So mayG and UTP turned 8 years today. Yes we have been able to "bhugtofy", which is a word invented today as a fusion of 2 languages meaning "tolerate", each other for yet another year.
We stand here, 8 years young, 3 kids, infinite love, never-ending fun, ups and downs, rights and lefts, wrongs and rights, goof-ups and fix-ups and I realize we have been just darn lucky that everything has just fallen in place so beautifully or maybe life (mayG, that is, dialogue-making here) has made me an optimist. Somebody who is able to look at the good side of things, always positive no matter how bad it is, heheh.
To be honest, I was in a rebellious mode today, didn't last long but it was something like, I am celebrating everyday living my life with mayG then why celebrate the anniversary day. In fact it should be a sad day to balance life. Fun and good stuff for 364 days and 365 days in a leap year and one day of misery, an attempt at the balancing act.
Little did I know, even she was in a similar mode, subconsciously. Her plan was to download a mushy movie we could watch together and she did put in her best attempt. Oh Kate Hudson in the movie, Heaven in the movie name, we got to download it. I mean there is a famous website called IMDB. One could actually check the story background. No, not mayG.
We ended up watching, "Little bit of Heaven" starring none other than Kate Hudson. For those of you who have seen it, you would know, this is one movie you should avoid on a happy day. The lady is dying of cancer and basically its a movie where you end up crying at all the last scenes.
Happy Anniversary for sure. But we are so relentless. We kept laughing through the movie, basically laughing at my dear wife's movie selection and dumbness. Anyway, more power to us.
Still being kids, with kids now, playing ghar-ghar (home-home) for the last 8 years. Many more to come, for sure. Why stop when you are hot, right? Roller-coaster...Weeeeee!!
Who's your daddy, Baba?
An almost 7-year old, who seems to have already entered teens. The middle one, 3 years, learning to deal with the intrusion in her mom's space which was expected to be hers for at least a few more years and the new born, settling into this crazy family. Not sure if anything could be crazier.
The good news is that the new guy in the house knows exactly how to make his place. From lovely timed farts which are no less than a piece of art to pooping at least once every hour. He is definitely in the right place. However, he did make me worry a bit when the following happened yesterday,
Baba: Ibrahim, who's your daddy?
Ibrahim: Waaaaaaannnnnhhh!!!
Baba: Ibrahim, who's your daddy?
Ibrahim: Waaaaaaannnnnhhh!!!
Baba: Waaaaaaannnnnhhh!!!
Ibrahim: Who's your daddy now, Baba??
It was easier to bully around the girls, don't know how this is going to settle. Anyway, I am lucky to be a candidate to enjoy the other side of the father-son relationship. A blessing for sure. Thanks Allah for everything.
Celebrating Every P(ee) !!!
Life as a parent is a truly privileged one as you get to experience the pleasure of the smallest and largest of accomplishments of your child. Pat your own back at times and patting your partner's on other occasions. Yet at other times, simply left in awe as to where did our child pick up that from.
I may have mentioned this before also that I had always seen myself as a dad at a very young age. Not the perfect one but definitely the best one that I could be. You see, I enjoy working to a plan. Build a project, put a timeline around it, align the resources, get the job done and enjoy the milestones heading towards achieving things as per the plan. Parenting is very much like project management, only the stakes are higher than any other thing you would ever do.
Lucky for me, mayG believes in this concept as well. She applies her skill to parenting like no other. Each little step ahead is a mini-project and each completion links to another project following it.
If you haven't noticed the emphasis on the keywords starting with "P" in this post as yet, let me share the 2 most important P words in the life of a mother with growing children that I observed closely and which led me to writing this. Pee & Potty.
The actions of your growing child around those 2 words could define the mood of the mother of the house on any particular day. It does in our home for sure.
Getting your child to go from diapers to telling when to go to being independent altogether on the pee & potty scene, is a continuation from learning to take the pyjamas off. We hit another milestone recently with the littler one now telling she has to go. She has been a bit inconsistent in the announcement but I am sure she will make it through. A bit of lazy genes (from me) are possibly taking her a bit longer than the elder one but we are in no hurry.
The "annoucement" that she has to go pee is an event every time. I see an adrenaline rush in mayG and we all pick it up from her. It is contagious. The event continues with a rush to the loo, the practice pants (diapers that slide down) off and settling on the seat, the captivated audience and the releasing sound of trickling water echoing off the walls of the toilet. It is poetic I tell you, nothing short of an orchestra performance. If it is number 2 (potty), it is all the same with the only thing different being the finale, a "plop" rather than a "pisssss..."
The after-event is nothing short of a celebration you may see after a sports victory, like the world cup, with bursting emotions, tears, hugs, high fives and obviously the trophy. In the mayG & UTP household, the trophy is a Dora sticker to choose from and stick to the frock and a gloat around with pride for the whole day.
It is very essential to celebrate every "P(ee)" with your role as a parent and let your child know how important the smallest and largest achievement meant. Re-empasizing and highlighting good behaviour helps make clear to your child what is acceptable and what is not, which forms the basis of your training them on the difference of wrong and right, which in many ways is the foundation that you would lay in for what your child would eventually grow up into.
Read the post again and identify the intentional use of "P" words. The keywords define the most essential things you need to keep doing to succeed as a parent. Can you appreciate the beauty of it?
dream post retirement life?
So I was wasting my life on Pinterest this morning (yet again! *insert eye roll*) and stumbled across this cute picture of an old couple in their pj's holding hands and jumping together on the bed!!!
you have no choice but to go awwwwwww at this unusual display of affection and wonder are there real people out there who managed to unlearn all the growing up and actually live their post retirement lives with such glee and abandon? Heck! even if there aren't I can sure dream that mine would be nothing but all of this playful rough and tumble, ah care free days with the mundanities taken care of, the important goals reached, the big dreams executed, time to follow the heart like its meant to and not the routine like its supposed to.. ah bliss, the kids happily packed out of the house (UTP is convinced this will be because we would have married the girls the day they are old enough to be out of the underage zone and me, I like to believe its because they'd be away at some fancy educational institute following their hearts, dreaming big dreams and growing up to be the wonderfully warm, extraordinarily talented women they are destined to be, inshaAllah)
So back to this old age fantasy, which is surprisingly enough quite the opposite of how civilized and proper I was imagining my old age to be an EXACT three years from today (guys this is getting a bit freaky, I dug out this post from the archives to link back to and realize it was the same date as today, just three years ago! ..or is it that its that time of the year that I like to sit and day dream about what my old age is going to be like?)
On a side note, I find it so fascinating to see myself evolving into the person I am becoming, it surely isn't who I had imagined I would once be, but so much "awesome-er". Its less and less of stereotypes and things expected of me and more and more of what I choose to be.. wow! Ladies and gentlemen, behold my aha moment for the day and let me savour it even though I have completely wandered off track.. oh well.. I bet I'll rock my old age and surprise even myself when I look back ;D a big fat shukar Alhamdulillah for that, I feel blessed! not many people get to live life on their own terms this way..
Back to this morning.. So the couple's inspirational photo gets promptly repinned to my board of places I'd love to be and I think of ways to drop the not-so-subtle hint to the man when a suddenly a scene from last week rolls out in my head..
UTP in his true desi man avatar is sprawled across the bed, mindlessly channel surfing after a long day at work, I am just done flipping the last paratha out of the pan onto the bread basket, the dinner table is set, the girls are changing for bed, my long (bad) day is almost done too.. "dinner hubby" I holler as I walk with the parathas to the table. He seems to be taking forever so I go to the room to see what he is up to and couldn't resist resting my back for a minute, its almost like the bed called out to me. I have the remote in my hand as his royal laziness has moved his pretty arse all the way to the dining table and now he comes back to see whats taking me so long..
I hear an "ajao yar"(come on buddy) as if from a distance and despite trying, couldn't find the will to get off the bed. I zone him out and go on flipping channels. God knows how exhausted I was but he is amused thinking I am imitating him or something and comes and stands in front of the tv blocking my view and remote range. Even that got no budge from me so he holds me by the feet and drags me to the edge of the bed tickling my feet and flips me over. All this in less than 10 seconds!
Taken by surprise, completely disoriented, and somewhere in a mix of panic and crazy laughter I tell him not to let go and.. ugh! the meanie, HE ACTUALLY DID!
Yours truly landed in an ungraceful crash, off the very high bed, with all her (excess) weight, on her (bad) knees killing her already dead knee and this my friends was just the beginning of a howling fit! I was furious and any kind of consoling was making me even madder.. (still does.. no seriously? WHAT was he thinking?! Can you believe I limped around all of next day! grrr!!)
..the girls who had come running at the commotion stood frozen in their spots seeing mama in her element!
Tough luck husband you picked up "my brain's a pressure cooker today" day to try your playful tumble and it backfired like nothing ever has for you.. all it needed was one seemingly harmless nudge for the whole juggling act to come tumbling down; yes, yes, some days my sanity is just that much fragile.. god! I scare myself sometimes :|
I guess I'll just sneakily go and delete that pin from my future fantasy board.. how much of jumping on the bed will we manage between my bad knee and his weak back anyway and God help us if either of us fall off the bed trying out that antic! lets just scrap that fantasy okay love? we'll think of something just as much fun to do, only safer.
So back to this old age fantasy, which is surprisingly enough quite the opposite of how civilized and proper I was imagining my old age to be an EXACT three years from today (guys this is getting a bit freaky, I dug out this post from the archives to link back to and realize it was the same date as today, just three years ago! ..or is it that its that time of the year that I like to sit and day dream about what my old age is going to be like?)
On a side note, I find it so fascinating to see myself evolving into the person I am becoming, it surely isn't who I had imagined I would once be, but so much "awesome-er". Its less and less of stereotypes and things expected of me and more and more of what I choose to be.. wow! Ladies and gentlemen, behold my aha moment for the day and let me savour it even though I have completely wandered off track.. oh well.. I bet I'll rock my old age and surprise even myself when I look back ;D a big fat shukar Alhamdulillah for that, I feel blessed! not many people get to live life on their own terms this way..
Back to this morning.. So the couple's inspirational photo gets promptly repinned to my board of places I'd love to be and I think of ways to drop the not-so-subtle hint to the man when a suddenly a scene from last week rolls out in my head..
UTP in his true desi man avatar is sprawled across the bed, mindlessly channel surfing after a long day at work, I am just done flipping the last paratha out of the pan onto the bread basket, the dinner table is set, the girls are changing for bed, my long (bad) day is almost done too.. "dinner hubby" I holler as I walk with the parathas to the table. He seems to be taking forever so I go to the room to see what he is up to and couldn't resist resting my back for a minute, its almost like the bed called out to me. I have the remote in my hand as his royal laziness has moved his pretty arse all the way to the dining table and now he comes back to see whats taking me so long..
I hear an "ajao yar"(come on buddy) as if from a distance and despite trying, couldn't find the will to get off the bed. I zone him out and go on flipping channels. God knows how exhausted I was but he is amused thinking I am imitating him or something and comes and stands in front of the tv blocking my view and remote range. Even that got no budge from me so he holds me by the feet and drags me to the edge of the bed tickling my feet and flips me over. All this in less than 10 seconds!
Taken by surprise, completely disoriented, and somewhere in a mix of panic and crazy laughter I tell him not to let go and.. ugh! the meanie, HE ACTUALLY DID!
Yours truly landed in an ungraceful crash, off the very high bed, with all her (excess) weight, on her (bad) knees killing her already dead knee and this my friends was just the beginning of a howling fit! I was furious and any kind of consoling was making me even madder.. (still does.. no seriously? WHAT was he thinking?! Can you believe I limped around all of next day! grrr!!)
..the girls who had come running at the commotion stood frozen in their spots seeing mama in her element!
Tough luck husband you picked up "my brain's a pressure cooker today" day to try your playful tumble and it backfired like nothing ever has for you.. all it needed was one seemingly harmless nudge for the whole juggling act to come tumbling down; yes, yes, some days my sanity is just that much fragile.. god! I scare myself sometimes :|
I guess I'll just sneakily go and delete that pin from my future fantasy board.. how much of jumping on the bed will we manage between my bad knee and his weak back anyway and God help us if either of us fall off the bed trying out that antic! lets just scrap that fantasy okay love? we'll think of something just as much fun to do, only safer.
Mr. Right? Think again...
I came home one day to be told that my wife had created a gift for me. In the maygutp household, gifts are not procured, they are created. What I got was a powerful statement of approval that I was doing the expected job as a husband and a father.
It was nicely written on a t-shirt,"'Mr. Right". A comic character with a flower in his hand.
It took a while before moving my focus off the comic character and why he only had 4 hairs on his head when I am not bald at the moment. I may be approaching it but I know I don't look bald at the moment. Then it struck me, my wife thinks I am Mr. Right. I would say that's quite an achievement considering the things I do or rather not do that she would like me to do. Maybe it was just to make me feel good before presenting the situation where there is money to be spent, unplanned. The cynic in me started flipping possibilities in the head and nothing was true other than this being a genuinely honest gesture of appreciation for me.
So I was now basking in this glory of being Mr. Right and how I can show off to my married and unmarried friends how it's done. I could say anything with that shirt on me and that would be the right way to do it when it comes to managing husband-wife situations. I mean, I was going to be this suddenly promoted guru on marital relationships and how to make you look good in front of your wives. I had reached the point in my head that I would open a company which would give marital advice and we had done a good first year profit as well and opened branches worldwide and call centres and twitter accounts. The whole multi-national company thing on marital relationships consultancy.
You know how it ends, there was the flip side. I realized it when she came in cat walking in a shirt of her own.
The shirt had written on it,"Mrs. Always Right."
I remained speechless then, I remain speechless now. That is how this blogpost is going to end. No further questions your honor.
It was nicely written on a t-shirt,"'Mr. Right". A comic character with a flower in his hand.
It took a while before moving my focus off the comic character and why he only had 4 hairs on his head when I am not bald at the moment. I may be approaching it but I know I don't look bald at the moment. Then it struck me, my wife thinks I am Mr. Right. I would say that's quite an achievement considering the things I do or rather not do that she would like me to do. Maybe it was just to make me feel good before presenting the situation where there is money to be spent, unplanned. The cynic in me started flipping possibilities in the head and nothing was true other than this being a genuinely honest gesture of appreciation for me.
So I was now basking in this glory of being Mr. Right and how I can show off to my married and unmarried friends how it's done. I could say anything with that shirt on me and that would be the right way to do it when it comes to managing husband-wife situations. I mean, I was going to be this suddenly promoted guru on marital relationships and how to make you look good in front of your wives. I had reached the point in my head that I would open a company which would give marital advice and we had done a good first year profit as well and opened branches worldwide and call centres and twitter accounts. The whole multi-national company thing on marital relationships consultancy.
You know how it ends, there was the flip side. I realized it when she came in cat walking in a shirt of her own.
The shirt had written on it,"Mrs. Always Right."
I remained speechless then, I remain speechless now. That is how this blogpost is going to end. No further questions your honor.
let me count the ways.. 0013
Been missing from the action. Well missed 2 days of posts on my turn. It's a difficult task you know., keeping up.
Anyway, counting another "way"... I love the way you can laugh at pretty much any type of joke I throw at you. I know I can be a stand-up comedian but I also know that it would only be a successful stint if the audience has mayG sitting on every chair in front of me.
The lamest of jokes, the slap-stickiest form of comedy, from low blows to dignified humor, mayG will find a way to laugh. It's not even a fake laugh (at least I don't realize), it's a whole-hearted good laugh. I think this does wonders for my morale. I don't have to try hard. She has my kind of sense of humor.
I somehow believe I am a guy who spreads positivity around. People feel good when they are around me. I think I can give a bit of credit for my confidence to mayG. She absorbs all my lameness so that I only use the good stuff outside. She is my protection from embarrassment in the outside world. If she weren't there I would probably be trying my lame stuff in the market and end being the laughing stock.
What would I do without you, huh?
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