Being a mother!

Last night, while going to sleep, Goldie asked me a very thought-provoking question. She asked, “Do you like being a mother or it’s boring”? For that fraction of a second, I had to quickly think of an answer which would not be wrong and hurt her feelings. Luckily for me, I answered, “I like being your as well as Dibai’s (Jemimah) mother. Not anyone else’s”. At this, she hugged me tight. I think this answer satisfied her.

But her question kept me awake for a while and set me thinking. I was actually thinking how it is for me being a mother. So far, it has come to me with its own share of ups and downs. More of downs because being a working mother, I have always craved for that “extra hour” to be added to my busy curriculum. I have to run the round-the-clock marathon and things don’t always go my way.

Of course, there have been some very satisfying and fulfilling moments also when I have felt very proud of being a mother. But like I am saying, there have been more of testing moments depending on the mood and behavior of the children as well as me. I haven’t received anything on the platter.

Most of my previous bosses have been so non-cooperative that I had to give up so many jobs just to look after my daughters. Though being a mother has been the most difficult and challenging task for me, I am happy to learn from each and every debacle and setback.

“All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his.” says, Oscar Wilde in “The Importance of Being Earnest”. Well, I don’t know how much I have become like my mother because the greatest differentiating factor between me and my mom is that she has always being a homemaker whereas I had to slog it out-of-home as well right from the word go. This has made me aggressive and I have the tendency of losing my temper at the drop of a hat. She doesn’t get flustered that easily. But I too have my own virtues of being a mother.

But to reiterate Goldie’s question: yes, I like being a mother and I am proud of being a mother. All stumbling blocks are just making me learn how to handle tricky situations in motherhood. Like the tagline of Surf Excel “daag acche hai”, I would like to say, “stumbling blocks acche hai”.