I am in between jobs and took the opportunity to do a few things in India during my sabbatical. It was an obvious choice that Goja would come with me. As I was leaving Seattle, I was still feeling awful changing his world for 3 months, away from home/ daddy/ school - and was also partly scared as to how I am going to constantly entertain a 3.5 year old boy; and not get into too many shouting drills. I managed to schedule a 15 min session with Goja's teacher - which helped reassure to me that this will be a good thing for him; she was also kind enough to share her observations about what things Milosh is drawn to the most right now. With her suggestions, I had loaded myself with lots of crafts and activities.
Saying bye to daddy was very hard - G almost decided to stay in Seattle at one point ;) But G was such a delight to be with during the flight! We actually had so much fun! We did a few activities, played some video games. He made such adorable observations all along!10 days into the trip and the trend continues. So many realizations come to me:
1. The best part of my trip is to be able to hang out with my 3.5 yr old - this 1-1 easy going time is super awesome and super precious! He is at this stage in life - where time with mommy is very precious for him still - he is more than happy to do anything where mommy would engage whole heartedly with him! We color together, we play puzzles together, we play soccer, cricket - its a blast! I am sneaking in some hindi vocab sessions every now and then ;) - which he is only too glad to absorb. I am also trying to sneak in some understanding of swaras :) It was such a thrill for me to realize that he can now recognize the numbers 0-7; and a few letters! I am really loving being with him in an unhurried way - just as a child's world really is. Its also amazing how little his demands and needs are. He is adapting so well to any place or structure that I am taking him to. He doesn't need any of the fancy toys, any of the fancy classes or fun places that I used to constantly worry about!
2. It occurs to me that what he might learn with me is probably a lot more meaningful to him than what he would learn in school. As cliched as it sounds, the best thing I can do for my child and my relationship with him is give him undivided attention. Attention is a rare commodity when we have such busy lives to run - but I can clearly see how much difference it can make to every aspect of his life - not just learning/ perceiving etc - but also the bond that we can build through this attention is amazing. Its sad that when our lives our busy, our interaction with the child is mostly limited to some basic things - food, sleep, bath - but not much beyond it. Some power struggles had also started to emerge - that I had started to get worried about. E.g. planning to get out the door by 8.15 am would almost make me stop my breath. Even otherwise I found myself doing something else like cooking, cleaning etc while "managing" the child around me. Although things would not be as rosy as they are in a sabbatical, I am now starting to think of how I would restructure our routine to put more life into our time together. Stepping up volunteering in school so I have a better understanding of his world, planning a few 1-1 activities (hobby crafts etc are pretty cool I think) - are some starting points. I am sure the day is not too far out when G will be too busy for us - I better make full use of it before its too late :) I can't imagine someone wanting to take a sabbatical to connect more with their child - but it can be totally worth it!
