Life feels like a vacation. In a hotel with no room service. Where the TV only plays loud kid shows. At a place where clearly the guidebook exaggerated a lot of things. But you know, it’s still a vacation.


I hear people saying they can’t wait till things go back to normal, me being one of them. But I’ve come to a realization in these last few days. Whenever things do go back to normal, the sh*t is going to hit the fan pretty hard in my home. We’ve gotten used to a lot of bad habits that can’t be sustained once contact with the outside world is allowed again. For instance:
Ajay has resorted to wearing only one piece of clothing at a time. A pair of pants one day. A shirt the next. Some days it’s neither. Trying to dress him properly results in so much screaming that I often wonder, how did I produce such an angry child?






Arjun is either watching Dino Train or whining. Those are the only two settings currently available in his system. And when he whines, it is very Dickensian … like I make him clean chimneys all day on an empty stomach. There is a lot of snot, tears, and begging. I have to snap out of it and remind myself that indeed he is only crying for TV. And since TV is still rationed, there is just a lot of whining to deal with.
Now, Asha. Well, she the one person in all of this who is doing better than the rest. She is in good spirits most of the time. The other times, her bad mood is a result of her two brothers purposely destroying whatever she is working towards. The other day I noticed that she had found a way to keep Ajay from interfering. When I peeked to see how, I saw Ajay chewing on a piece of candy. Clearly, she’s found a system. In our new temporary home, all shelves in the kitchen are accessible if you are smart enough. And she is. Which means there is no candy she can’t reach. Bribing with candy has become her thing.






For a while I thought alcohol would be the problem during the quarantine. The truth however is that I need to stop drinking coffee. Instead of rolling my eyes at yet another thing the children did, I just press that tiny button on my Nespresso and feel better about life. It’s an expensive habit when you have three kids and are home all day with them. Plus all that caffeine just can’t be good for you.

Devang goes to work and comes home to a circus. But we all do a happy cheer and lure him into our craziness so that he doesn’t feel left out.
I hope you are doing fine too. : )




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