Genki Family

The day I joined back office was an eventful day.

I was home for a year taking care of Richie and relaxing. The day finally dawned to join back work. I was happy, but at the same time apprehensive about how Richie will cope up with a whole day at the nursery, will he eat or not? how will the new work and my new office colleagues be etc. etc.

Dada dropped Richie to the nursery. Richie already had few practice sessions of going to the nursery before I joined office. So he kind of knew what it was, but not fully ready for it.

All these days the weather was good, in spite of it being winter, but that day, the temperature suddenly dropped in the afternoon and the weather forecast said that it was going to snow in the evening. Also it started raining and it was chilly and to top it all I had not worn suitable clothes when I left for office in the morning. The result was I caught a cold, and in a day or two my hubby and Richie too.

Whole 2 weeks we 3 suffered from terrible cold. I usually do not visit doctor for cold, but this case was different. Richie was down with fever almost every week. He would get better and after 2-3 days of tiredness at the nursery, he will fall sick again. I decided, nothing doing. I have to do something about it.

I knew how to cure myself. If I am happy (no stress), I know I can get well soon. I started the chant "Genki Family" which means Healthy family. I had heard, when you think positive thoughts, your mind becomes relaxed and relaxed mind helps to recover faster by healing your body.

Days followed and our health started improving. The weather was still cold but we were well equipped for it, mentally and physically.

Genki Family did work wonders for us and here I am hale and hearty, back to writing my blogs.

Time Management of a working mother

1 year of holidays made me a little relaxed as I laid back and enjoyed my time with my baby. Time really flew and it was time to join back work. I was apprehensive and wondering how will I manage home, baby and work.

I made a conscious effort and have made a schedule for myself. My working hours are reduced in order to match Richie's nursery timings. In the mornings, I pack Richie's stuff for the nursery, have breakfast and run for work. My hubby has volunteered to drop Richie to the nursery,so that gives me some breathing space.

In the evenings, I pick him up and set for home. As soon as he is home, he loves to listen to music and play with his toys, while I prepare his favourite dishes. Sometimes he peeks in to see whatz cooking and indicates if he is hungry by saying "mam,mam". We play together, read books, dance and sing songs. Then we have a hot water bath, eat and wind up for the evening.

Life has become a bit hectic after joining work. Nevertheless I am enjoying it too.

Richie and his interest in music

Richie has a very good sense of music. He has his likes and dislikes, which keep changing often. Looks like he's so hungry for music that he wants new stuff all the time, and he keeps us on our toes to find some real good music of his liking.

He has demonstrated to us his ear for music in so many different ways, many of which have already been documented by Riya earlier on this blog:

• Relaxing with music: While still in the womb
• Identifying music that is not sweet: When just a few weeks of age
• Trying to sing on his own: When just about 9 months of age
• Showing appreciation by clapping: When less than 10 months of age

And here's a new one that's on a roll since last November - Richie even realizes when a song is about to come to an end, a few seconds before it actually does, and expresses concern about it by going, "Huh'? Huh!?... Huh'? Huh!?". Now I find that really interesting. It makes me wonder how he can recognize that the song is coming to an end before it actually does. Since Jan this year, while continuing to be simultaneously vocal about his concern, he has also started shaking both his hands too to express the ending of a song.

At first one would think that he has started remembering the songs that we have been playing for him for a long time and therefore knows just when a song is coming to an end. But hey, he's able to judge that even for songs that he is listening for the first time. Now that's amazing, isn't it?

Richie's dad is back!

Hello everyone, it's Richie's dad making an appearance again after having been in hibernation for a couple of months. This time I'm coming with a vengeance, LOL!, and hoping to contribute to our blog more often. After all, I have to make efforts towards getting the title of this blog changed to somehow include 'fatherhood' as well so that all the dads out there know that there's something in here for them too :-) No clue? Check out my first post.

Before I say anything further, I'd like to appreciate the effort that Riya has been putting in to keep this blog alive. Good going, Riya!

Okay! Now there are so many stories to share... Richie gives us so many reasons to be happy about and yet more reasons to keep us always on our toes. I'd be the happiest to be able to post all of those special instances in this blog, and am desperately hoping to be able to make the time to record those special moments.

To begin with, I have a series of posts that I would like to make about Richie and his interest in music. These are instances that I wanted to write about back in December but got swept under the carpet as we got into the preparations for the year-end vacation. Well, I'm back, so keep in touch and keep reading all the interesting things that we have to share about Richie.

Work Life again

After a 1 year hiatus, I am back to work. It is going to be a nice challenge handling home, baby and work. Not that I am the first one to walk the road, but it is a different challenge for every individual. Richie has just started going to nursery school and he is adjusting himself very well, though he cried a couple of times seeing his mama go.. after all mama was in his vicinity all the time for the past 1 year. How could he bear the separation? And as I said earlier it was a reciprocal feeling. I felt like a part of me was taken away from me.

On the other hand, it feels good to be back at work. It is refreshing and gives a new dimension to life. When I come back home, I am all for Richie. We share stories and play a lot. We have so many new adventures to tell each other.It feels great.