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Yeh Me Time, Me Time Kya Hai?

Social media these days is full of articles about “me time” and self care for mums. From sleeping in to spas you are not in dearth of options. All this information is great to read but iska main karu kya? With two kids, now 4 and under I am just grateful if I can pee in peace. The other day I was followed into the loo and was challenged by my 4 year old (Little R) to “wee like a boy mummy! Stand up!” whilst my 1.9y old (Baby R) was literally hanging off the wash basin to turn on the tap! I had to request Little R to kindly step out whilst I finished my business and then literally dragged a tantrum throwing Baby R out of the loo. All this drama for one wee! So when I read these “me time” articles I couldn’t help but wonder kya yeh sach mein hota hai? Le chalo mujhe wahan! 


See, nobody tells you about these things when you are pregnant. For example that you need to give birth to the placenta after birthing your baby (Sorry if you didn’t know that!). I’d rather be privy to both the wonderful and challenging aspects of motherhood. So coming back to “me time”, I decided to take matters into my own hands and summoned the husband for a serious discussion about how I can achieve this very elusive goal. Since the village that everyone speaks about is just me and him. 


Now, the husband is a busy man so this very important conversation involved me droning on about how tired and overwhelmed I am while patidev was surreptitiously sending work emails and hmmm-ing and sighing every 30 seconds. Eventually, we agreed (or so I thought) that he would take over dinner time for the kids and I could use that time to well, look after myself. I eagerly awaited dinner time the following evening. It couldn’t arrive soon enough. My plan was to play some music and dance my heart out. Something that I hadn’t done for a long time.

 

So the coveted hour arrived and as soon as the husband ushered the kids into the dining room, I dashed out to the living room for my chaiyya chaiyya. I was barely halfway through the first song that I saw two small smiling faces pressed against the glass door that leads to the garden. I tried to ignore them but then I heard them chanting “mummmyyyy mummmyyyy”!


The first thought that obviously crossed my mind was where on earth was their Dad?!! I rushed out towards the living room in a huff and saw him at the dining table watching some cricket match on his phone. It took him a whole minute to acknowledge my presence and when he did actually see me he very calmly said , “the kids didn’t want to eat so I let them play in the garden for a bit”. I was fuming! I said, “do you know they are vying for my attention? This was my ‘me time’ wasn’t it?” The husband very logically said “yes, it still is; just ignore them!” I was already weary of the whole thing so I proceeded to the garden, brought my monkeys back in and fed them. And yes they ate! 


So here I was back to square one! I had to devise another plan for this well deserved me time. To be honest, I am still thinking about how and where. 


Upon deep introspection, perhaps I just need to step back and let go a little. I will keep you posted on how that pans out!

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