I live at a place which is quite cosmopolitan in nature, mostly we have working couples more or less of same age group. Last year our colony welcomed five babies at a time difference of few weeks. We all mothers who hardly had time out of our busy work life started bonding due to our babies. Sharing our experiences, lessons from motherhood has become our eternal part of evening walk. Every mother around has influenced me to narrate this piece of writing!! I am sure this is a tale every mother can relate to. Enjoy reading.

It’s been a while she is at home. She was a working individual before she welcomed her baby in her life. It was an immeasurable happiness for her. Though she was an open minded , independent girl who fought for equality of opportunity but her baby made her rethink about her working mom decision. She chose to be on long sabbatical to raise her princess.

It gave her happiness to core seeing her baby growing. She was nervous in the early mommy-hood days. She wondered how would she raise her child alone, as her husband couldn’t take as many leaves as he wanted and her moms both of them couldn’t stay indefinitely with her. But months passed in a jiffy. Baby and mother both started understanding each other’s language. The hunger, the thirst, the pains all were well interpreted by the mommy. The baby too started learning her mother’s mood, the high and low of it. They had a happy time together.

Fathers in India don’t have privilege to avail paternity of more than a fort night. He had his routine office, where he would see her growing horizontally in initial months ( found her sleeping when he returned from work). As she could barely speak or respond in her first few month’s journey , father continued with his office so that he can avail benefit of being at home when he can connect to the child most!

She always wished her husband too could have been lucky to be home with the baby. She was worried too sometimes how the bonding between baby and father will establish. In her free time her mind wandered around feeling sad about her husband how he’s going to get less affection from baby as he’s away from her most of the time. She knew only one of them could get the privilege and felt lucky to be one.

As the months passed, she started to crawl, sit and started holding things with her little hands. She responded to actions, smiled , cuddled , sensed the tickle!! Soon after father started spending time with her, making her giggle. Tricking her to smiles, tickling her,teaching her clapping , making sounds and what not. The baby loved it. They both started enjoying each other’s company. Mother was part of it as a happy observer as she had other things to do too. As the days turned to months mother’s love for the baby kept growing but her routine got tightened. She kept following her earlier routine religiously. Thinking about new recipes for her, cleaning the poop, putting her to sleep, massaging her, bathing her , she could hardly find time to play with the baby. She thought she was doing great. She felt sense of pride when doctor said your baby’s growing at right pace. But she forgot baby needs more.

Whole day mother would be with the baby in her everyday adventures. Yeah growing a baby is like that. She would keep watch on her when ever she learnt something new. As the evening time approached baby would be eager to be with her father. The moment father entered the house little one would run to her crazily and hold him tight. There would be eternal smile on baby’s lips and mother just loved it. She was happy initially to learn that two of her most favorite people are happy together.

As the time passed she realized baby was more happy with father around. She could see how the little one hugs and kisses him more than her. If both the parents happened to be out for some important reason baby would cuddle father and jump with joy to his lap than her. She would wait for baby to turn to her but….

She started envying it. She couldn’t understand where her love was lost? Why was baby more tilted towards father now? She had been dedicated to her motherhood where did it go wrong. Thousands of thoughts would come to her mind how she left everything else to be a mother and how she’s less favorite to baby now. She cried too sometimes like a child.

Then back to sane mind she realized What she was doing everyday was to fulfill baby’s basic needs but without those three hours with the father baby could never have been as active and cheerful.. And the most important of it was the absence of father whole day that made the child possessive of him.

She smiled and felt bliss to learn how those every day three hours of playtime with father did the charisma..