I used to live in this imaginary world, where I, a very well dressed and slim mother held a little girl in my arms and walked through a park teaching her the ways of the world. In reality, about a year back, a little human weighing 2.5 kilos came into my life and shared her wisdom with me. Yes! I’ve reached my milestone. I am ONE. One year of successful (sort of) parenting.

I shall not waste time. Here are the mysteries of the diaper world unravelled.

To the inventor of wet tissues:

I don’t know who you are, where you live or why you invented wet tissue. One thing is for certain. Someday, I will find you, give you a hug and quite possibly erect a statue in your honour. You have truly changed my world. I can’t imagine a life without wet tissues. For any new parents reading this; just stock up on wet tissue, everything else will sort itself out.

Ridiculous optimism

I was never exactly known for being a ray of sunshine. You would only ask me for my opinion if you were prepared for brutal honesty. Now, I am a new being. I am a truck load of sunshine. Every night I tell myself : Tonight is going to be THE night that my little girl is going to sleep for 8 hours straight. It’s very different from yesterday night when I only rocked her 35 minutes and swung around twice anti-clockwise. Adding clockwise, 45 degree swings and bobbing around would be the magical touch. It is going to happen tonight! I’ve basically told myself variations of this for 365 days now. Everything will be fantastic, clean and organised soon…ish.

Unending patience

Looking for the Snowlin who couldn’t wait 5 minutes for a train? Please meet Kiara’s mum who just had food thrown at her hair, pumpkin mash on her face, floor covered with assorted fruits and still singing ‘incy wincy spider’ with actions while cleaning up. Move over yoga and meditation. Little baby is going to help you attain new levels of patience and inner peace.

Sleep is for the weak

Who the hell needs to sleep 8 hours a day anyway? If I slept for that long, I would wake up in between just to make sure I am still alive. I particularly enjoy those nights when I wake up to ‘Ma? Mum…Mama…Mum mum mum’ at 3am, followed by playing karate kicks. The game where I am somehow always on the receiving end.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail

According to Kiara, this is the silliest thing she has ever heard! What is a plan? Can we eat it? This is how you plan with a baby

1.Organise your thoughts

2. Write them down in your favourite notebook

3. Forget that the notebook ever existed.

4. Listen to the baby

5. The End

Babies are the best teachers

I’ve learnt to laugh with all my heart for the silliest of things, to hug with my eyes squeezed shut in joy, to giggle again, to swallow my pride, to put someone else before me, to truly feel the pain of another, to believe in miracles, to pray, to live in the moment.

Thank you little Kiara. We are one! Here’s to many more milestones together.

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