15 Marbles

Moments.Musings.Memories. ❤️Gathering little marbles from ordinary days and keeping them for our memory jar. ❤️

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  • Bed-Time Battle Begins

    That’s right..its a battle..and not one to be taken lightly.

    Last few months have been so busy and crazy.We were travelling, catching up with friends, packing to move to Australia and so,our schedules have been erratic.Add to that a very social little girl and it means chaos everywhere.

    She refused to go to sleep till the last person in the house was out flat. And in these past crazy months,slowly, sometimes,out of sheer lack of energy and sometimes,out of pure laziness, we let Aadya sleep in our bed..and before we could even blink,she became a permanent fixture in our bed. And that’s OK, its nice cuddling up with her, but what’s not OK is that she refuses to sleep,till we are awake. Now, no little body has so much energy to keep up with two adults,after being Super active all day long!

    Our routine of last few days has been- quick meet and greet when Papa comes home from work,followed by a rushed dinner,long bath for Ms.Aadya,followed by her tucking in.Now, tucking her in means, all the lights have to be turned off, we have to lie down next to her, pretend like we are fast asleep and even then, madame,takes her own sweet time to fall asleep.First we are poked in the eyes and noses and then when we don’t wake up,there is some singing,followed by story telling,all done by Aadya herself-remember,we are pretending to be asleep. After a long long time,she falls asleep.By then, we are really truly sleeping.Another day gone by and we wouldn’t have spoken.

    I am not kidding-Sanj joined a new job and we haven’t had a chance to talk about it. We haven’t had any couple time in forever!!! So,today,I declared war! I had decided..I am going to re-train her to sleep,on her own. I repeated her routine as it was, before,we er…things got crazy. I gave her dinner at 8:00, followed by a quick wash,then nice relaxing massage with her lotion,and donned her jammies. Then we said,nite-nite to her Papa, and her toys and went to bed,with a warm bottle of dudu and goldilocks book.

    Dudu was downed,book was read,and then she rubbed her eyes,till then,we were on track. I thought to myself,wow she is going to sleep now.I started patting her.Till then we were on track.Then,I don’t know what happened,she was suddenly so fresh …like she had never been sleepy at all.But that wasn’t possible.She was sleepy, her eyes were watering,she had missed her nap.. Then,Papaa was asked to take over.But no,she wanted both of us there…like her captives.Like she doesn’t want us to have fun while she sleeps. So,I was pestered and tempted with baby cuddles and sweet smiles and “shoieees” till I finally gave in and went and lay down next to her.

    And the moment I got in bed, the mischief started again..jumping,bumping her head into us…singing,talking.I threatened to go out.. and I was dared..”Mumma is going to go out,Aadi”..”yeah”..and out I went, and “Noooo Noooooo,aaja aaja”said the brat! Sanj almost smothered himself with his pillow,trying to hide his grin.Anyway, since the threat didn’t work,there was yelling followed by smacking. But it just made her more stubborn. Like she wanted to defy me. Like she knew,it was getting my goat and she was enjoying that. There was a lot of crying and loud crying at that too,because at some point of time,I was really mad and suggested that she get out of the bedroom! Yeah I know she is just a little girl!!

    By now,Sanj had given up on his two girls- one not trying to sleep and the other trying to not sleep. Yes,I had made up my mind..I was not going to fall asleep today.anyway, after 4 long hours, finally she fell asleep.And before she did,I did doze off. But at the end of those four hours I was tired and hungry. I sneaked out of bed and guilt kept nagging at the back of my mind. I don’t like hitting Aadya, nor do I like it when she cries. And today was the limit of everything.. her mischief,her screaming and crying, my yelling, my smacking and most of all my patience.As I sit here, writing this, I know, that I didn’t give into her..but, is it really worth all the crying?At the same time,I do want to develop good sleeping habits for her. I really dint like the current sleeping arrangement.

    I remember when I was growing up, 9.00 pm was bedtime and even if there were visitors, we were given our marching orders. 5 minutes to 9.00, we had to say our good-nights, brush our teeth and at sharp nine pm,lights out. Now, if only I could remember when we started doing that.I know the poor child has been through a lot of changes and I need to be patient,but come on 4 hours is too much ..even for a saint.I am totally at my wits ends..I will keep updating,the battle of bedtimes…in the meantime,if you have a magic wand to make my troubles, go away,please wave it this way!

  • Bye-Bye USA

    So we are officially off the US soil.4 years,6 moves,5 major road-trips across various states, so many other smaller road trips,later, we finally said good-bye to the US of A. This move was much awaited..but still leaving finally wasn’t easy. I felt like a phase of life was ending and a whole new phase was beginning.The last couple weeks have been crazy…we have been on a roller coaster literally.And boy travelling with uncertainty is never fun.But we made it.We are still in transit..well living out of suitcases..is technically transit..even if its indefinitely.
    Thank you for all your wishes.
    And now,I don’t know how else to say this,but directly. Blogging openly has been fun..but I guess its time to disappear into anonymity.And though technically I wont be anonymous..coz ‘most of you are not strangers anymore..and know me..:) but still having the option of not being “google-able” is a biggie.
    I know where to reach the regulars..and would send them an invite..coz hey,I am not running away..:) and I love hearing from you guys.
    As for the lurkers..you are welcome too..just send me your id..so,I can send you an invite too.
    Leave me a comment with your email..rest assured,comments with email ids will not be published 🙂
    Take care,people..Be good!

  • I’ve been awarded

    I am in a very happy place right now. I feel so much love,its going to spill,if I don’t share soon.

    Awards have been sent my way,by loving friends and its time,I accept graciously and thank them.

    Rayshma gave me this:

    Thanx gal!I am honored and boy, am I glad to have met you. You are totally a pleasure to be with.And now, I pass this award to-

    Swati- who keeps coming back to my blog,even when I don’t update it,regularly.

    Shobana- for being the friend thats always there to listen

    Upsi- for being you.

    And Swati gave me this :



    She says,” I love her blog for the honesty with which she writes and for the antics of Aadya 🙂“

    Thank You, Swati..I am honoured 🙂

    Here’s what the Brilliante is all about-

    “The Brilliant Weblog Award- a prize given to sites and blogs that are smart and brilliant both in their content and their design. The purpose of the prize is topromote as many blogs as possible in the blogosphere. Here are the rules to follow:When you receive the prize you must write a post showing it, togetherwith the name of who has given it to you, and link back to them.Choose a minimum of 7 blogs (or even more) that you find brilliant in content or design. Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing them that they have been awarded with the ‘Brilliant Weblog’ award.Show a picture of those who awarded you and those you give the prize (optional) to.”

    I would like to pass on this award to-

    Kiran – I love her humor injected posts.I can keep reading her posts,over and over again and still laugh.

    Suki– This one claims to be a teenager, but her posts are really thought provoking.Rock on girl!

    invictuspeak– he doesn’t quiet update as often as I like…but the posts are always, interesting.

    Dottie– for her lucid posts.Each post is so well written..the words are like beads in a necklace.

    Emaan– This cutie-pie speaks his mind…keeping you hooked!!!

    Mona – Love reading about Noo..Mona’s post so often reflect the conflict in my mind..

    Mummyjaan – For reasons unknown to me,I keep wanting to go back to her posts,again and again. She’s very positive and full of sunshine 🙂

    And with this dear ones,I end this post. This may be my last post,for the next few weeks.We are in transit…regular posting will resume, as soon as we are all settled.Take care,be good,See you on the other side!




  • Of Little girls who make your Boos better

    These last few days all I have done is packing,sorting, packing and more sorting. And all the while there are a thousand thoughts in my mind. I have a couple posts in draft and countless others in my mind,but this one needs to be written.
    I had a followup appointment at my doctor’s office today and we all were happy to get away from this mad place we call home. I tell you, there is so much mess- well, actually not mess.its our things- clothes,books, etc..but in general moves are messy and to add to it, we are trying to pack a week long vacation in SFO, before we leave the U S of A. So, anyway, we were at the doctor’s office.
    The doctor’s assitant came in to take all the details,Aadya was happily chattering ,saying hi giving hi-fives..till, she started checking my temperature and blood pressure and then,all the love evaporated .Sanj tried to distract her, but all she wanted to do was pry the pressure cuff off my arm. That got done and then we had to wait for the doctor. This is the only bad part about my doctor visit. She is great doctor, patiently answers all our queries but,the wait time is too long.So,thats a challenge,keeping a super-active toddler out of trouble. Sanj took her out for a walk and still no sign of the doctor.. after a long wait I think about 25 minutes or so..she came to see me.
    “You are glowing,you seem to have lost weight”…these were her first words,on entering the room.Grinning ear-to-ear,I forgot about the long wait. When your doctor tells you, you are looking good,its a cause to celebrate. The next she asked Sanj ,if he had had his flu shots.When he told her that his sugar levels were back to normal,she reached out and hugged him. This is the reason, why I still keep going back to this place.. they make us feel like we belong. Anyway
    then came the tricky part- the blood draw.
    Its so difficult a good vein in my arms,and so as soon as the nurse came in to take the blood, sanj took aadya out .They came back,and we were still trying to find a vein after one missed attempt.Aadya saw the band-aid and started pointing at it saying “Boo Boo” with a sad face.I said, “Mumma has got a boo” she looked even sadder.I said, can you make it better?
    And she did..She climbed up on the chair and kissed the band-aid and then asked me..”boo?”I said,with a sad face,Boo hurts.She climbed up on the chair and kissed it again and kissed my hand and face too.How could the Boo not get better then?
    I hugged her and said,its Ok now,baby..then she smiled. The nurse hugged her too..and said..”see that’s why I wanted atleast one little girl”..What can I say,I got lucky!
    So, if you want to make your boo better,you know where to go 🙂