There are days when I feel that I want to spent a day in bed and not worry about anything else. I didn’t need any excuses today, although I had a good one. The runny nose and aching sinuses meant that I should do just that. So here I am at about midday, reading the papers and wondering when I should make an effort to get up.
We got back just after four in the evening yesterday. Lakshmi slept the whole way. She woke up irritable and only settled down when she was given her share of Easter eggs. Her parents wanted to fix the dresser and cupboard for their new baby and I couldn’t leave till it was done.
Lakshmi was quite fractious and irritable. Pacifying her seemed like a mammoth task. I looked to find ways to cheer her up. I went through her toy box and pulled out some teddy bears. She threw them aside. I let the teddy bears play ball with her. She seemed to enjoy it and then lost interest just as quickly. I found a box with a lid of cut shapes and coloured blocks of shapes and tower blocks to go through the holes. She slowly forgot that she was irritable and started enjoying the game. We played for a while. In between she was fed, watered and nappy changed. Her parents were still hard at work. I didn’t feel too good, and wanted to go home but couldn’t. After about three hours I could not find anything else to keep Lakshmi occupied. I didn’t know how to turn on their television but Lakshmi did. I found the Peppa pig channel and we settled down to watch it. Peppa was blowing bubbles and I found Lakshmi’s bubble maker and filled it with soap and played bubbles with her. It was nine o’clock by the time the cupboard and chest of drawers were finally done.
I handed Lakshmi over to her dad, but she clung on to me and wouldn’t let me go. This was the young lady who totally ignored me the day before and now I was the most favourite person in her life. Luckily it didn’t last long and she happily went to her mum and let me come home.
Grandchildren are the children that you didn’t sign up to. Someone who comes along and disrupts your entire being. One minute you think you’ve done your duties and have your life back. The next you realise that this is not true at all. Why is it that despite all this you cannot feel upset or annoyed when your life is not yours anymore? Why is it when your patience is tested to the limits, it doesn’t seem like it is being tested at all. Where does all this tolerance come from? I never knew I could be this tranquil and for the past two years I have come to realise that I am capable of being patient. Is it because this is the one time you realise that you are capable of loving someone without expecting anything in return? But when she clung on to me and wouldn’t let me go, I realised that even if I didn’t expect it, the love for me will always be there.
