The children troop in, one after another, tired, messy hair and cold. The routine is the same every day. I insist they put their boots away, hang up their jackets and use the bathroom before snack time. I stand by the kitchen island, three bulging school bags lined next to each other. I am methodical. […]
Read moreBecoming Our Mothers
In the midst of stir-frying a melange of vegetables for my children’s’ lunchbox, I reach out for my phone. I shake the pan on one hand and scroll through my FB feed on the other. I set the pan down and lean on the kitchen counter as I catch up on writing-related posts. Next up […]
Read moreMommy Tax
Laddu is on the kitchen island, her legs dangling off the edge. Large sunglasses cover more than half her face. I am feeling reflective and in the mood for conversation. “What is your destiny?” I ask as a follow-up to our discussion on the show Ever After High. She blinks. I go back to the […]
Read moreGlorious Days
Laddu is hard at work at the breakfast table, the lamp throwing a halo around her tiny head. Her hair covers her face. “What’s next after GO amma?” “How do you spell AKKAS?” I call out spellings even as I muddle through improper fractions with Ammu and Pattu. After the twins stuff their homework into […]
Read moreEssay: Motherhood, Cleaved
An essay I wrote earlier this year reflecting on how my mothering my children feels cleaved is now online on the Adoptive Families Magazine website. If you are not a subscriber, you can read the piece here: Adoptive Motherhood_Cleaved.
Read moreMotherhood, Cleaved
cleave1split or sever (something), especially along a natural line or grain.“the large ax his father used to cleave wood for the fire” cleave2stick fast to.“Rose’s mouth was dry, her tongue cleaving to the roof of her mouth” adhere strongly to (a particular pursuit or belief).“part of why we cleave to sports is that excellence is […]
Read moreMommy, Mommy: The Soundtrack To My Life
My hands circles her tiny body, my face pressed against her back as she sits and turns the pages of the Llama Llama book I got from the library. Her voice falls up and down, the cadence of it lulling me into a sense of bliss. I am almost asleep when she abruptly flings my […]
Read moreLike A Wrecking Ball
I look at the dusk setting just outside the window of my dining room. The soles of my feet hurt from standing tad too long in the kitchen. My back aches from all the pots and pans that would not fit in the dishwasher. I am tired. I long to walk outside. To feel the […]
Read moreEpiphany: Adoption Edition
I step past Laddu lying on the wooden floor in front of the fridge, in the throes of a magnificent meltdown. Her body heaves and lets out huge sobs, almost too big for her. Her eyes are red, her snot and slob all mixed into a runny mess on her face. I am tempted to […]
Read moreFlying Solo
I wake up in the dead of the night. Squinting, I realize it is 2:00 AM. I slide out of Laddu’s bed noiselessly and pad my way to my bed. Even as I decide to use the restroom, Laddu plods in behind me, her plaintive cry raising my hackles. Irritably, I climb into the cold […]
Read moreDeconstructing Self Worth
I sit between two women at the tae kwon do class my twins are at. We trade smiles each time one of us turn toward another. We are tentative, jabbing, probing with our eyes, ears and spidey senses to see if there will be a connection. We have forty minutes to kill. Our younger ones […]
Read moreOn Motherhood and Curated Lives
I woke up to outrage on social media yesterday over the remarks of a minor celeb in India following Women’s Day. My first thought was why amplify one voice over millions of saner ones. I let it be and moved on to other flaming issues. Then again this morning was a slightly smaller, more intimate […]
Read moreA Good Parent
The timer on the microwave went off signaling it was time for me to leave. I turned the stove off shouting a thousand instructions at the kids, the spouse and my mom as I left. I opted to take the longer, winding back roads to the kid’s school. The radio was on and the ethics […]
Read moreMotherhood And Smugness
I look at the clock. It is not yet 10:00 AM. I mull herding Laddu up for her weekly oil bath and then stop at the sight of five huge overripe bananas crowding my fruit basket. I play rhymes on YouTube and seat Laddu on the sofa and preheat the oven. In the next twenty […]
Read moreOn mothering the second time around
I am leaning over the crib where Laddu lies, legs up in the air. I am about to change her diaper when a little hand shoves a bottle of talc on the changing mat. I turn and Ammu stands arms extended. I take it from her and put it away as I explain why I […]
Read moreNotes to my past self
I lie sprawled on the couch. My feet touching Saathi’s as he is stretched out at the other end. Laddu crawls back and forth aligning herself to the planes and angles of his body and the curves and contours of mine. I lie not asleep but in a deep state of exhaustion after what has […]
Read moreOne year of (s)mothering
Dear Ammu and Pattu, This Sunday is Mother’s Day. It will mark one more year of (s)mothering you with love and food. One year of worrying about potty training you and feeling elated when you graduated to underpants. One year of you sleeping all by yourself in your own bed. One year of eating by […]
Read moreLife’s little lessons
Mulling over a few different thoughts in my head, I debated between taking up this tag that is doing its rounds on the internet and writing about this interview I heard today on NPR. After deleting two drafts of the latter since I could not get my thoughts together cogently, I figured I would take […]
Read moreFalling in love
Staring at the Facebook page, deep in thought, looking for material for a paper due in a couple of weeks, I saw the reds flash on the baby monitor followed by wails from Cee. Closing the monitor in a hurry, I jumped off the couch and bounded up the stairs to pick her before her […]
Read moreMusings on motherhood
Head nestled in the crook of my arm Kay traced her fingers along my lashes emitting a belly laugh when she saw I flinched and scrunched my eyes. She repeated it. I let her play with my eyes and pretended to bite her as I kept an eye on the bottle I was feeding her. […]
Read moreOne week of motherhood
It’s been a week since K and I took the girls into our family promising to cherish and love them all their life. It’s been one week of never ending good wishes and blessings pouring into our fledgling family from all over the world. One week of sleepless nights and interminable diaper changes. One week of […]
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