I’ve never been a morning person. Early morning school when I was a kid was a nightmare. Even as a grown up, I found that I was at my best in the evenings. My energy levels suddenly went up, I had blazes of creativity (like now at 11 pm) and work would be great quality and super quickly, especially if it involved creative writing (like now, at 11 pm)
Even when we had babyT, he was never the one who would rise and shine at the Crack of dawn. Both of us would lay in, till the sun warmed our cheeks and crinkled our eyes. I would slink away from the bed and he would follow in no less than 10 minutes. Somehow, they know when you’re bodily warmth slips away from them.
So this past year when Tasmai started full-time & in person school I knew my days of that late morning start were over. Kaput, vanished into thin air just like that. Now I would have to wake up even before the sun had risen to cook up 2 meals, a snack and a treat. It gave me the shudders.
But wake up I did. Cook up elaborate meals I did. I mean freshly made pesto for pasta. Who was this woman? Salad, roti sabji, Dal rice – a full thali meal? In fact the teacher sent home a note saying, can you tone down the elaborate meals you send T, as he struggles to finish it in time. Oops!
How? I don’t know! Has my wiring changed? Have my poles interchanged? Not at all. I’m still the night owl that i am. Awake after all the lights are out. I now survive on very little sleep on weekdays. Weekends are the time to lie in.
Question to be asked is why? And it’s not as simple as just love for my child. Well mostly it is. But it’s also purely practical – T cannot consume food outside until all eating places became more conscious of food allergies and started learning that dairy free needs to be a thing. And food for kids needs to rise above cheese and butter, the so called nutrient powerhouses. That or T has grown up enough to understand the ingredients that go into cooking the meal and asking pointed questions. “Yes this is vegetarian but does it have milk cream or butter?”
Utopia is still far away, but until then, I shall wake at 530. I shall waft sleepily to the kitchen. I shall rack my brain to think of creative ways to make fun meals, and I shall wait for the weekend to laze in bed till the sun warms our cheeks. Good night!
