at work), who gave his automated reply, anytime she calls her after the normal people's office hours(for our ease, let's presume it to be any time after 6:30 p.m.). So, the exclusive-to-wife automated reply was-(any guesses here?!?) -"I should be headed for home in next 10-15 minutes". Knowing ver wel, that means at least half an hour, and then adding the travel time, she had around 45 minutes for herself. Not much, but still desirable!

She had flipped through a couple of pages of the book, when at around quarter to 11, chinipie came to her, clutching her belly. Using her elusive instincts, momma rushed chini to the bathroom and put her on the pot. And lo! They had made it in time. With only a minute difference. The stuff from chini's belly chose to make its way out, not from the rear end, but all the way up on the bathroom floor! Now, momma is one of those people, who sheds tears seeing water in somebody else's eyes and and and who, for 100 percent, throws up seeing(sonetimes, just liatening to) somebody throwing up. So, yes readers, go on applaud her how brave she was to handle the situation all by herself, which included patting her poor daughter's back while she emptied her belly, washing her, changing her dress and she even managed to calm her down through it!! She was, also, very ardently pepping herself to clean the bathroom floor without getting sick herself. She got the clorix wipes, napkin roll and a trash bag, When she heard that familiar click and heaved a sigh if relief! The dad was home, just in time!! Hearing his daughter's voice at 11 in the night, he instantly came upstairs, looked at her, then the big box of wipes in momma's hands and then the bathroom floor. Without a word, he took the wipes from her and set out to do his job. Some people are Godsend. One of those, in my life, definitely is - the dad!!!

After tucking chini back in her bed, and after dad's cleaning, the finicky mom went to do a thorough clean up( which obviously, always irritates the dad). But it turned out, that the dad didn't get a chance, as chini kept throwing up, from both ends, the entire night. Poor girl! She had to change her night dress twice, her bed was dirty, so he had to be moved with the mom n dad, n after a few minutes their bedsheet hsd to be hanged too. The carpet had to be cleaned for the times, they couldn't make it safely to the bathroom. After to failed attempts to settle her tummy with a frozen pedialyte, they called up the doctor at around 4:30 in the morning who advised to give her just ice chips until morning. Poor thing ws so dehydrated that she kept crying ( with no tears!!) tht her mouth was dry n ice chips r nt helping. But as rhe ice chips seemed to hv worked better n giving her two sips of water resulted in another bout of throw-up that poor mom n dad had to toughen themselves. Only at around nine in the morning, after confirming from the doctor, did they give her diluted apple juice and few pieces of apple. My child was very tired and just wanted momma n papa to sit with her. After she fell asleep, the finicky mom, set to her task again, scrubbing all the bathrooms, carpets, washing the sheets, clothes, lest she as two sick kids at the same time.

It's been two days and chinipie is still not very well. She had thrown up this morning too. And the entire household is on a khichdi diet.

Sugar, missing all the attention, has started saying, "I am sick" "my head is feeling dizzy".