Six short years since we officially met!

Today I am the mother of a six-year-old. I have no idea how this happened. 

They say, “the days are long, but the years are short” and that is never truer than when you look at your children.

Has it really only been just six years?

Six short years since we officially met.

Six short years since your first breath.

Six short years since you made me a mother and life before you just faded away.

For six years now, I have watched you grow. I have watched you succeed; I have watched you fail, I have watched you persist through your challenges.

I have watched you develop into a strong, witty (you get that from your dad), inquisitive, spirited yet so compassionate and kind little boy. My heart sometimes fears that for the sweet boy that you are, people might push you over. But your dad thinks that you’re smart enough to stand up for yourself. 

This has been a big year of you. Kindergarten started amidst the pandemic, but you love it (even if you’ve never seen your classmates without a mask). Of course, your favorite activities are lunch and recess, but when I push you on what activity IN the classroom you like most, you tell me ‘gym’ ;)

You’re learning to read, and I love to hear you sound out words. You don’t quite love reading as much as you love math and get quite frustrated when you get something wrong. It’s such a tough thing to learn and understand. Learning takes time and you have to be patient. You can’t be good at absolutely everything, but I am quite sure you are going to try.

Thanks to the pandemic, we spent a lot of time locked up in the house together. Some really fun times watching Disney movies, playing board games, and some not-so fun times. But you’ve to remember, mama only gets frustrated at you, because she has too much on her mind and when you ask the same question 100 times, it’s not so much fun for me anymore ;)

This year, you also got to spend a lot of time with Masi, CK, Arth and Yogi. They stayed with us for a few months and your excitement knew no bounds. You used to get a little disappointed when I came to pick you up from school, and not Masi. But it's okay, I think Masi is more fun too :)

You still love playing outdoors. You were spending a lot of time playing in the sand box at our neighbor’s house, so mama and dadda got you a tree house in our backyard. It had swings and slide, monkey bars, climbing ropes. You were very excited and played in it for one whole day, and then went back to the sandbox at our neighbor’s house. ;)

You love your gym classes and now you’re teaching me how to do a cartwheel. Obviously, mama doesn’t have a core as strong as you, so I keep falling. You have also started loving swimming AGAIN. After our “incident” in Atlanta, you were scared to step inside a pool again. But thanks to Nikita and Kevin’s encouragement, you’re back to being a water baby, and now you insist on saving everyone from drowning J

This year, you also had your first sleepover! Yay! I was excited and nervous, but you were just plain excited. Spending first night away from home, can be an experience fraught with worry. What if you must go potty in the middle of the night? What if you have a nightmare and want to cuddle with me? Are a few thoughts that would usually cross my mind. But you were spending the night with Tanya and Abhishek, two people who love you with all their might and I had nothing to worry about. You couldn’t wait for me to leave J You played UNO till late night and crashed, like you always do. 

Your sister adores you and wants to do everything you do. We are so lucky that you two enjoy each other the way you do. You play way more than you fight. Don’t be fooled by the hair-pulling and pushing incidents. That’s her way to showing you her love J

Ansh, six seems so very big at times, but you are still my little boy. As grown up as you seem, I am so thankful that you still like to cuddle with me. You love to give me kisses and insist I sleep in your bed. I’m sorry I am not around much during your bedtime, but I hope you’ll understand and forgive me for that. But dadda makes sure he reads you a book every night and plays tickles with you. Truly, it’s my loss. 

You have taught me what love is. What loving with my whole heart looks like and holding nothing back.

 

Most importantly though, being your mother has protected me from myself. In days of doubt, hours of stress and anxiety you have pulled me out the other side and shown me how to persevere.

Being your mother has been an honour and a privilege and not a day goes by that I am not grateful for you.

I am a better person today because of you and this journey that you have taken me on has been profoundly the best time of my life.

My darling boy, words can’t express the depth of pride I have for the small person I have raised. You show kindness and consideration for all those you meet. You are loyal, thoughtful and wise. You demonstrate fairness and tolerance in all things and beyond all, you treat others with dignity.

My precious boy, I wish you the world. I want for you; all your hopes and dreams and I will be here to make sure you achieve them all.

Happiest of birthdays to you.

And now, as per ritual, I’m jotting down a few of my favorite things you’ve said in the last one year. Your sarcastic humor comes from your dad and I’m so thankful for it J

1.     The toilet roll holder in our bathroom is falling out. It’s created a crack in a little section of the wall. The other day, I heard you tell your friends, “My house is falling apart”. Lol 

2.     I took you to the ATM with me to withdraw money and showed you the process of inserting a card and how the cash is dispensed. After that, you wanted to hold cash in your hand. To which, I told you that, “Kids can’t hold money. Mama and dadda work really hard to get money, and kids might lose it”. To which, without a pause, you replied, “But mama, I just saw you get money. That didn’t look hard”

3.     I got an email from your class teacher asking me for our new address. Apparently, you went and told her that we have recently moved houses

4.     This one time, your hair was not behaving very well. So, I asked you, “what’s going on with your hair?” To which, of course, your response was, “You didn’t fix it. Maybe that’s what’s going on with my hair”

5.     The other day, you said, “Mama, you know I’ve been to the moon.” And when I asked, with whom? You said, “Oh! You don’t know her. She looks like you, but she’s my old mama. She has longer hair.”

Oh Ansh, I love you so much bud. I wish you a lifetime of happiness. I am so proud to be your mama.

Love