Its your turn now #WriteBravely #ShortStory

Posted in Aks Corner, family, Gender Equality, job, Love & Relationships, Parenting, Self Love, Sexism, The Couple

Josh and I worked together in “7/ Eleven”. Thats when cupid struck and before we knew it we were a couple. Life was good.

As a 21 year old I had many dreams and aspirations.

I was working odd jobs like this one to save up for my college. Josh was ambitious too and thats what made us a perfect couple. We continued working in the store and moved in together in a flat near our workplace. As we lay in bed, we could see the signboard “Open 24 hours” gleaming outside our window. Maybe on day we will have our own store I mused as sleep took over.

4 years passed and life went on smoothly. I got my degree and started my internship. I still worked on weekends for a few hours.

Josh proposed one night and I said yes. We got hitched and in 2 months we were going to be parents to not just one, but 2 adorable boys.

Josh and I had talked this over. We wanted to have kids soon while we were young and had the energy and enthusiasm to bring them up. We had decided that one of us had to take a career break and focus on bringing up the kids. We were not comfortable with daycare or nannies.

When the boys were born I looked into their tiny eyes which were barely open and knew    this was my heart split into 2 pieces walking outside my body. I knew what I wanted to do at that instant.

Its been 4 years now and I wish I hadn’t been that emotional fool. There are days when they boys drive me totally crazy, a naughty bunch they are and I am constantly on my toes, trying to stop havoc.

I look at Josh enviously as he steps out of the house, neatly dressed and comes back only at night. He has his drink, a good meal and enjoys a sound sleep. I wonder when was the last time I had my coffee uninterrupted. My dress is full of milk and porridge stains and my hair looks like it was washed a year ago. I look at the “Open 24 hours” signboard now and I see the similarity with my life.

Its time for the twins to go to school finally and  I heave a sigh of relief. I would have at least sometime for myself now I think looking forward to it.

We want to get them into the best school in the neighbourhood and they surprisingly are very well behaved and answer all the questions. I am excitedly waiting for the admission letter. We get it and we also get the demand for the donation which is mandatory. Its a huge blow for us as its impossible to cough up so much money.

Josh looks at me and solemnly says “Honey have you thought about home schooling? It has its benefits, you know”. I look at my little brats and the mess they have created in the dining room and my mouth is now wide open like a fish,

I dont sleep the whole night. Images of my life as an inter with a formal dress and heels, my boss praising me and telling me “You have great potential” flash before my eyes. My little boys, who are as naughty as they can be but sweethearts at the same time- I think of them and doze off.

The next morning as Josh walks in , I am seated at the table sipping my coffee.

“Did you give its. thought hon?”, he asks. “Homeschooling”

“Oh yes I did and as you say its a wonderful thing Josh. The thing is when we decided to start a family we made a decision together that one parent would stay at home and be with the kids while the other focussed on their career. I have done my bit for 4 years. Its your turn now Josh. The boys are grown up. Homeschooling is certainly a fab idea and I am damn sure you will be a great teacher”.

I am participating in the Write Tribe Festival of Words 2018

WRITE-TRIBE-FESTIVAL-OF-WORDS-JUNE-2018

 

This post is published for #OpenNTalk Blogger’s League hosted by @GleefulBlogger and @WigglingPen in association with Summerbarn, Vedantika Herbals, Nyassa, Explore Kids World. 

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Published by Akshata Ram

Chartered Accountant, Story Teller, Dreamer, Voracious Reader, Blogger, Mommy to a little munchkin, Shopaholic, Day Dreamer.Passionate about my career in the corporate world and aspire to break the glass ceiling, at the same time nurture my passion for writing. My niche area is short stories, I also write on parenting, sexism, life's experiences, micro blogs and flash fiction. I have won the best Parenting blog post at mycity4kids.com the largest parenting website in India, 4 times and several of my posts have been published in the #MostPopular category on this site garnering millions of views. I also write on Bonobology, Rivo Kids, Women's Web and Youth Ki Awaaz. My blog has been chosen as the Top Indian Blogs for the years 2018-2019,2020 by TopIndianBlogs website and found a place in the prestigious Top 22 Indian Literary Blogs in 2020 @TopIndianBlogs.

60 thoughts on “Its your turn now #WriteBravely #ShortStory”

    1. Really! I doubt that.. I mean atleast in most cases I think moms do a better job but we have to start broadening our perspectives if we want to create a gender agnostic society. I agree on that point

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      1. Try it . I sent my daughters off to Europe for a holiday with just their father and they ALL had a great time. I made him take them to the club every weekend and play badminton with them while I stayed home . Even now when I have an issue with them I leave it to him to handle it .

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  4. Blow by the brilliance of this story.. A very genuine thought and i think this is working out in the current trend where i see and hear about full time dad at home open for 24 hours. Congrats aks for completing the feat.

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  8. I often ponder on this question why does the responsibility of child rearing lie with just one parent i.e. the mother. Apart from all the traditional reasons that there are to cough up, I now realise that in our country if you go out of sight once, you literally are out of mind of the job market. How much ever my husband may be willing to be supportive, there aren’t jobs worthy of the change. I seek solace in doing a good job as a mother – Story of most Indian over-qualified home -maker mothers.
    Though things surely are changing, but there’s a long way to go.

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    1. I hear you Anupriya and I recall we spoke about this earlier too during Alexa.. it’s a very valid point. It’s not just about shared parenting but also the openness of MNCs to accept career comeback candidates. A long way to go and I don’t see things progressing much

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  9. You have actually brought an aspect of parenting brilliantly through your story. It is somehow always the mother on a break while we rarely see fathers choosing to take the break instead. Having said that, the stereotypical mindset of the society acts as a deterrent for a mother on a break to resume her career or a support a father who has chosen to stay at home instead. A great way to end this challenge. I have enjoyed your posts throughout the last 7 days. Really glad that I got to know you well through write tribe. Congratulations on completing this challenge successfully.

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  12. haha.. You are awesome in turning the stories around. Well, I was actually thinking about that “homeschooling” thing.

    – Anami from #InvincibleGang for #OpenNTalk #Week4

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  14. Haha! good one. I have twins and the first day they went to school was the first time in three and a half years that I had a moment alone! Though the nursery school on the first day was only for half an hour and most parents remained standing outside the school gates, i rushed home, made tea, put my feet up on the table and just sat!

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  20. Lol the bouncer in the end. Her Shaatir dimaag gave the write answer Lol :p
    On a serious note, I agree with this story above. Why should handling kids be the sole responsibility of all mother’s? It is equally important guys start thinking about this before giving any commitments to a girl (Woman)
    #InvincibleGang

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  24. I loved her last lines. Its so true, whenever we think about the children, the sacrifice we expect from the mother always. If a mom can leave her job for the sake of her baby then why cant a father? Father is equally responsible for that. We have to broaden our mindset. #BloggerBabes #OpenNTalk

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  25. Even with true love one can never be sure that they’ll not get taken for granted. Josh expected too much from her. I wish he saw how she had changed over the years and wanted her place in the sun too.
    #OpenNTalk #BloggerBabes

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