Dispoo(p)ted territory

"Will she? Won't she? Will she? Won't she?"

.

.

.

.

"Back from work. Cooking kosha mangsho for dinner. What are you up to?" I excitedly texted Gundamma.

"Wait, Baby D is on the throne," she texted back.

Oh. Knowing how things work when Baby D is on the throne but not delivering, I know that this is not a good time to ping Gundamma with news of kosha mangsho or a rich and dry meat curry in the making. There is too much pressure for Baby D to deliver, pressure coming from the wrong end, of course.

I have often wondered questions like how many (wo)man-hours does someone spend in their lifetime trying to make their children poop? It's certainly a transferable skill (making someone deliver under pressure) that never gets mentioned in the vita. Couldn't someone develop an app called the poopometer or something that dings and notifies parents when their babies are about to poop? 

The pressure to perform, to deliver, every single day. And when you have, the endless questions about quality and quantity. It is only in a house with little children that I have seen so much pressure (excuse the pun) on potty, hagu, number two, call it what you may, every single day. Sometimes, the little one comes out of the restroom, forlorn and dejected and tells Gundamma, her mom, "Amma, no potty, looks like the bum is not working today." I laugh so hard, my stomach muscles ache so bad, my own delivery problems would have been solved.

Baby D continues to sit on the throne, stone-faced, unabashed, undefeated. It's literally a game of thrones. In between, when Gundamma is not looking, she tries to put anything within reach inside the pot: soaps, toys, dinner, wedding rings, cell phones, Nobel prizes. The mood of the entire household is determined by her performance every evening. Sometimes when I am around, I get to hear different levels of negotiation going on.

" Baby D, poop!" (Order)

" Baby D. Poooop." (Pleading)

" Baby D ... who wants a lollypop? Poop then." (Bribery)

"Poop!" (Anger and frustration)

" Baby D.... ammmaaa!" (Defeat)

"Baba Baby D, ektu hago dekhi!" I chime in Bangla. Baby D looks at me suspiciously.

Maybe Baby D doesn't want to deliver in the evenings. Maybe Baby D is asking for privacy and is sick of the boss constantly asking her to deliver (aren't we all?). 

I feel ignored. My kosha mangsho is getting cold. I wonder how I will handle it if I have children. It's easier to climb mountains than enter this dispoo(p)ted territory. 

Gundamma fondly calls Baby D a poopsicle sometimes. I'm more creative and indulgent in my names for her. I try to use my limited linguistic knowledge from various regions of India. Hagu ben (Gujarati). Hagomoni (Bengali). Kusumita Kumari (Tamil). Hagu Bai. Rani Hagumati. If Baby D grows up to read this post and kill me, I wouldn't blame her. 

As I get ready to attack my dinner, my phone dings with a smiley. I breathe a sigh of relief. Baby D has delivered, at least for today. Mission Impossible has finally become Mission Accomplished. A thousand queries just got saved from being posted on the online parents' forum about why their babies are not pooping.

sunshine