A Look Back...

Well, here I'm after a year and quarter thinking on what to write for the blog. There's a lot that has happened in the past year, but what's more interesting and worthy to write? Let me think……

Ok, got a hint of what to write - a look back at the past year, experiences and lessons learnt! Having school going kids, year is always the school year for us and not calendar year, as everything happens during the school year. Hence my experiences include both 2013 and 2014.

Life has been a roller coaster the very past year.

Due to multiple reasons like, time for homework and schedule for other activities, Shreshu ended up being enrolled in swim team for the morning practices from 6-7AM three days a week. With that said, morning swimming practices needed her to be in the pool by 5:50AM, which means waking her up at 5 in the morning. I had been hearing lots of imprecation; not exactly curse but grumbling from Peter, for having her do this. I cannot relate this to me, as I had been doing the same exact thing during my childhood days with my basketball practice, tuition, school, track and field practice, basketball practice, tuition. I started doing all this from my 8th grade probably, but Shreshtha had started a little early, to be precise 4yrs earlier than me, that is from her 4th grade. Being a sportsperson, I have a feeling, that a person, who's desire is any sorts of sports, has to give up so many little things in life including their sleep. I understand, well balanced sleep is the key necessity for any human being, and for a sportsperson it is one of THE necessity to have enough sleep, so their performance is not thwarted. To prove this point, let me take you back several years to my school days. This day stays as green in my mind, as the lesson I learnt was through my own bad and good experiences. During one of my basketball matches, after our win in the first match in the morning, we girls were happily chatting about the game and feeling proud, that we forgot to take enough rest for our next match. We played our second game, but alas, to our dismay we lost the match even though we were strong players. Our coach, when discussing about the reasons for our loss indicated that lack of sleep/rest is the key reason. Being a little girl, I quite did not agree to it, but did not speak back for the fright of getting shouted at or beaten by the PT teacher (we were not like kids here right!). The very next day when we had match in the morning as well as in the evening, our coach made sure that we slept for an hour or two after our morning match. I and other players were dumbfounded, when we played with extra energy in our evening match and won with amazing scores. It was then I realized how much sleep can help gather energy. So now, with Shreshtha, I do know that she needs enough sleep to perform well in anything she does and making her go to bed on time is another blog worthy story. The moment I start Shreshu get to bed, she's all with amma can I say onething, amma I have 2, actually 3 things to say I mean 2 statements and one question, amma can you look into my homework, amma can you sign this up for me, amma which dress should I wear tomorrow, amma can I sleep in this dress or should I change this dress, amma Harshad is getting on my bed, Harshaaaaaad STOP, etc etc. All this happens from 8:30PM to 9:30PM, when I finally had lost my patience and scream from my stomach Shreeeeeeeeeeeeeshthaaaaaaaaaaa can you get to your bed right NOW. Sometimes, even after my hollering, she had come to me saying amma just one last thing, please one last thing, but for me the adrenaline is all up due to the hour worthy of sleep lost. Yet my intuition always told me, she's just a little girl, don't shout; how I surmounted my tension - a stare at her for a minute without opening my mouth. This had always worked and 2 minutes later she had always been on her dreams.

The next up in our schedule for a roller coaster life - our dance practices. One of the major steps in Shreshtha's life as well as mine was OUR Bharathanatyam dance performance. Though we had been told about having performance in the past (before 2013), it never came to reality. The end of 2013 and the start of 2014 confirmed us of our performance dates and created whirlwind of eeriness in my mind. Shreshtha as always was valiant of the performance, and I'm still not sure if it is the age factor or the quality she inherited from her dad. For me, to dance in front of friends itself had been a major barricade; thinking of me in front of audience drove me crazy. Still we both put our effort in the midst of all other activities. Thinking of it now, I feel how we did all these scheduling, practicing, where we got the energy to run around, what would have we done if all these activities were not meant to be in our lives. I should thank almighty and my parents, especially my mom for bequeathing me all her qualities - whether it be cooking or the energy levels. It was and is from her that I'm able to do all the stuff that I do now. I also feel that she did not force anything into me but rather kept on saying what she had gone through in her life in a very positive way. All what I heard as a child did not make sense towards life, it was, at that time pure stories to pass time by, but now when I look back and think about how I'm now, makes more meaning, that it was all life worth of teaching she had inculcated in me. Now, writing all this rings a bell in me that, I'm not doing any of those what my mom did to me, to my children. I rather shout or give a advise speech for Shreshtha on what, why, where and how she's expected on several things, but writing down is really helping me think as a third person on how I should be with the kids. I take a promise here to implement whatever I'm doing right now in a positive, fun filled way.

Having looked back at the past year, comprehending how to handle kids better, now I have the new school year before me. This year is going to be busier than before, with Harshad starting Kindergarten and various other activities (already enrolled in Karate, Running and Swimming). I have full confidence in my trait I have received and conviction in my kids that they would cooperate and enjoy doing whatever I introduce them to. I also have great reliance in my better half that he'll be there to support me in whatever I do for myself, our kids and our family.

Expecting another great year to spend, experience and learn lots of new stuff!!