Time Check: Viaan is just over 2 months
Time on the clock: 4:30 AM
Viaan’s looking at me pointedly while I am fast asleep and then all of a sudden he blurts out ‘having a good sleep dad…are ya?’
I wake up groggily and there you have the little tyke (as a close friend of mine calls him lovingly) lying between me and my wife – wailing. Of course. A taunt from the kid in your dreams while your wife is taking a break from it. Something to be expected.
Usually, my wife’s reaction is to wake up in reflex at the slightest sound of the little one. However, on this occasion that did not happen. She must have been tired from all the cajoling and canoodling she has to do during the day. Having a nanny helps. But that does not absolve you of your duties. And as we all know, where this is a kid, there is mother in the background slaving away silently (or vociferously as the case may be).
So I decide to go solo on this one. I pick up Viaan and tip toe into the living room. The nanny has had her share of Viaan from the previous day and she is asleep in her room. So here I am. Just at the brink of dawn, bouncing Viaan in my arms urging him to sleep. He is awake but not completely. He is crying but not wailing. He has a game plan. So do I.
Time to pause and follow the SOP (there is a standard operating procedure that all dads need to remember and follow blindly. As for moms, they call it ‘common sense’ and it’s instinctive in them)
- Fever- check and cleared
- Wet diaper – check and cleared
- Feed time – check and oh oh!
The last feed was around 12:30 AM. It’s been 4 hours.
(We had earlier decided to top feed at night instead of mother’s feed so that the mother has atleast few hours of continuous sleep – ofcourse, this would not be possible without the help of the nanny or a participating dad)
I keep Viaan on the living room deewan so that I can prepare his top feed in the kitchen. I get to know in exactly 1 second that it is a bad idea. I pick him up immediately as he starts to wail. (you see now what I meant by common sense. A mother would never do that when a kid is hungry. She would use her common sense and multi-task). Now, as men, we are not as blessed as women in the art of multi-tasking. (it’s a scientifically proven fact that women are better at multi-tasking. This blog has another purpose though. So please…focus.)
As I walk into the kitchen with Viaan in my arms, I look around for my tools – sterilizer, feeding bottle, formula milk, pan (to boil water). Thankfully, the nanny has kept the feeding bottle sterilized. So I don’t need to worry about that. I Just need to boil the water, mix it with the formula milk and that’s it. Well, almost. The milk turned out to be too hot for drinking. So I put the bottle in the freezer while Viaan is thankfully perched quietly in my arms. I check the bottle again in about 10 mins. The temperature has come down and ready for Viaan.
I am pleased with myself that I could come this far without any casualties. As I sit down to feed Viaan, he has another plan for me. He has gone off to sleep and getting fed is not on his agenda.
Next day I get a call from one of my very dear friends from Bangalore. He is planning to visit and wants to check what he can get for the new born. I promptly tell him – A baba sling, to carry the baby. If we must multi-task…let’s nail the darn task, shall we?!
satta king tw