There is a world outside!

An infant at home is a full time job for three! There is the mother who is on call 24/7. She cannot have a time out or disengage mentally and physically from the baby atleast in the first few weeks( We will come back later after a few more weeks for updates) D felt even when she was doing her masters programme and had her lifescience lab work go on endlessly, she was never on 24/7 schedule.

There is me of course, the new patti. I am there for D and also for the baby when D has to take a so so short break or attend to her basic needs. And whatever time is squeezed out after this is for all other activities which used to fill up my time earlier to the grand arrival of the baby.

Then there is the father of the baby. He fills in with holding and rocking the baby on a full time basis.Our baby does not know how to go to sleep. So the father rocks him. sings to him. speaks to him continuously and that apparently helps him go into stupor and lulls him to sleep.

And part time job for the thatha. He has to fetch and ferry endessly from the market and also inside the house, the numerous things such a tiny infant manages to want. He has to drive D and baby whenever they need to visit the doctor.

And of course not to mention the paid help of a maid and a cook.

And so it was that our life was revolving around the baby completely we forgot there is a world outside. We felt we cannot move out, anybody wants to meet us has to come home. My brother's family had come visiting and would call on us everyday and sometimes more than once in a day to spend time with us. It was on the day they were leaving and he called up to take leave, I realised he is staying just a few hundred metres from our house and why can we not go and personally bid him and his family good bye.   And so it was that D and her husband went on the first foray outside the house in one and a half months. They were quite nervous, but as it happened the baby was picture of good behaviour and slept through the time they were away. 1 brownie point earned!

Now that the myth was broken, they went for a short walk the next day. It was to be only for half hour, as the baby was cranky during the day and his feed was due any time. But they felt brave enough to squeeze that half hour. Baby again was the picture of perfect behaviour and earned his second brownie point!( they told me they had chikku milk shake. For the uninitiated, the baby is called chikku)So obviouly though they were physically away from the baby, he was very much part of their thought process.

And yesterday it was again an impromptu occasion. D decided to go the airport to see off her husband. Chikku timed his waking up and feeding to the finest detail, so much so she could do the trip comfortably and be back without any major catastrophy striking 16 subra. When the baby woke up and before he could get into his screaming fit, I had a master plan to give him a bath. Thatha was drafted in to help out in pouring the water. It is his first experience in bathing an infant, but he was willing to do anything to tide through the situation. So it was that the baby enjoyed the leisurely oil massage(I took my time about it) and the bath that followed. And wait, after we towelled him and put on fresh clothes, he just slept off. Yes, he just closed his eyes and slept. It was such a wonder and never has it happened earlier, that thatha and patti stood and gazed at him and gazed at each other and grinned. We had a fine story to tell D when she came back sometime later and now she looked at the baby and looked at both of us and grinned. Yes we made a spectacle.
So the third brownie point was won handsomely!