The laughter, joy, frustration ,exhaustion...and everything in between...

I started writing this as a comment to a related post by Indian American Mom, a fellow mommy blogger, but then realized maybe it deserved a post of it's own, after all...a post that I could come back to when I am dealing with teenage tantrums, or when I feel that what I wrote here doesn't hold true anymore, or perhaps even later in life, when I am old and wobbly(if I end up living that long enough:)) and have nothing much to keep me company other than these printed words on this web journal, to help re live life's little moments!

So in her post, what Indian American Mom, essentially says is that the phase in which her two kids currently are(ages 7 and 9 respectively), seem to be the best phase of parenting, with reference to her experiences and life. That got me thinking. While I don't have as much parenting experience as her to correlate and compare with, nevertheless how do I feel really about the different phases of parenting
our little munchkin, who is turning 4 in a couple of months and who is the cause of all the chaos as well as laughter in the household. Well let' see...

When Raya was a baby, her baby rolls, chubbiness and cuddliness made me feel 'that' was the best phase of parenting, despite all the frustration that zillions of dirty diapers and lack of sleep, would often bring on. Oh tell me about baby tummy rolls, thigh rolls and chubby cheeks. All those little babies of  family and friends have been at the receiving end of cheeks being pulled, many a time by yours truly, of course...Needless to say, much to the consternation of the little ones and parents alike, LOL...so now, I always have to be careful...you know what I mean ...to avoid those rolling eyes:)...But, of course, there was no one to roll their eyes at me as far as my own little baby was concerned...so I pulled her cheeks, huddled and cuddled my little one to absolutely my hearts content! Other than the travails of pumping breast milk in lieu of nursing, 'this'(1-6 month) phase was great, given that we could still do a lot of the things that we did as family...dine out, a bit of travel etc. etc....all that we needed was a handy 'pacifier' to continue doing all the things we wanted...now, now...don't roll your eyes again...yes, I am indeed a 'pacifier giving' kind of mom...only by a miracle of God,  did we manage to wean Raya off the pacifier at age 1. So all is well :)

The phase between 6 months and 2 years, when the smiles came on galore and the interaction increased significantly, I felt 'that' was the best phase of parenting, despite all the fatigue and exhaustion that her increased level of crawling/walking and other activities entailed.

The phase between 2  to 3 years was a mixed bag indeed...the intermittent tantrums...potty training exercises...and so much more...but nevertheless, the increased level of interaction/chattiness/toddler insights and just the excitement of seeing little munchkin grow, made everything worthwhile.

Now that she is a chatty 'almost' 4 year old, I feel ' this' is the best phase of parenting...there is entertainment galore at home with non-stop chats...it's a different thing that 'D' and I often feel the need to put on ear plugs/turn a deaf ear to all the 'why/where/ how?' questions. Also while she is semi-independent in keeping herself entertained, we more often than not have to be a part of her games and, of course, read the same book for the zillionth time. But that's that. There has been many a time, when stress at home has been dissipated by roars of laughter brought on by Raya 'lingo'. Among others, here are some recent tid bits:

Raya: (While playing a board game) "Mamma, baba doesn't follow the rules of the game. Can you ask him to read the construction on the box?" LOL...'construction', of course, is meant to translate to 'instruction':)

Raya:(Looking at the pictures of a mythological tale) "Baba, what is Krishna's dad wearing?"
Raya's Baba: "It's called a 'dhoti', Raya, in Hindi"
Raya: "Oh alright, he is wearing a 'dhotty'"

Yours truly:"Raya, what are you and Baba making for breakfast today?"
Raya:"We are making egg 'rotty', mamma" ...egg 'rotty' is of course supposed to mean egg roti...the Indian equivalent of a French toast.

Raya: (Wrapping up a pretend conversation on the phone)..."Ok ok...that's fine...teek hai...teek hai...bye!"...('Teek hai' is meant to mean 'Theek hain' in Hindi and translates to 'OK' in English. And for all those, who are aware of my skill with the Hindi lingo also  know how many times in a conversation I use 'theek hain') ...so now, we know where she gets that from LOL.

So essentially entertainment galore and  she is fortunately still at the stage when she still cares to listen to what we have to say, despite having extremely strong 'toddler' opinions about everything on the planet, that she has happened to hear about!

I guess it is really wishful thinking that I will feel the same during her teenage years(as in teenage years being the 'best' phase of parenting...never heard any parent say that, have you?)... can only hope, pray and just wait for time to tell...But at the very least, every phase of parenting is indeed that complex, overwhelming and exhilarating combination of joy, love, frustration, exhaustion and everything in between, that I think probably very few things in the world can match, if there is anything at all out there that can come close to matching it!:)

Happy Thursday folks. The weekend is almost here!