Big Day - Big Realization

So this past Sunday we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. Gosh!! does time fly any quicker? I still remember very vividly the hot summer afternoon of April 19th when the temperatures were soaring the usual 100 degree F and the lu (the hot wind that blows in the Northern part of India) had started early morning at around 9:30 AM when we were doing the pre-wedding ceremonies (Eechh- Baan) in the courtyard of our old ancestral house (Peeli Kothi - as it used to be popularly known as in those days). I was trying to get out of the house to go to the “Beauty Parlor” for getting ready with makeup and wedding dress and I got late in reaching there; I will never forget that the woman beautician actually shouted at me and got me in to tears for being late and not bringing the flowers that she thought she had informed me to bring with me for my Hair decoration…..of course it was a very busy day for her, she said she had 8 other brides to get ready for the same time!! But it was My Wedding day too and wasn’t I suppose to be special (at least I thought so in my mind) how dare she be so rude to me, now that I think of it, I guess I was under too much pressure back then at that particular time to get ready and be out on time so I bursted into tears and holy cow did my eyes ever swell that bad!! But anyway, long story short, the events of that Special day are still as fresh as yesterday’s in my mind. Here are a couple of pictures that could dig out (our wedding album is in India) of both of us 9 years ago :o) This year we didn’t do much on our anniversary; I was Super tired of being awake almost the entire 3 nights in a row, plus we were in Boston and it’s a significant enough change for the kids, No nap in last 2 -3 days, we were doing late night eating out/ party (my cousin’s birthday Celebration), so all I wanted was a “normal” day. Yes, I have to admit, with so much going on, we hadn’t planned anything special for the day. But my dear brother, the wonderful gracious host, the young enthusiastic and let’s-make-things-special kind-a-guy that he is, decided to treat us every which way possible. But when I turned down all his offers and he saw that the entire day had “just” gone by, he convinced us to go out for an early dinner at this Fancy Cambodian Restaurant next to his place on Harvard Sq. Wonderful ambiance, excellent location, beautiful people all around, the place was definitely special. Neel was asleep so I was quite hopeful that we will have a wonderful meal finally. BUT - Even before the dinner was served, both Gauri and Neel were out of control because it was past their bedtimes and they are not used to so much noise/ stimulation and I was feeling like everyone was staring at us (Me). The food, whatever I was able to taste, was awesome, but to tell the truth, I was feeling out of place. This place was not meant for parents of infants/ toddlers, it was too classy for Mommy-me. Although, Mani did love the experience and I too liked the food but I had to run out(literally) with Neel, in the middle of the dinner (of course, frustrated somewhat) because his crying was getting louder and louder and I wasn’t able to swallow even a single bite anymore. So the weekend was a big realization that we do NEED to change our lifestyle - no more late night parties, socializing, eating out with the kids. I have accepted this change ever since Gauri came into our lives and more so after having Neel but I think it will take its own time for Daddy to give-in. I sincerely feel too bad for Mani since he is such a social being and loves to socialize/ entertain specially on weekends. But I do know that this is a temporary situation and only in a couple of years we will again be ready for more adventure, more celebrations!!