Voices
BHAKTI
SHRINGARPURE
HUFFINGTON
08.05.12
On
“Exotic”
Parenting
WHEN OUR SON Surya was five
months old, he was finally starting to sleep longer stretches at
night and we as parents were
slightly less strung out. But soon
thereafter, he suddenly stopped
sleeping for longer than 45 minutes at a time.
Surya has two sets of fawning
grandparents—one American, the
other Indian. My husband and I
have become fluent in narrating
baby stories twice every Sunday
on Skype to our respective families. But when we spoke about
ILLUSTRATION ALEX NABAUM
the multiple awakenings we got
hilariously contradictory reactions. Michael’s American parents immediately concluded, “It’s
time to start showing that little
boy who’s boss,” while my Indian mother gushed, “Wow, he is
so advanced! It’s amazing he has
figured out how to communicate
with his parents!”
Meanwhile, Surya’s sleep patterns only worsened and his
Bhakti
Shringarpure
is the editor
of Warscapes
magazine