Time flies; I remember it was like yesterday when we brought a new born baby home. And now, a new phase has started when Abigail has started saying that she wants to go to school. These days she is getting bored inside the home. She enjoyed the past summer when we used to visit library sessions. She is clearly missing meeting her friends. Keeping a baby engaged full-time is certainly difficult.
In the past few days, she has started following my routine tasks - cooking, watching soap-serials and culinary programs, and reading. Whenever I cook, in most probability she would join me - if she is awake, is in good mood and not engrossed in any other of her favorite tasks. She would put up a stool, stand in front of the gas stove and repeat her regular lines: "Amma, teach me how to cook?", "I would cook very safely (without getting fingers burnt)", "Amma I would add salt", "Amma, Abigail would cook alone - please let me cook on my own". Indulging her fancies, I too let her handle the ladle up-to an extent. Often, I proudly boast of her willingness to help at such a young age; at the same time, I have felt my heart pound hard when she is near a boiling pot.
Apart from these real experiences, she would also "cook" separately - which I admit I adore - safe, far away from the gas stove. Though she has her own set of toy pans, pots and spoons, she prefers mine any day over hers - as if saying "only then would I get the feel of cooking!" She would take full onions, peel them and put them with potatoes, garlic and tomatoes in my kadai. She would add water up-to the rim. For the remaining inaccessible ingredients, she would just name them out verbally - as if a uttering a magic spell over a pot of boiling concoction! Using my ladle she would gently mix (act of frying) cover it with a lid and walk off. Even after a few minutes, if I ask her about her cooking, she would say "Wait Amma, it has to cook for some more time". When she remembers her incomplete task, she would rush back to the abandoned spot. Sometimes, she would declare her dish having been prepared, other times, she would pack the result of her effort in a box and ask me to keep safely in the refrigerator or give it to her Appa as his office-lunch!
Having observed me closely, she would carry out each of the above-mentioned tasks with enthusiasm. Many times, I notice many small traits (that I would not have realized having them) she would have picked from me. Watching her cooking is like watching a replay of mine -just that the actor is much younger! I've asked my mother many times - did I too ape her during my childhood? Sigh! she does not remember the details.
I am sure she would get over these "hobbies" soon after joining pre-school, yet I wonder if she would ever recollect having gone through this phase. I cherish these memories, and document them in the form of this blog.
