End of a chapter?

How things pan out! Steve Jobs got it right when he said, when  we connect the dots later that things make sense. Last Friday was K's last day in his current assignment. A few months ago I had written about having worked with K for a bit and wrapping up work for my maternity leave. Now it was K's turn to bid adieu to the people he had worked with for 8 years. Come to think of it,he had worked with the same set of people for as long as he had been married to me!

I kept asking K if he was feeling OK. He was raring to go on to the new assignment  which was to be in another city. I was in fact more emotional about him leaving the place. It was a dream to have worked with K in the same department and eventually in the same project. The odds of that happening again seemed a distant dream. 

His last day in Leeds, I kept visualising how he must be winding down. I was filled with nostalgia. I would miss the days we could work from home together, I would miss our walks to work, the lunches, the office communicator messages, the total understanding of each other's work since we knew the people the other was talking about. It was good fun. With K moving on it seemed like the end of a wonderful chapter.

As I picked up Chiyaa from daycare, we met K on the way. Chiyaa was beside herself with glee. As she walked home holding her parents, I could not help but think, this was the last instance of coming back together. End of a hefty chapter made up of so many forgotten bits.

Celebrating growing up and moving on

A week back, my first born turned four. Its been four years since we have been parents to this wonderful person. Does not seem long that this fragile being was handed to us in the brightly lit operation theatre and we embarked on our journey. We had no parents or elders around and had up cruise through the initial days with help from colleagues. Somehow we managed to keep our sanity through the early trials of feeding, sleepless nights and innumerable more household chores. She was a very cooperative baby. She had her struggles and health issues and it felt like she was our partner through our struggles. 

That little baby grew into a rebellious toddler who was just as much fun. She loved an active life and loved the life outdoors. She was never an impediment to anything. We were out and  about a lot with her. She was always game for a good round of rough -housing. As a pre-schoooler I have seen her personality evolve. She is a little lady, much into princesses (thanks to Disney 's Frozen!) She has a few best friends ;) Her intellect, her care,her mischievous self, her shyness, her confidence - the diverse aspects of her still evolving personality shine through and amaze me. I sometimes feel scared that think if I might spoil something so valuable handed over to me by my impatience, my ignorance,my nonchalance. 

Since this is her last year in nursery, we decided to throw a party for her friends. It was really fun searching the venue, deciding the menu,getting the return gifts and hosting the party. It was a wonderful kids only party. We had some light snacks for the adults as the kids went crazy in the soft play area. Everybody had a wonderful time. We were sceptical that the venue was  bit small, but the place  was  commended by the adults as being the right size to have an eye on the kids without having to intervene too much. Since the place was a bit on the smaller side, I personally felt all the parents interacted with each other during play time. I have been to parties where the venue is very large and there are  isolated groups of parents. Because this place was small and compact every body mingled very well. I ensured that Chiyaa welcomed her friends and thanked them for the gifts. Whenever I called upon her, she would obediently come and say 'will you come and play on the slide with me?' I was so impressed by this. She literally had a customised welcome message without anyone having taught her! 

She gives Oh so many moments  when I am uber proud of her and wonder how did I get so lucky? When she drives me to my wits end with her shenanigans, I think of her good  bits, the times I have felt proud of her, the times I have felt like taking her in my arms and saving her  from the vagaries of the world. In some months she will go to  school, and I already see her mature so much with the advent of a baby sister. She will soon leave her nursery friends, she will never even remember the carers with whom she has spent close to 2 years of her life. Wish there was some sort of social networking  site to keep in touch and keep posted, but then I think how long would one be interested in keeping in touch. Don't we all promise our teachers with glowing sentimentality that we will keep in touch forever and ever. But we all move on, the teachers to new students, the pupils to new teachers. Many years hence I am sure I will forget how proud I was of the little birdie on her fourth birthday, this post is for my record keeping as well. So that I can come back to this page in the world wide web and always relive it. I am ever so proud of you my dear and I hope I don't disappoint you.