Chores

I am lazy. Every now and then I like to procrastinate. As long as I was by myself, I did not have anybody question me but since the Mrs has come into the picture ( >  6 yrs), I have had to get my act together. It has been a journey involving subtle nudges to warnings to outright rebellions which has made me yield significant ground.

Chores by definition are typically household in nature and have to be done each and every day. Its the routine-ness of the charade that gets to me really. It would take half the effort to complete the chore than avoid it. But then I am not one to shy away from a little tete-a-tete with the Mrs every now and then.

As long as I was WFO (working from office) there were some chores which being time sensitive never came my way. However with the current situation necessitating us to 'stay-at-home', there are no chores off limit. Infact in the initial part of the 'lockdown', I was enthusiastic to take up some, not only for a  change of scenery but also with a view of earning some much needed 'brownie points' from the Mrs. I think I can do another blog on the 'brownie points' sometime in the future.

The one thing which you never realize about chores is that they tend to grow on you. They are like that creeper which before you know it engulfs you and boom, what started with "Let me help you out with this!" quickly becomes, "Hey, don't forget that you have to get that done..". Within the first week, my WFH (working from home) had transformed into WAH (working at home).

Social media wasn't far behind. Memes started flying thick and fast. I consider memes to be a salve especially if they tell your tale. They afford you a chance to laugh at yourself. They make your 'ordeal' socially acceptable, almost.

Research shows that it takes 21 days (3 weeks) to form a habit. The stay at home order has already been more than 21 days old. I wonder if some of my chores have become habits which I no longer question. Some food for thought, dare I say.

The Office Space

It didn't take long for a few weeks to turn to a 'few too many' and now even those seem 'too few'. Terms like 'Social Distancing', 'Flatten the Curve' became a mantra almost overnight and people wherever possible were asked to 'work from home (WFH)'.

In the not so distant past WFH meant that you had only to appear 'available'. Nobody really expected you to move mountains on that day. The heavy lifting could always be left for tomorrow when you were to go to office. Considering this, setting up an office space at home was never a priority.

3 weeks sitting awkwardly on the sofa, with the laptop placed on a low rise coffee table I realized that this was not going to work. 'Necessity is the mother of invention' and I went about transforming a corner of my abode into an office space. 

I considered 'Work from Home' to be an oxymoron, but I must admit that I have been enjoying it these past few weeks. I do miss the office banter, quick lunches even my second monitor but on the other hand I have been able to 'dress as I like' and most importantly better manage work so that I end up spending more time with the family. 

Even if it seems that I have more than adjusted to this new norm, I hope it does not continue longer. The implications, if it does, would be far worse.

I leave you with a pic of my office space. Its a work in progress. I am still dilly dallying about getting myself a monitor and a spare keyboard mouse. Its not much but its 'The Office Space'.

Mother's Day 2020

This Mother's day held a bit more significance for the family. The Mrs celebrated her first Mother's day. The little one did his bit by letting us take his hand and footprints, which ultimately led to this :

My contribution in the above work of art apart from holding the little one's feet, so that his footprints don't smudge the canvas,  was to suggest the text you see on the artwork.

It has been an incredible journey so far. Without doubt the Mrs wasn't flying solo through all of this. It would be gross injustice if I say that we shared the burden equally. There is no shame in admitting that my contribution in the journey so far as been about the same as that in the artwork you see above. 

As I post this blog, I really do believe that mothers are special. As a father to our little one, I have seen his Mother do things which my wife would not have been capable of. It's as if the day our child was born, he was not the only one who came into this world.

Don't worry, I am not beating myself up for letting Mommy take all the credit. You see I do have until June 21st to show what Fathers are really made off!

Savings Galore

Our most recent visit to Kohl's, probably a few weeks before the Illinois 'stay-at-home' order went into effect had a lot of firsts. A few which come to mind in the increasing order of importance are as follows :

• It was the first visit to a retail outlet by the Mrs in over a year*.
• For a want of a stroller, the little one still in the car seat was accommodated in the shopping cart**.
• Our shopping receipt showed us 'SAVING' more than twice the money we spent***.

'SAVINGS' are the cornerstone of the American (Non)Immigrant Dream. With the road to permanent residency a long winded one, it's the SAVINGS which make the journey worthwhile. Ever heard of making hay while the sun shines. These SAVINGS more often than not tend to be life changing considering the dollar-rupee conversion rate making a strong case for immigration to begin with. However, the SAVINGS which tend to be tricky are the ones encountered in the retail space.

The 'SAVINGS' in the retail space are a mind boggling riddle. They are a twisted tale of either straight off the bat reduction in prices, loyalty points or the store-specific cash which is earned on pre-defined spending intervals like $10 store cash for every $50 spent in store purchase, all leading to a singular goal of making the customer comfortable parting with his money. It's this savings which obscure the line between 'Needs' and 'Wants', in my personal opinion.

Having mouthed off such profound knowledge about the nature of SAVINGS, you would imagine me to be one of those retail gurus complete with a halo over my head. Well, fret not fellow mortals for I too share the same compulsions. Did I mention that we have some Kohl's cash to spend once the 'stay at home' order is lifted. Wonder what SAVINGS that shopping trip will drag in.

* - With the Mrs pregnant for the better part of 2019, she prioritized walks in the park compared to aisle shopping.

** - Yes, we took the mandatory photograph and no we didn't share it on social media.

*** - I would have thrown the receipt the moment we stepped out the store, had it not been the for the check-out clerk who announced this fact as if I had just won the Powerball.