Rohāmrta is a bit under the weather since yesterday. The normal blocked nose, a bit of cough and fever. But enough to trigger an emergency in the minds of us parents. After all, which parent can lie still when their 18-month old sniffs and whimpers while trying to sleep through the night?
We tend to overreact when our kids are unwell. But I guess we cannot help it. Love is a strange, binding feeling and unconditional love is bizarre. But we do love our kids unconditionally, don’t we? So just have to live with it.
A good time to revisit the bit I had written a little while back, reproduced here below. Time to go back to him, thermometer in one hand, and heart in the other…
I also love it when you wake up in the middle of the night, sitting straight
sleepy and crying,
so that I can rock you to sleep once again…
I also love it when you stroke my hand, and then grip it tightly
as you lie next to me, and start dreaming,
I also love it when you learn a new trick, a new sound, find a new toy
and then immediately look at me, with a smile,
wanting to tell me so much, yet not finding the words
maybe because you haven’t learnt any,
but the twinkle in your eyes says it all…
I also love it when you stare out of the window, in your car seat
watching cars go by, mesmerized, pensive,
and then when you let out a “tayyyyy”
as if to say, I am now content…
I also love it when you refuse to sleep,
stumbling through the last of your explorations
wanting to squeeze out every joule of energy
before looking at me, and with your eyes saying
I’m done, cradle and rocking services are now required…
I also love it when you come by my office at home
peering over the desk, trying to bang at the keyboard
hoping to join in on that Zoom call…
And I also love it when you leave everything that you are doing
and coo and chuckle in joy as I rush towards you
only to find you reaching for my iPhone instead.
All this and more, more than words can say
or deeds can do
I love everything that you bring to my life
and most of all, I love you, I love you, I love you…