April 25, 2007

Bidaee

I had been lucky enough to get a six month maternity leave. I spent it at Mumbai, my parents' place. I spent a month preparing myself for the D day.

I would leave Anush for 10 minutes and go off for a walk since that was all I could manage
She was very cooperative about starting on other foods ( after a tip from our maid who suggested that a baby can be fed better if she was lying down on your stretched legs.) It seemed dangerous at first but in a day I got the knack of it.
I came to Chennai in early January. That was exciting because it meant coming back to my own home and to Navy. Navy had a really nice welcome planned for us.













We identified a maid pretty quickly - luckily a very seasoned one. ( browsing helped)
My grandma came over to oversee the maid as we are not okay with trusting the baby with a nanny alone.
I left her for a half day just the day prior to my returning to work. I spent time getting my hair back in shape for corporate life. ( yes I had not even taken time off to visit the parlour in the preceding 6 months- in my urge to spend all the time possible with Anush) I would have come back with one leg pedicured- so anxious was I at the parlour.

Despite the preparation and Navy constantly teasing me to make me feel lighter, it was pure torture the first day back at work- a mixture of fear & confusion. I did not call home since i was sure I would break down if I did and run back to Anush- a tough task considering my home is 16 kms away from office

I wished I was in Sweden where they have long paternity and maternity leave
I wished I had been self employed
I wished I had pursued my engineering and got a flexi timing or a work form home software job- i still do

But then it got better. The first month I tried and got home a little early. My boss granted me the favour of not having to travel out of station for almost all of last year ( though my job demands it)

You may have seen my posts on my first night outs. Now I have managed it three times so far. (Munnar, Raipur and Ahmedabad) And will shortly have to do 3 nights away at a stretch-S'pore- am still a little nervous! I hope Anush remembers me when I get back. I draw strength from the fact that Navy travels often and she is all the more affectionate when he gets back.

This prompted this post.

9 comments:

Itchingtowrite said...

1st day for me back to work was wierd. with almost no work to do. since i had already come to office 1 day for submitting my tax proofs i had alredy met the new faces (most of them). my 1st night out in goa- 2 nites from the current office was bad. esp since i was feeding still.

By Deepa and Supriya said...

I guess the kids will manage just fine..so long as we can let go :). Have fun in S'pore...my SIL stays there.

Usha said...

I can imagine how tough it must have been!
And reasing the first sentence absent mindedly I thought there was another baby coming!

Tharini said...

awww. I can feel your nervouness. I dare say she'll do beautfully.

Just checked out 'A long way'...and that's a wonderful idea for a blog!!

Artnavy said...

itchy- i was lucky since i stoppd feeding her at 13 months

tharini- alongway is in fact apu's idea i am a guest writer that is all- but yes i do enjoy travel

usha- 2nd one is a long way off - if at all--there are some prerequisites to a baby unless it is to be an immaculate conception!!:-)

Artnavy said...

orchid- u r right

it is really the mother who needs to wean away and get a hold of herself

kids always cope anyway.

i wish it was some other place since i have been to Spore at least 4-5 times- then it would make the days away seem worthwile

Lavs said...

I guess Sweden does not have a dense population hence they promote child birth by giving maternity and paternity leave. Nevertheless, I wish that maternity leaves are made compulsory for 6 months.

JK said...

hey..your baby is sooooo cute in all the photos...my wishes for her....

Anonymous said...

hi art,

am not a blogger...but enjoy reading your blog. am new in chennai and was intrigued in reading about the way you found your maid. can I have your email so that I could get other details about how you got your maid? Sorry for troubling n thanks,

ranjani