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| Lisbon, Portugal, © Uma Muthuraaman |
It is my fourth Pastéis de Nata and I'm washing it down with some port wine and watching one of the last sunsets of 2011 from the banks of the Tagus river. The place, the food and the drink seem to set the mood to post a new year greeting although the more time I take to do this would mean more time in the treadmill at a later point.
Neither the sweet Portuguese tarts I'm cramming in nor the wine I'm washing it down with get my attention as much as the sunset does. The warm, magnificent, pinkish orange glow in the sky as the sun goes down one last time before it rises to a new day, a new year and possibly a new era combined with the unhurried pace of life in Lisbon, the traditional seafood menu, the narrow mosaic-floored pathways and the faint (and thankfully distant) sound of Fado music, offers a time and place for a perfect ending to a calendar year!
On the personal front, parenthood continues to present me with challenges that no level of formal education could have prepared me for - but it also continues to provide huge returns on investment (of time spent). Besides parenting, in 2011 I added two more European countries and two Indian cities to my list of 'places I have been and seen'. I have enjoyed as much the chance encounters with fellow human beings as much as the reunions with friends and family.
On the work front, the 9 hours a day-5-days-a-week-work-schedule that I am currently handling has instilled confidence that I can devote my mind to a full time assignment alongside two kids and a globe trotting spouse :-) a huge step forward, I must add.
From this moment of reflection stems gratitude and from this gratitude stem my best wishes for you. It has been wonderful having you as a part of my 2011 and I hope I will see more of you in 2012 too!
And I take this chance to wish you a very happy new year!
With Best Wishes
Uma
With Best Wishes
Uma
Same to you all Uma! Nice photo and write up!
ReplyDeleteVery true, no training for parenting! Anything goes, and the kids will survive despite their parents' lack of training.
-Vas
Beautifully written,it happens quite a lot children need tremendous amount of love and attention and if they don't receive it at home they misbehave or in some cases look elsewhere.that happened to me as my husband was quite a lot away and I was working and was busy doing my stuff.I had to choose between being a good parent/mother or a career woman.I realised cant have both.......If my parents are around,then its a different matter, as you receive a lot of support support.if they are not,which in my case,my children suffered as they had no one,Except one tired mum.I put my husband and children first and a happy family gives me confidence.then a career outside
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