My younger son is 8. Compared to his brother who is 4 years older, he always seems young. You know how age is actually relative. So, Sid at 8 was a big boy while Gautam at 8 is still a child. Though he is no longer a baby, we still try to hold on to the last vestiges of his little boyhood by hugging him, pulling his cheeks and generally fooling around with him. He is one of the most direct people I know. He will never shy away from telling you to your face if he has been hurt or if you did something wrong. While he is very quiet outside the house, he is the most vociferous at home. You have to make your point correctly for him to be convinced. The other day, short on patience, I was cribbing to him that I have so much pending work. He said that he always offers to help but then I don’t let him many times. I cannot be blamed either. I took him up on his offer once and he started folding the clothes and keeping them in his dresser. Errr, crumpling and dumping would be more like it despite showing him how to fold stuff. I had to beg him to stop helping me. 🙂 But, he does dust the grills quite well. He has also picked up how to run the vacuum cleaner from big brother and can chip in on those days when the maid does not come. He also wants to learn how to hang up the washed clothes. And by the way, he does the best job of applying balm on your head. Whenever I have a headache, Gautam takes it away with firm strokes of his little fingers rubbing the balm.
Sid is almost as tall as me now. On the verge of teenage, he no longer feels like my little boy though he will always be one for me. The one whose birth made me a mother and transformed my life completely. The one in whom I see so much of me yet he is his own boy. The one in whom I never cease to take pride though I do try to hide that from him. Both of us are aware that he molds his brother’s character much more than we do. The little fellow hero worships his elder brother. He tries to cultivate the same interests, play the same games and match up to the same hobbies which is a huge task. There is no competition among them which is a relief because I have tried my best to refrain from comparing the two.
As he has grown older, he and I have become friends. I realize that I can talk to him, discuss books, politics, even rant because he understands, he connects, he listens and is patient. Just a couple of days back, I had a severe tummyache – so bad that I was unable to walk around. I was not able to understand what caused it and was resting to ease it away. When he came back from school, he suggested a medicine which I normally give them for indigestion. It had completely slipped my mind to take that one. He gave it to me and within half an hour my pain eased. It was nice to see him take on my role for once. There are so many such instances when I see his sensitivity. He will chip in with vacuuming when the maid does not come. He has recently started learning how to do dishes properly. He is also slowly easing into learning cooking. And he runs a lot of errands outdoors for me especially going to the neighborhood shop to get things. Not to mention the stuff that he does for Coco, taking him out etc.
We always crib how it is difficult to have children, how much work it is. No doubt, it is. It also puts a lot of strain on your relationship with your partner as you both work harder managing a home and providing for the family and are always short on time. But things ease up as they grow older. The enriching part is that we also get companions in this journey of life who delight and exasperate us and let us grow and learn with them. You see them transform from helpless, hapless kids to friendly adults and eventually grow into the role of parenting you!
A family that has all members watching each other’s backs works. I do truly love having children. Life would have been easier and much less tiring without them, but it would have been poorer in terms of experiences and joys of living.
Rachna says 
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