Should you ask a stay-at-home Mom to host an Online training session?

I don’t think that’s a very good idea. If the mommy has a 3 year old, it gets almost impossible to host an online training session from home with her child sitting on her lap. Especially if it is her first time!

Well, this is exactly what happened with me. My employer asked me to give online training to new writers who were going to join his team. I told him it is not a very good idea but he said this is how I will learn. I agreed. I decided to just put my fears away and go ahead with it. What worse things could happen? My son could decide to start crying, could sit on my lap and start typing on the keyboard, could press the power button and switch off the laptop, or could even want to go potty when I am in the midst of the training. Believe me these all are some very bad things that could happen.

Anyway, I put my fears aside, got a nice pair of headset, and invited all the trainees to the training session. I organized it on Wednesday at 4:30 pm because I thought Rafay would be taking a nap at that time. Little did I know that he would choose to wake up exactly the moment I started training. Out of panic, I cancelled the training session and blamed the software, which I was using. I said there were some problems with the software and I have to sort it out first.

Then, I organized it the next day on Thursday at 4 pm, half an hour earlier than before. Now, my son must have sensed something because this time he woke up half an hour earlier. I panicked again but this time I could not give any excuse because the software was working just fine and I was afraid of losing the writers. Only two writers out of four turned up that day but I decided to start it anyway. Half past the training session, my son felt the need to go to the bathroom. He first told me in low voice. I acknowledged him. Then he decided to say it in my mic that he wanted to go potty. Now, that was the worst thing that could happen. I apologized my trainees and told them about my little sea monkey. Such nice people they were, they said it is perfectly fine. Anyway, I had to cancel the training before the presentation was complete.

My point is, it is not a very good idea to have mommies host an online training session from home.

Do you agree?

When Potty Gets Serious

Never in my life had I envisaged that I will have to spend almost an hour in the bathroom standing with my son, encouraging and waiting for him to poop. I know that’s gross but this is what I have been doing today. The only concern I had was the fear that my neighbours would hear as I shouted and instructed my baby how to poop….

The worst part was when I spent 45 minutes in the bathroom, which I would have rather spent on writing and would have written 1 good article and earned some money, and then coming out without any success. It seems like he is too good at holding it. 

Eventually, I had to give him Lactulose to ease the constipation. After 2 hours, I again dragged him to the bathroom and then the Lactulose and my prayers did the magic. 

Success again but at the cost of a severe back ache! 

3 Things Rafay Assumes About Me

1. I am a super hero and I have magical powers

Rafay asks me to pour back the water that has spilled from his glass. He asks me to take out his tears. (he loves his tears). He tells me to play YouTube videos when our beloved Prime Minister has blocked YouTube. He tells me to turn on the light when we don't have power and the battery of UPS is fully drained. He asks me to do all that stuff which no ordinary person can do. Hence, he assumes that I am some more of super hero.

2. I am a guru and whatever I say is correct

I do look like a guru with big, black framed spectacles. I am amazed how he trusts me on everything and believes everything I tell. Whenever he is confused about anything, he comes to me among all the people present there. Whatever I tell him, no matter how confusing, he would believe it.  There is nothing wrong in that, but it just amazed me and I was wondering if I did the same with my mother. And this makes me think that Rafay will soon come to disbelieve this assumption. :(

3. I love him unconditionally

Well, that's something really fascinating that how these little monkeys think their mothers love them unconditionally from the moment they are born. We don't need to prove them anything. They just know it. I remember when I was little, I always used to call 'mamaaaaaaa' even when crying after my mother had scolded me. Rafay does the same. He just knows that even when I scold him or am harsh with him, I still love him unconditionally.

Is There Anything Like Happy Potty Training?

My son, at 3 years 6 months finally got potty trained. Is it something to be proud of or ashamed at? Ashamed because I know 3.5 years is too late for that. I was ashamed of asking my friends and relatives about potty training because they would all just say "oh my god, you still haven't trained your kid yet!". If I was ashamed of asking them, how could I announce that I am finally successful without getting embarrassed under their mocking stares? 

Anyway, this potty training thing wasn't easy at all. I don't get it how people just say one day "we are going to train now" and the next time I meet them, their kids are peeing and poohing in the toilet, just like grown up kids. Sigh. I started training when my son was 2 years and it took 1 and a half year to be finally successful. The hardest part of this long potty training session was the horrible visions I had about my son asking his wife to diaper him so he could poop. Oh my God, that's horrible! shivers running down my spine at such a horrible thought. 

Training my baby to pee in the toilet was not easy. He would hold it for hours but not pee in the toilet. But a few tickles always did the trick and he eventually got trained. Not talking about accidents; they still happen. 

The one thing which was different than what I read on the Internet was that no kind of potty training seat or toilet seat was useful for me. Although I bought them, but they were of no use. 

The hardest part was training him to pooh in the toilet. He used to ask me to diaper him whenever he felt the need. And when I didn't, he used to lie down on the floor with tummy pains and develop constipation. He was kind of afraid of poohing in the toilet. Perhaps, the diaper gave him a sense of security. Lol. I asked experts on the Internet and they gave stupid advices like encouraging him, etc, etc. These are not stupid advices but who doesn't do that or know that? 

So, what finally did the trick? Well, a pain in his hip bone and an injection was finally helpful in convincing him that toilet was better than diaper. Due to vitamin D deficiency, he had a pain in his hip bone and the doctor had to give him a vitamin injection. I took advantage of the opportunity and told him it was because he did potty in his diaper that he had got pains and had to be injected. As the prick of the syringe was still fresh in his mind, he finally did it. And I became successful. 

Hurray! I want to celebrate! Is there anything like happy potty training? 

Review of The Forty Rules of Love

After reading this book, I can only say one thing: that I am grateful to the salesperson in the book store who recommended this book to me. It is worth reading!

The author of the Forty Rules of Love is a writer from Istanbul, Elif Shafaq. I was having my doubts because I didn't want to read about Istanbul. But I took the word of the salesman anyway and purchased the book. And I didn't regret it!

The forty rules of love is not any ordinary love story but it is about the extra ordinary and divine love that was between shams of Tabriz and Maulana Rumi. A person with little knowledge about history, I didn't know who they were. Reading the book, I found out how important these figures were in the history of Islam. Shams of Tabriz was a Sufi while Rumi was a scholar. Shams of Tabriz travelled the world to meet Rumi with the mission of enlightening him. The moment they both met, was iconic that changed the life of Rumi. Rumi transformed from a scholar to a poet and a Sufi. The love between these two men was immense. They both considered them as reflections of each other. If you kill one person, the reflection would be gone forever.

The story, as it shifts from 2008 Massachusetts to 13th century Konya, is about a 40 year old American housewife, Ella, who gets a manuscript to review from the literary agency where she works. During a confusing period in her life, Ella doesn't want to read a manuscript about historical times in Konya and about Islam and mysticism. However, reading the manuscript and exchanging emails with the author of the book, her life changes and she is able to make some important decisions in her life.

The best thing which I liked about the book is the wisdom of shams of Tabriz, the stories he tells to everyone and his forty rules. The rules related to patience and changes in life were the best rules because I could relate to them. I liked how Shams of Tabriz was so reckless and didn't care about what the society thought of him. The way he talked to common and downtrodden people and encouraged them was very heart touching.

In the end, when shams was murdered and Rumi cried and mourned, it was so provocative that I wanted to cry too. Rumi became a poet after the death of shams.

Everything in the book from beginning to end was perfect. However, I have some doubts about the accuracy and truth of the events described here. The book doesn't have any reference section, which gives me the doubts. While I loved the wisdom of Shams of Tabriz, there are some things which were contradictory to Islam. I have really begun to love Shams of Tabriz so I like to believe that all those things which are contradictory are portrayed wrongly in the book. I am believing all the good parts and disbelieving all the bad.

This book definitely leaves a long lasting impression on the reader. I am feeling enlightened after reading it. I am even thinking of copying those forth rules and treasuring them somewhere!

Overall, this book is worth the time and money. It is definitely recommended for all!

The New Definition of Patience

"Patience does not mean to passively endure. It means to be far-sighted enough to trust the end result of a process. what does patience mean? it means to look at the thorn and see the rose, to look at the night and see the dawn. impatience means to be so short sighted as to not be able to see the outcome. the lovers of God never run out of patience, for they know that time is needed for the crescent moon to become full"

I am reading a new novel: the forty rules of love, by Elif Shafaq. It is a remarkable book. outstanding!

I am loving every page of it.

This quote from the book relates to me even more. This is the definition of patience I never knew before. We always thought of patience as enduring, not as far-sightedness. There is no doubt patience always bears its fruit and after all the time of endurance, there surely follows a time of happiness and contentment. 

There is an even greater fruit that comes with patience: satisfaction. Patience is far better than fighting because when you finally bear the fruits, you have an inner feeling of satisfaction. 

I just hope I remember this definition for long and it plays some part in my life :)