No emails, phone calls or things to be completed before end of the day from office. I thought the planned break I took from corporate life has given me all the time in the world to sit back, relax and unwind. But I never imagined that, sitting at home, I will hardly get time to even check the time on my watch.
An opportunity came up for my wife to take an assignment in Ireland. My wife and myself had a long discussion before deciding to go ahead & accepting the assignment. It was not an easy one : New country, new people, new culture , different weather conditions, a daughter who will be turning 3 in couple of months & I have to find a job. But the opportunity to experience something new & different made us take an affirmative decision.
Now 45 days since we moved to Dublin, the experience has been worth it till now. Whenever I get calls from my relatives or friends, the common question is ‘How do you spend your day, what is the time pass? ‘. Each time I hear this question, I rephrase the same in my mind ‘How do I spend my day & night, whether I get to even check the time?’.
My sleep comes to an end as soon as she wakes up and I get to sleep only when she takes a nap. So my dream of sleeping through the day never saw the light. Breakfast and lunch timings almost run into an hour each but I need to plan the meal portions & make sure that I don’t overeat during the process of feeding her. Laptop is meant for her ‘office’ work & don’t even try opening it when she is around. Any important paper/document unattended will be her first go to writing pad. Negotiating skills used during corporate life to reduce million dollars does not apply when it comes to negotiating with my daughter over a chocolate/candy. The tallest chair or sharp corners are her favourite play areas, so my focus on her needs to be more than 100%. Pram is a life saver when you make numerous trip to Tesco, playschool enquiries and parks.
It was her persistent effort that made me keep my mobile away and start playing with her. This helped me to unlearn and learn the nuances of parenting.
Another concern I had was that ‘how will she manage herself at a playschool for a whole day once I also join work?’. But now I am very relieved. In the last 45 days she has been potty trained, she manages to finish her meals on her own & learnt to wash her hands & face without any help. She doesn’t even cry when mom says bye to her in the morning.
So now currently when I match her roles of Peppa pig, Nobita and Bam Bam by getting into the shoes of Daddy Pig, Gian and Billy, when I am made to dance while she is sitting on the potty seat, when I play football with her, I am enjoying this beautiful parenting journey. The bonding has gone up mutiple folds. I know that this is going to be over soon when I join work. But She keeps telling me that ‘I will go to playschool & I will not cry’. One thing for sure, I will have tears running down my cheek when I drop her at the playschool and say bye.
Father’s day special update (16th June,2019):-
Super happy to see that brands have got Inspiration from the above story.
Angel Broking has come out with this ad after reading our story:
Maharashtra Times has covered an article as well :
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