Stretching Time....

Sometimes I look at my kids & feel a trepidation.....they are just growing up so fast......
Nikita knows more about make-up than me[ofcourse it is a different matter altogether tht wht I know abt make-up can be described in 2 words...brown lipstick] & Naina is quick to
catch us if we happen to burp & forget to say "Excuse me".

But jokes apart...I can already see where it is going. Soon they'll be old enough to come back on their own from the school bustop, will ask to sleepover at a friend's place & as it is, think "this Mama doesn't know much".
It is unimaginable even now to think that sometime soon we may send them on their own to the nearest grocery shop to make small purchases like our parents did with us.

And I keep wondering "Did my parents feel the same way like I do now???

"Nah they couldn't have....I mean, things were different then, the lifestyle itself was different, life was simpler, people could be trusted, roads were less crowded and so on.
Nowadays there are paedophiles & other mentally unstable people wandering all over the place ". We are reading about terrible incidents in the newspapers every day. Better to be safe than sorry, isn't it????

Yeah, yeah I know.....our parents also went through the same if not more worries than these. Atleast we are equipped with a lot of information nowdays which was seriously lacking in their days.....I mean those were days when even a telegram sometimes took 2 days to reach but now mobiles & emails keep us so much in touch that even from across the world we know what mom made for lunch today....ummm I keep track:-P.

Letting go is so difficult.....the kids I mean. All these years we made all their decisions...we decide what food is good for them, what clothes make them look good, how the haircut should be...

Slowly I see the difference, they are becoming more independent, their tastes differing with ours. Nikita doesnt quite like the clothes I pick out for her. Infact the other day in a store she dragged me to another aisle show an outfit which she thought was awesome......it was a purple & gold t-shirt & leggings. My first reaction was to vehemently reject the monostrosity[which I did ultimately, but with finesse]. And Naina doesnt quite like the way I comb her hair.

I waggle my eyebrows at the better-half to share the joke but hide a wistfulness for the days when they were infants who depended on us to do the best for them.

I know, I know it's way too early to start feeling sorry for myself....for a start they are just 7 & a 1/2 & 5 years of age. Worse is yet to come...then all this will be kiddy stuff.

Now even as we shush them at the dining table or order them to lower their decibel levels while they play, I'm aware a time will come when we'll hardly know they are there in the house, a time when we yearn that they come to us & initiate a conversation.

No book will ever prepare us for the actual events which will unfold as the years rush past. In the meantime we'll just savour the time we spend with them now & concentrate on bringing them up as good human beings with sound morals & a strong conscience.

And when we go shopping, I never fail to explain & stress how much "Mama loves Saris, Mama thinks Gold earrings are great, Mama likes to be taken out for ice-creams treats and whichever part of the world you are, Mama would like to hear from you atleast twice a day......".