Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Four Girls - Nights

Meena
“Wake up, wake up. She is crying. Feed her”. Grandmother shakes the sleepy mother. “She is not drinking. May be she is not hungry”. “She IS hungry. Just feed her right”. Crying continues. “Switch the lights on, if you feed her in the dark, why won’t she cry?” Grandfather wakes up. Milk in the mouth and those glaring bright lights confused.

Preethi

“Wake up, wake up. She is crying. Feed her”. Husband shakes the sleepy mother. “Just now I fed her. She is full”. “She is crying”. “You might have disturbed her”. I didn’t touch her. I was sleeping too. I have to say keeping these lights on all the time does disturb my sleep”. “What is going on”? The mother-in-law wakes up. “Nothing amma. She is full but still she is crying”. “Feed her. Feed her. She might not have been full. It have been just a distraction and you might have thought she was full. That is why she is awake and crying. Feed her”. “These days, girls are lazy to feed their children. In our days we used to… “Ya, right”. Milk in the mouth and those confusing same lights.

Ritu

“Wake up, wake up. She is crying. Feed her”. Husband shakes the sleepy mother. “I just fed her. Take that bottle and feed her please”. Husband heats the milk/water. Checks for its temperature. Milk in the mouth, street light through the balcony, and that intense breeze confused.

Nush

“Wake up, wake up. She is crying. Feed her”. Husband shakes the sleepy mother. “I just have fed her. No, no, don’t switch the light on.” “She is crying”. “I know. Keeping the lights off helps her to understand that this is night, meaning sleeping time. It is there in the book. Also, you should not feed her all the time. We should give warm water…. Don’t look at me like that. It is there in the book”. “Listen, that is only for the white kids. Our kids are different. Feed her”. Milk in the mouth and those glaring bright lights confused.

Tamil Version

Must read:
bedtime blues
newborn care/index
one month old
family bed
raising a happy baby
pampers
huggiesclub
Motherhood

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