A Welcome Change!

On a sunny June afternoon, I was sipping a chilled mock-tail at a hotel in the city, where I was travelling. The restaurant of the hotel had huge French-windows overlooking lush green lawns and a serene blue swimming pool. The sight provided some relief in the hot and humid climate of mid-June.

While appreciating the beauty of the greens and the blues, I spotted a man in the pool enjoying a dip in the cool water. He was constantly gesturing somebody to join him, but I could not see who it was as the parapet obstructed the view. After swapping my chair and straining my neck, I got a better view. I could see a lady standing under the shade of a palm tree near the pool. I could also see a baby, playing in the pram parked right beside her. The man (her husband) eagerly wanted his wife to join him in the pool and probably enjoy some quality time, but the lady, also a mother of a toddler, was reluctant to leave her baby alone. However, the lady gave in and slowly slipped into the pool, while the baby was playfully pumping the air lying in the pram.

I had seen the family in the morning at the breakfast buffet. Clad in a simple salwar-kameez with her hair tied loosely in a bun, the lady was busy cuckooing with the toddler at the breakfast table. It seemed to be their first outing after the baby’s birth. I overheard the husband discussing with his friend that they preferred a relaxed stay at the hotel rather than jumping from one destination to another with a toddler.

Barely few minutes into the swimming pool, the lady was restless, constantly watching the pram. (I assume the baby must have started crying as it could not find any familiar face around.) As soon as the lady started swimming across the pool to come out to see her baby, her husband overtook her and quickly stepped outside the pool. He quickly took the baby in his arms to pacify her. He started rocking her in the arms, occasionally singing lullaby and making funny faces to soothe her. The mother, still in the pool, gestured him if the baby needed her, and the husband calmly gestured back to be in the pool and enjoy the swim. He put the baby back in the pram and comforted her before giving her a colourful rattle. Once the baby started playing again, he clicked pictures of the wife in a relaxed mood, chilling in the pool!

I have heard and read a lot about ‘role reversals’, ‘dad playing mum, while mum is away’, and ‘men baby-sit kids, while women work.’ I have come across umpteen pictures of celebrity dads baby-sitting their kids... always making me sceptical if it was true or just a publicity stunt. But, for the first time, I came across a live incident wherein a father was patiently taking care of his young one just because the mother can chill, relax and let go of all the motherly stress and worries in cool blue waters. It was a welcome change and delightful sight, indeed. In a nutshell, from giving milk bottle to changing nappies and singing lullabies to cleaning potties, the new age Daddy does it all... without much ado.

To see the baby grow is considered to be one of the greatest joys of motherhood, but to see the father nurturing and taking care of the baby is even a greater joy for the mother!