Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Lost and Found!

Are there things you lose and find only to lose them when u need them most again. You see it all the time and just when u want it, it has magically walked out. I agree that u feel curious about my ‘old age concerns’ right now. But no, I am not yet that old and have no signs of amnesia temporary or permanent. Let’s just say I am a little jinxed.

I have been losing a lot of things lately….That I have a super active toddler at home is purely a coincidence!

For a week straight, I couldn’t find my office badge and in the process of getting a temp badge every day, I got to know my office security much better. As our ‘friendship grew’ ….You should just request for a new one he advised gently. ‘No, I am sure it’s in my house. I just need to find it over the weekend’…I replied …I did find it over the weekend very carefully sandwiched between the old car seat and its base into a groove where something a hairline thicker couldn’t have fit. Nevertheless I found it. The next week it was the phone. Mid-week I stopped even searching. I knew it was too safely stowed away to be found. Then I found it switched off and stuffed into a lil sock and buried into a bin of towels with utmost care. I also found that the Donald soft toy had two of the hair clips I had been searching clamped to his beak. When I have visitors at home, I have strongly started encouraging treasure hunt as an icebreaker. Also like pulling a rabbit out of a hat, pulling stuff out of the sides of the couch is added for special entertainment.

One of my favorite ear rings….one of a pair went missing. I was a little sad, it was a gift and I dint want it lost. Thankfully that was easy to find as I heard it rattle inside the dryer.

After a week of pulling up an empty wrist involuntarily to check the time, the last hunt was for my wrist watch. And I finally did find it in the fridge inside a cup of yogurt as I cleaned that out. Someone has been pretty thorough to tell u in mild terms. And the frozen yogurtized watch had stopped for obvious reasons. So I put it to rest in peace. That’s also why I have stopped buying anything expensive.

Amma advised me ‘U always have to have the bottom up approach…search at ground zero and move upwards. He is small, so search at his level first’ ….And this approach was working fine enough till someone got into a complete monkey business. Somebody has been climbing a lot and that’s not making the wild goose chase any easier.

Today’s was the kicker….My laptop was missing… :O!!…I could imagine a phone, trinkets, watches walking away in tiny hands….but a laptop..Oh hell NOO! Clearly flustered and wanting to get out of home on time, clearly panicked, I searched all over….under the couch, under every piece of furniture…It was a scene from CSI.. The crime scene had to be thoroughly searched and we had a SWAT team in place employing force and tact to the investigation…me, Appa and the nanny…while Abhi sat innocently watching the chaos and licking his sippy cup. Appa clearly wanting to pacify me suggests “why don’t u go to work and we will take care of this for u”…”Appa..thats my office laptop that is missing :O!” I squealed!!! We scrambled and squeezed ourselves into all corners ‘mission impossible style’ to locate it…Abhi was completely unfazed and getting his Santa Baby toy to squeal “I am a Santa Baby..wish u a merry christmas” in the end of March. And as we are combing down the apartment with military precision, a diaper situation called in for some breaks and re-strategizing. I put Abhi down and roll my hand into the Huggies box …to find it warm!! Warm….?!?..why warm!?.. I found the laptop slid sideways into the Huggies box warming up the diapers. With a little boy at home, I don’t have to search for adventure outside!!!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Stress Busters...

All of us have a degree of stress and our own ways to handle them…Sharing some of mine…

1. Turn on the humidifier with Menthol vapors…Even if u don’t have a cold or sinus…warm mist and menthol vapors have a tendency to calm u down
2. Maggi noodles… not the thousand variations of flavors, just the plain good old Maggi masala noodles.
3. Cuddling with my lil boy and tickling him into a giggle…its immensely relaxing
4. Listening to my favorite instrumental themes
5. Chocolate glazed Donuts ….Dark Chocolate too..
6. The tranquil mint Stress Relief lotion on my hands
7. Presence of the ocean….Sound of the ocean…if nothing else, at least ocean sounds from a sound machine
8. Music…gentle or peppy but definitely not sad…
9. Fresh cool breeze on the face…
10. A long drive …with no destination in mind…
11. Looking at photographs…
12. Talking to my favorite people..

So why suddenly….
I have been so stressed of late……There’s so much up in the air and a sense of helplessness and inability to either fix them or let go. Time is the key a friend tells me…U just have to wait something out. I understand that its true…but that’s the hardest part…how long is long ?....Have I or have I not waited long enough…? its getting hard to say that clearly..

At the bottom of it, one of the important ways to stay less stressed is to be flexible and mindful of the fact that a lot of things will not turn out the way you want for them to turn out.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

The small joys!


Sometimes we are so self-absorbed in the big things and big goals that the little ones get forgotten...This week I had a gentle reminder to slow down. A reminder that didn’t come in a form I expected or desired. But in hearing something terrible happen to someone else. A single moment changes the course of life and life doesn’t always provide for a life jackets and parachutes to help u land safely. A single moment helps us realize how frivolous and superficial most aspects of our lives are and to focus on what really matters.
The little moments in life bring u the happiness. Not the big expensive vacations, not the big gifts...the little moments stay with you forever. The one moment of happiness is that anchor to providing the strength to withstand everything life has to offer.
May we learn to appreciate those moments and cherish them.