Baby's Day Out

I have several reasons for not taking care of my hair; quality time to be spent with my baby, hectic work schedule, cooking in the morning and evening, reading the books that I have piled near my bed, shopping and being with my baby and my husband during weekends… the endless list goes on…

The other day my friend hinted – it was actually a straight forward suggestion than a hint – that I should think “seriously” of getting my hair trimmed. Okay, if you wish so…

Demand: She would accompany me only if I get my baby also to the beauty parlour. I warn: I will be busy; you may need to baby-sit at least for an hour. She proudly says, Well, I have looked after my nephew a few years ago and you know, I am an expert in that. You need not worry; I will take care of him. (I have listened to a number of stories how many times she has wiped his arse when he shat; how she used to feed him and how she once dramatically saved him from an accident, so on and so forth…)
I decided to grant her wish, being tired of listening to her weird wishes/ideas how by chanting some powerful mantra she should get a ready-made baby. (I have no patience to type and describe her plans to execute the process.)

It was truly my baby’s day out. He was so thrilled to have worn a new pair of sandals, screamed at random cab drivers and little girls on the road and we finally arrived at our destination. The baby-sitter had not yet arrived. The baby grew impatient and realised that the new pair of sandals was not that great to wear on a sunny day. It was also a little heavy for those tiny feet.
Okay, at last my friend arrived - her long smile and the mischievous look on her face told me that she had a good reason made up to convince me why she got delayed.
Nice ambience, soothing music, I settled down for my hair cut… and there…!
Non-stop crying for another half an hour. The baby just did not like those beauticians surrounding me and he hated all the shampooing and combing and cutting and drying.
The baby-sitter, known for the marathons that she has run, runs in and around the parlour with the baby, just to aggravate his crying.
She tried to engage him giving a number of things: cookies, cotton, creams, shower gel, spray, mobile phone… Her gestures with theatre effects and dramatic screaming did not help either. His cry echoed so much that they decided to switch the background music off. Forty five minutes. She kept peeping in to check the progress of my hair cut.
And at last… I could almost hear her sigh. My friend looked relieved after I had finished my hair cut and all the confident look that she had of the well-experienced baby-sitter had already vanished!
I think she is re-writing her strengths and weaknesses in her profile.
Well, I also need to add that she was successful in building rapport with him soon after my hair cut session; thanks to the NLP training that she underwent recently.
I need to do some shopping the coming week end; I should call my baby sitter to check if she will be free. My baby looks quite thrilled at the idea; may be he is planning another surprise for her!

Living Yesterdays

Gazing through the window
She sees only the bygone days
Time does not tick for her
The needles crawled and dragged themselves
To stop one day,
Frozen and numb

She travels back and forth
Amid those black and white scenes
Refusing to live in the present
Unworried about the future.

Her children and grand children stopped to grow;
Their youth captured in eternity.
Her imagination feeds them, plays with them
And waits for their arrival from school.

Time does not decide her journey
Nor her age
And, the link is lost forever.

There are only yesterdays
Today never exists
And tomorrow shall never come…