The What To Expect ladies should write another book. This time titled, What To Expect: Activity Classes for Your Preschooler and The Best Way To Time Manage Them. Then again, we would require our own Indian version of the book. Don't think they have Shloka & Scriptures classes in New York do they? Or who knows, maybe they do. NRIs after all, are more desi than us desis in desiland.
To get back to the classes, they require serious time-management, making some of the class toting mommies into multi-tasking-driving-commuting women par excellence.
"I'm in Bombay! Let's meet," I yelled excitedly on the phone to my friend S. "Oh God," she exhaled regretfully, "Kyra has her ballet today at 3. Could you make it now?"
"How about tomorrow?" I persisted.
"We could do a quick coffee at about 11. Post noon I need to take Shivam for the Robotics class and then at 3...." Kyra has her ballet, I completed.
"No yaar," S was a bit irritated by my lack of knowledge. "Ballet (Improves posture)is only on Tuesdays. Wednesday is Shloka (Improves Indianness) and Friday is Swimming (Improves life-skill). We are free on Thursday though as her Art & Craft teacher is on holiday."
See how difficult it is? Not just the time management part but also the bit about meeting. Especially if you wish to meet a mommy to a preschooler and have one at home yourself. You need to discuss and juggle schedules like school, lunch, nap, playdates and of course, Shloka, Gym and Ballet Class. All unavoidable and sacrosanct. Trust me, it's tough.
Back home in Bengaluru, I get a call from K. Her son and mine are the same age. Which she thinks makes us mothers in arms when it comes to the class system.
"I spoke to the swimming sir. He can take them in the new batch starting soon, every Wednesday and Friday. This leaves Tuesday and Thursday free for Piano lessons (improves music skill) or Speech and Drama (improves confidence), whatever you want to choose."
Choose? Let me breathe first.
Totally Martian when it comes to this part of motherhood. Come undone just dropping and picking up the child from school and live in complete nightmare of not checking diaries and forgetting life-changing assignments like 'Make a decorative object out of waste materials lying around the house.' And this is when he doesn't leave for school at crack of dawn (yet) or have uniform (yet) or homework (yet). But I try for sure. After all, do not want son be left behind in learning important lifeskills. Now excuse me while I call up the girl who teaches skating. Improves balance.