As is the case on this blog for the last 3-4 years, everything is belated. Nevertheless I want to wish the 10 people who do drop in regularly to check on me, a very very Happy 2009. Special wishes to Usha, HHG, Art, Monika, JLT, ~nm & Risha who have been kind enough to drop me a comment once in a while which keeps me going :).
I have realized that a lot of people I know in real life, friends, cousins, their spouses, their friends read me but never drop me a comment. So please drop me a comment and your blog url if you have one. I mean everyone, even if you live-in with me. Won't you? Lets start the new year on a high note and begin with a "Hi" to each other.
Showing posts with label Celebration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Celebration. Show all posts
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Monday, July 21, 2008
JellyBean turns TWO
On the 27th June, my niece, who I call jellybean on this blog, turned 2. 2 years back,when she was born, I was stuck at home with the peapod and the entire family cast was in the hospital, waiting for her to arrive. Finally she arrived and her mom was wheeled out. Less than an hour after she was born, she stared at your father for a very long time and eveybody who came in to see her, remarked how she had her eyes wide open and was staring right into his eyes.
So to celebrate her 2nd birthday, We had a small party with just family. Still, too many gifts. Everybody who came in got 2 gifts, one for the bday girl ofcourse and the other for the peapod. The girls went crazy tearing the noise-making-glitter-sheets and were even more happy when they realized that is what they were supposed to be doing. As usual, when they get more than one can handle, they immediately divide and delegate between themselves. Peapod, take this, Jellybean will take this ..ok? .."ok" comes back the prompt reply. On my birthday about a month back, I taught(forced) both of them to sing me the birthday song. After all the hoopalah, the peapod can sing the first line "Happy birthday to you" while the jelly bean customized it to "Happy to you". They sang to each other just trying to contain all the excitement.
Her Mom, Dad and her uncle got her birthday dresses and they all fought over which one she should wear for the party. The uncle's choice was out of the race right at the begining because it seems he had bought it for the next year's party ....He forgot to check the age tag..Oops!! The father's choice won since we all liked what he bought so we shamelessly ditched the sister's choice for the BIL's choice. The Jelly bean blew the candle and cut the cake with mom and dad. We put on a little kiddie music and they did a little jaaz. Dance to the peapod and jellybean means moving around in circles like the dog trying to catch its own tail. The highlight of the day was little Ben's dance. The peapod picked up a few of thoes elephant-steps from him while the jelly bean retired to her mom's arms after being bumped a couple of times by our little disco dancer. There are some pearls of wisdom from his grandfather(my dad's brother) in the other videos I have which I plan to release on his 16th birthday, as a gift ofcourse.
Seemed like we did not get any decent shots of the bday girl in her birthday fineries on THE day, so when she returned from church on Sunday we planned a photo shoot in the balcony. She picked a packet on her way from the kitchen to the balcony to show-off as her gifts. Turned out, it was a cabbage and no fancy gift. She posed inspite, with it and then without it while everyone kept laughing. The little girl has to cater to her own pride.
She was this little frail baby when she was born. Though she weighed 3kgs, she seemed very weak. She picked up fast in the coming days and now has turned into this sweet girl who can put on 250 expressions a day and a 100 tantrums. Her expressions when angry are priceless. I love irritating her. From the shy little baby she came in 7 months back, she has transformed into this wild cat now. The transition has been fun watching and sometimes nerve wrecking(when thoes shrill cries begin). she will run after the peapod and hit her, if the peapod dared medle with her. If one hit did not seem like was at target, she will run after the peapod and hit her till she is satisfied. The reason her needing so many trials are because, the jelly bean has tiny palms and feet so its a lot of effort giving the exact effect back. Its lots of fun watching the 2 play their own games in their own little world. Taking turns with everything and anything has come very naturally to the 2.
Love you sweetheart. I dread the day you plan to say bye bye to the peapod.
Wednesday, April 02, 2008
Happy Birthday to my Little Girl
My little girl turned TWO on the 28th of March. We kept it simple this year. We cut a cake at my in-laws place. We got 2 candles, blew them in style and cut the cake. Her Ammachi, on special request made some great chicken biryani, which her mom ate to her hearts content. Her Appachi made some delicious beef fry. Again the mom shamelessly licked off till the fingers threatened to disappear. So what did the birthday gilr have, you ask? A handful of cakes and chocolates and a lot of prayers, hugs and kisses.
Dearest sweetheart,
2 years back I still remember Dr. Rao pulling you out of my tummy and hanging you upside down before handing you over to the nurse. I looked at the clock, thanked the lord and kept thinking if you were a girl or a boy never quite getting myself to ask, because it did not matter.
You know, looking at you, I reaffirm my faith in the good lord. My only prayer to the almighty is to give us the love, wisdom and patience to help us raise you into a happy, loving & a stable human being. You are my precious gift from him. Your Dada once in a mad fit did conclude that I married him just to have a baby and I accused him of the same with some more twsited logic... :).. sheesshh, this is the kind of eccentricity your Dad & Mom are capable of. Now don't say I didn't warn you.
Now we have the terrible twos or terrific twos ahead of us. I am asking for gallons of patience and wisdom on a daily basis to keep me going. No baby it’s not about you at all, aren't you my sweet little angel. It’s just to keep Mumma sane.
God Bless you my sweet precious child. In the last 2 years you have warmed my heart and brought a smile by doing the little things you do. By smiling and yapping constantly when we are back from work. Hugging & kissing unexpectedly. Using me like your hurdles stick and jumping around every time I lie around or using my legs like a tunnel when I am standing with my legs apart talking to the neighbor or on the phone. You make me happy the way you gel with all your cousins and other kids in the complex. You make me proud by doing nothing significant at all but by just smiling and being happy.
Most of last year is hard to describe you without the jelly bean. You have learnt to share well with the jellybean around. You do sometimes generously and sometimes not so very well and that is when I have to smack you into sharing. You are always asking about the jellybean when she is not around and sometimes even when she is. You are busy calling out to her even in your sleep. Whenever you hear brandy howling or you see a cat or something new, you go looking for the jellybean and drag her literally by pulling her to the terrace. You sometimes want to show her something in your book and you will never take the book to her, but will go hunting for her and get her to the book willingly or by force. And when you force her, if she cries(which she always does since she hates being bossed around by you) you even yell "chup chup" and yank her towards your word book. You sometimes invite her to dance with you by just calling out her name and showing her what you want her to do. If you find her uninterested in a dance when you are bursting with energy you go and hold both her hands and keep mumbling stuff in your baby language while stomping your feet to which she replies in kind in babbling and dance.
You have your moments of baby fights too. You do pull her hair, pinch her, or scratch the poor little one's face if she doesn’t heed to you or if she was just in the way of your tantrum. You are careful never to raise a hand in front of us, you always do it behind our backs but the jelly bean’s cries and your look give you away. You have been caught saying "Nooooooo noooo" to the jelly bean in the garden when she tried plucking Ammachy's orchids and then a minute latter did the honors yourself to get a earful from mumma and granny. You and the jelly bean love parading around in anybody and everybody's footware and sometimes because you cannot wear 2 pairs at a time, you both have been found exchanging one each so you have the best of 2 footwares. Who would have thought of such brilliant plans?
Right now, since the last 2-3 months, you totally need anything the jellybean has, even if it is identical. You were found comparing 2 lemons for almost 2 mins before deciding which one to hand over to the jelly bean. You create a ruckus everytime aunty and uncle leave while the jellybean kisses and waves tata-bye-byes peacefully. You absolutely have to go everywhere the jellybean goes. You will not stay back at home unless you are told she is being taken to the doctor. The last time when Mumma tried telling you I was taking the jelly bean to the doctor, I was surprised to see you stop your cries, take back your defenses and smile shyly and poke a finger at your bum. Yes darling, injection. WOW!! You surely know what I am talking.
I love watching you grow each day and I hope I am laying some good foundation for you and cementing it with enough love and prayers to last you a lifetime.
I want you to know, whenever you read this, you are my precious child and I love you like I did not know it was possible to love someone. I will quote these 4 lines from this song before signing off.
Ain't no mountain high enough
Ain't no valley low enough
Ain't no river wide enough
To keep me from getting to you babe
Your’s forever
Mumma
Dearest sweetheart,
2 years back I still remember Dr. Rao pulling you out of my tummy and hanging you upside down before handing you over to the nurse. I looked at the clock, thanked the lord and kept thinking if you were a girl or a boy never quite getting myself to ask, because it did not matter.
You know, looking at you, I reaffirm my faith in the good lord. My only prayer to the almighty is to give us the love, wisdom and patience to help us raise you into a happy, loving & a stable human being. You are my precious gift from him. Your Dada once in a mad fit did conclude that I married him just to have a baby and I accused him of the same with some more twsited logic... :).. sheesshh, this is the kind of eccentricity your Dad & Mom are capable of. Now don't say I didn't warn you.
Now we have the terrible twos or terrific twos ahead of us. I am asking for gallons of patience and wisdom on a daily basis to keep me going. No baby it’s not about you at all, aren't you my sweet little angel. It’s just to keep Mumma sane.
God Bless you my sweet precious child. In the last 2 years you have warmed my heart and brought a smile by doing the little things you do. By smiling and yapping constantly when we are back from work. Hugging & kissing unexpectedly. Using me like your hurdles stick and jumping around every time I lie around or using my legs like a tunnel when I am standing with my legs apart talking to the neighbor or on the phone. You make me happy the way you gel with all your cousins and other kids in the complex. You make me proud by doing nothing significant at all but by just smiling and being happy.
Most of last year is hard to describe you without the jelly bean. You have learnt to share well with the jellybean around. You do sometimes generously and sometimes not so very well and that is when I have to smack you into sharing. You are always asking about the jellybean when she is not around and sometimes even when she is. You are busy calling out to her even in your sleep. Whenever you hear brandy howling or you see a cat or something new, you go looking for the jellybean and drag her literally by pulling her to the terrace. You sometimes want to show her something in your book and you will never take the book to her, but will go hunting for her and get her to the book willingly or by force. And when you force her, if she cries(which she always does since she hates being bossed around by you) you even yell "chup chup" and yank her towards your word book. You sometimes invite her to dance with you by just calling out her name and showing her what you want her to do. If you find her uninterested in a dance when you are bursting with energy you go and hold both her hands and keep mumbling stuff in your baby language while stomping your feet to which she replies in kind in babbling and dance.
You have your moments of baby fights too. You do pull her hair, pinch her, or scratch the poor little one's face if she doesn’t heed to you or if she was just in the way of your tantrum. You are careful never to raise a hand in front of us, you always do it behind our backs but the jelly bean’s cries and your look give you away. You have been caught saying "Nooooooo noooo" to the jelly bean in the garden when she tried plucking Ammachy's orchids and then a minute latter did the honors yourself to get a earful from mumma and granny. You and the jelly bean love parading around in anybody and everybody's footware and sometimes because you cannot wear 2 pairs at a time, you both have been found exchanging one each so you have the best of 2 footwares. Who would have thought of such brilliant plans?
Right now, since the last 2-3 months, you totally need anything the jellybean has, even if it is identical. You were found comparing 2 lemons for almost 2 mins before deciding which one to hand over to the jelly bean. You create a ruckus everytime aunty and uncle leave while the jellybean kisses and waves tata-bye-byes peacefully. You absolutely have to go everywhere the jellybean goes. You will not stay back at home unless you are told she is being taken to the doctor. The last time when Mumma tried telling you I was taking the jelly bean to the doctor, I was surprised to see you stop your cries, take back your defenses and smile shyly and poke a finger at your bum. Yes darling, injection. WOW!! You surely know what I am talking.
I love watching you grow each day and I hope I am laying some good foundation for you and cementing it with enough love and prayers to last you a lifetime.
I want you to know, whenever you read this, you are my precious child and I love you like I did not know it was possible to love someone. I will quote these 4 lines from this song before signing off.
Ain't no mountain high enough
Ain't no valley low enough
Ain't no river wide enough
To keep me from getting to you babe
Your’s forever
Mumma
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Did you know ....
Pushpa delivered a baby girl(Mummu) on 28th September. Mother and Baby are doing fine.
Congratulations to the proud parents on their first born.
Congratulations to the proud parents on their first born.
Oh My God!!!!
What do I tell you guys, I am going wide-eyed to starry-eyed and making sure I am not making this up in my dream(Its 1:30 am). To tell you what I saw without beating around the bush just now(if it is a dream, you can hoot at me tommorow), let me take a deep breath (oh I am pretty dramatic that way)...I am featured on India Blogs 1.0. Last time I read that list I just wondered if 'Enigma' would ever make it there. I am thrilled. And also is this the right time to show-off that I have also been featured on blogbharti recently. But its not about Mommyness, parenting or kids but about Cricket , who would have thought :).
So for the vote of thanks, who do I say my thanks to for this, Mom(has no clue what I am talking about), P(He is the only one who reads and if more than 4 lines, skims, unless I force him to summarize and tell me every line, yeah the torture the guy has to go through), siblings (were never interested unless they are informed that they have been mentioned and they mostly use it as a photo album to check the peapod's latest snaps and skims through the text) and a handful of cousins and friends who read and then call me to comment on it:). So that leaves me with you guys. A very big THANK YOU to each one of you for reading me.
So for the vote of thanks, who do I say my thanks to for this, Mom(has no clue what I am talking about), P(He is the only one who reads and if more than 4 lines, skims, unless I force him to summarize and tell me every line, yeah the torture the guy has to go through), siblings (were never interested unless they are informed that they have been mentioned and they mostly use it as a photo album to check the peapod's latest snaps and skims through the text) and a handful of cousins and friends who read and then call me to comment on it:). So that leaves me with you guys. A very big THANK YOU to each one of you for reading me.
Monday, September 24, 2007
6 Runs 4 Balls and 1 Wicket....
...read the scoreboard. The match could turn either ways any moment.
Just finished seeing the 20Twenty world cup. What a match it was. Thrilling to bits with a nail biting finish. Haven't enjoyed a match like this in a while now. While I clapped with excitement every time a wicket fell, the Peapod and her cousin joined in too. Finally when sreesanth took that last catch, it was just amazing. We could see that ball rise high into the air, in a matter of seconds we knew it would be over, this way or that and yes indeed it was all over while we held our breath. India won the 20Twenty World Cup. This is what fairy tales or movies are made of.
With absolutely no hope, I started following the 20Twenty world cup. The first good match was with Pakistan, where it was a tie and they had to bowl at the stump to decide the win and we won. Second was England, the amazing 6 sixes by Yuvaraj. I missed the match because I never thought 200plus in 20 was achievable. The one with Australia, again I could not bring myself to watch Australia bat. I believed the target score of 180plus was easy with Gilchrist, Mathew Hayden and Andrew Symonds. I didn't want to see our poor boys panting like dogs running the field after their 4s and sixes. My loss, we won that match by 15 runs. I would have given up today. I told myself I hadn't watched a single match completely this season and should not jinx it by watching this one but it wasn't easy to keep away, since it was a India-Pakistan and a world cup final at that. A Superb match by all standards.
The best was the fact that the team had made it without the 3 senior players. Experience surely helps but you need the fire in your belly to take chances and believe you can do it when it seems practically impossible. For some reason, with the top 3 stars, there seems to be issues with ego, personal milestones and scores to be settled. The charm of the team inspite of having the best/right mix did not seem to work. Whatever little we got out of them, we were too happy to celebrate and felt content. The young team that played today, had nothing to loose. No personal milestones to reach, records only to be made. No pressure from the past. Yuvraj and Dhoni did not contribute in the final as expected but it was the never say die spirit of the team that won.
On a side note, Shahrukh was seen on the stands with his son cheering the team. Oh God he looks so ....yucks...I mean from that flamboyant Abhi in fauji, the love of my life then, to this God forbidden looks now.
Anyway, WAY TO GO INDIA!!!!! Thanks for the cup guys. This one's come in a long long time. In 83 I was just a little girl watching my cricket crazy dad jumping from his chair and cheering the team. Our house was full of neighbours watching the match. I have faint memories of Kapil Dev opening the Champagne and splashing it all around. Thank you team for reviving the magic of forgone years.
picture courtesy cricinfo.com
Just finished seeing the 20Twenty world cup. What a match it was. Thrilling to bits with a nail biting finish. Haven't enjoyed a match like this in a while now. While I clapped with excitement every time a wicket fell, the Peapod and her cousin joined in too. Finally when sreesanth took that last catch, it was just amazing. We could see that ball rise high into the air, in a matter of seconds we knew it would be over, this way or that and yes indeed it was all over while we held our breath. India won the 20Twenty World Cup. This is what fairy tales or movies are made of.
With absolutely no hope, I started following the 20Twenty world cup. The first good match was with Pakistan, where it was a tie and they had to bowl at the stump to decide the win and we won. Second was England, the amazing 6 sixes by Yuvaraj. I missed the match because I never thought 200plus in 20 was achievable. The one with Australia, again I could not bring myself to watch Australia bat. I believed the target score of 180plus was easy with Gilchrist, Mathew Hayden and Andrew Symonds. I didn't want to see our poor boys panting like dogs running the field after their 4s and sixes. My loss, we won that match by 15 runs. I would have given up today. I told myself I hadn't watched a single match completely this season and should not jinx it by watching this one but it wasn't easy to keep away, since it was a India-Pakistan and a world cup final at that. A Superb match by all standards.
The best was the fact that the team had made it without the 3 senior players. Experience surely helps but you need the fire in your belly to take chances and believe you can do it when it seems practically impossible. For some reason, with the top 3 stars, there seems to be issues with ego, personal milestones and scores to be settled. The charm of the team inspite of having the best/right mix did not seem to work. Whatever little we got out of them, we were too happy to celebrate and felt content. The young team that played today, had nothing to loose. No personal milestones to reach, records only to be made. No pressure from the past. Yuvraj and Dhoni did not contribute in the final as expected but it was the never say die spirit of the team that won.
On a side note, Shahrukh was seen on the stands with his son cheering the team. Oh God he looks so ....yucks...I mean from that flamboyant Abhi in fauji, the love of my life then, to this God forbidden looks now.
Anyway, WAY TO GO INDIA!!!!! Thanks for the cup guys. This one's come in a long long time. In 83 I was just a little girl watching my cricket crazy dad jumping from his chair and cheering the team. Our house was full of neighbours watching the match. I have faint memories of Kapil Dev opening the Champagne and splashing it all around. Thank you team for reviving the magic of forgone years.
picture courtesy cricinfo.com
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Century Celebrations!!!
With this I celebrate my 100th post on Enigma. I decided to pen down my blog story infact my journey on my blog.
A friend in office started his own blog and he blogged every weekday and we were all hooked to his blog and the blogs he linked to. That was the time when I did a small article for a inter-company magazine. I always loved to write and loved writing subtle humorous post(I am no where there....but so I thought).With a little nudge an another close friend started blogging. And then I decided I should try it too but then I was very sure I could never make it to that kind of frequency(post daily or even 2-3 times a week). I got on to the www and created a blog for myself nevertheless. I have no idea why I named it as Enigma, I don't think I thought about it enough but I was guessing I am most probably going to be talking/penning about the mysterious ways of life so it was "Enigma". My first post was also all about enigma. So basically it was all about a repository for brilliant articles I might come up with. Slowly there weren't any brilliant ideas coming and Enigma was rotting away with just one post.Influenced by other bloggers I too started blogging about happenings of daily life that needed a mention to the wider audience(friends & colleagues of the previous organization). We did encourage a lot of people in my previous organization to start their blogs ultimately. We commented on each other's blogs, sent mails saying a post is up, if found uncommented, kept harassing each other with "did you read my post" 101 times until a comment is duly made by the frustrated soul. The organization then did a google search based on our names to find our blogs and ofcourse now it is "the previous organization" for all bloggers for obvious reasons. We used an external commenting system(haloscan I think) which is no longer supported now. When switching to the blogger.com's comment system I lost all the earlier comments.
My blog reflects the journey of my life in the last 3-4 years from being a spinster who tried to do log her travels, complained about the pathetic roads in Pune, to getting married, to the day I heard my baby's heart beat in my womb, about my mom and her mean ways,to celebrating our first marriage anniversary, ramblings during my pregnancy, to my baby's birth and her milestones, her first birthday bash and so on thereafter. I have no idea what am I blogging away these days.
I started out in 2004 and pretty much limited to blog-hopping to friends. Sooner or latter there wasn't enough to read. Anu's blog probably was the first blog that I came across in the virtual world. She writes beautifully and is also probably responsible for me giving up my dreams of writing brilliant stuff. I realized I could never get close and so gave it up like a wise young girl. I started blogrolling each I enjoyed reading. Soon followed stalwarts like Vantage point, India Uncut, Youth curry, Sidin etc of the Indian blogosphere. Then I accidentally happened to visitArt and that is where I saw or discovered the many mom's bragging about their kids just like how I was beginning to do. It was on Usha's blog though where I discovered the term "mumma bloggers".While searching for some cake recipes for my daughter's first Christmas I landed on Deep Ann's andmyWorkshop's recipe blog . Excellent recipes & mouth-watering pictures. From Deep Ann's blog I landed on Sarah's blog and have been hooked ever since. Sarah's blog is the story of her life that she is attempting to write (and she is doing an excellent job of it). I am sure her blog will be a great source of inspiration for those going through difficult times in life.
Comment, Ofcourse I love them. I enjoy reading them. Initially I wouldn't reply to comments and then realized it was polite to reply and it does help grow the blogger and the reader connection. I do comment on posts I can relate to or have an opinion or a view to offer or to even appreciate how well they have described what they did but sometimes I am just running against time and the captcha codes keep getting time-outs.
What does my blog mean to me today? It is exactly what it is meant to be. Its 100 posts in 3-3.5 years..talks about my frequency. It is no stupid repository for articles & views unpublished. It is my web log. I enjoy reading &debating the different perspectives people have. For any given topic there are probably almost an equal number of people with exactly opposite views and that helps me see where they come from in terms of background, experiences in life, geographical locations, culture etc. This is my space to tell you my tales from my childhood & life around. Its my travelogues, Its Joyce captured in time, Its about life in Pune, Its about my takes on different aspects of life.
Couple of months back, Kapil, the one who introduced me to the blogosphere called me to tell that he is surprised to see me still blogging. Many with whom I started blogging have given-up with a few exceptions. Recently I dragged a very dear cousin of mine into the blogosphere by absolute confusion. I thought he had abandoned the blog after his first post but there is hope of it surviving I guess.
I love the fact that this blog helps me to express myself as I care. It could be a travelogues one day and a baby log the other and I don't need to worry. Friends & bloggers will come along, read, leave a comment or send me a mail or just read and leave but leave a counter increment behind and I feel so connected.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
The First Birthday Bash
The day before, Joyce was down with diarrhea which continued the next day too. We had booked a small hall in a decent hotel near-by. We had already invited the guests.And we were wondering if we need to cancel it all. Around late afternoon she seemed better & was responding fairly well. Being a working day we weren't expecting the party to begin any early. More than the cake cutting or the birthday it was fun getting togather. I and P both being residents of Pune with our families and first cousins also based in Pune, we ourselves are a good crowd, and the kids have enough company. Here are the pics. There were boys too but would simply not oblige the photographer :(
Now the whys & hows about celebrating the first birthday. Personally, spending money lavishly is not me. I started thinking about the birthday and what would I like to do just a month before. I had attended my niece's first birthday, which was just family for lunch and a little fun with the kids at a near-by orphanage. It was neat and ideal to say the least. Thatz how I thought I would like it too.
When figures started falling in for just close family & friends, we were having difficulty managing all at home and the food and decoration. So we decided to have it out. Once we reached at that decision, I was almost chalked out of P's plans. As I said earlier, the hall was booked, the menu was decided, the dress came in, the shoes came too, an extra cake, candles, birthday caps and so on. I did try to argue it out but he wasn't budging or listening, I went on to remind him this wasn't her wedding but her first birthday. At the end of the day, we were approx 25-30. We chit-chatted as usual, the kids had fun. We had fun watching the kids have fun. Though we did shell out a little more than usual, we were happy about the party. We sure do not feel guilty about hosting the party. Joyce enjoyed the moment.
From my own experience, I have the exact opposite views now on the subject from the time I started thinking about it. The First birthday bash was not for Joyce (she has the remaining years to celebrate), the first birthday we wanted to celebrate for our own self. We celebrated a year of parenthood. We basically celebrate this whole new responsibility, new emotions and togetherness with our child and the bond we share as a family. That is what I was celebrating. I don't regret the fact that she will not remember it. I am happy we celebrated the moment and WE WILL REMEMBER it for the rest of our life. So I am completely for celebration rather than let it pass. Pick any kind of celebration, and you do not need to feel guilty about it, big or small, it is a TREAT to self for getting through nurturing the first year of your little one's life. Its a huge milestone.
Now the whys & hows about celebrating the first birthday. Personally, spending money lavishly is not me. I started thinking about the birthday and what would I like to do just a month before. I had attended my niece's first birthday, which was just family for lunch and a little fun with the kids at a near-by orphanage. It was neat and ideal to say the least. Thatz how I thought I would like it too.
When figures started falling in for just close family & friends, we were having difficulty managing all at home and the food and decoration. So we decided to have it out. Once we reached at that decision, I was almost chalked out of P's plans. As I said earlier, the hall was booked, the menu was decided, the dress came in, the shoes came too, an extra cake, candles, birthday caps and so on. I did try to argue it out but he wasn't budging or listening, I went on to remind him this wasn't her wedding but her first birthday. At the end of the day, we were approx 25-30. We chit-chatted as usual, the kids had fun. We had fun watching the kids have fun. Though we did shell out a little more than usual, we were happy about the party. We sure do not feel guilty about hosting the party. Joyce enjoyed the moment.
From my own experience, I have the exact opposite views now on the subject from the time I started thinking about it. The First birthday bash was not for Joyce (she has the remaining years to celebrate), the first birthday we wanted to celebrate for our own self. We celebrated a year of parenthood. We basically celebrate this whole new responsibility, new emotions and togetherness with our child and the bond we share as a family. That is what I was celebrating. I don't regret the fact that she will not remember it. I am happy we celebrated the moment and WE WILL REMEMBER it for the rest of our life. So I am completely for celebration rather than let it pass. Pick any kind of celebration, and you do not need to feel guilty about it, big or small, it is a TREAT to self for getting through nurturing the first year of your little one's life. Its a huge milestone.
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