To The One I Take For Granted

You are the one I reach out in times of need.  You are the one on whom I vent my anxiety and worries, yet you never complain. When I fell in love, you are the one I turned to and I will always remember how you told me the pros and cons, yet supporting my choice. You are the one who bore the brunt of the bridezilla in me. You are the only one I wanted to talk to about my pregnancy worries. You are the one I wouldn't let take a break when I had a baby because I trusted only you with my baby. You are the one I reach out when I am scared yet act strong when my baby falls sick. You are my prayer request box - the only person's prayer I believe in. You are my strongest pillar indeed.

From the time I remember, you've been my champion. You taught me what a woman is capable of. You've been my biggest cheerleader and pushing me to extent my limits always. You've left no stone unturned in bringing us up in the best possible way. You've made it possible to pursue my interests no matter what. You've always been the one who has supported me in whatever I do. You've let me learn from my mistakes without imposing what you feel is right. You've let me be me.

I value you more after I've become a mother. You are my bible when it comes to bringing up my baby. You taught me that there is a fine line between pampering your little one and spoiling your baby and you should never cross that line. You taught me a mother needs to be calm in times of crisis and no hurdle is big for a mother. You taught me to be open about my problems so that I have people to help me out in need. You showed me how a lady should live her life yet be the foundation of her family. You  showed me how important it is for a girl to have her friends as much as she needs her family. You taught me that we, women, possess superpowers and we put on our cape and rock on when life calls us. 

You are the go to person for our friends, your friends and our family. You've been a mother not just to us but to our friends too - being with them in times of need, holding their hand and listening to their worries and just doing your best for them just like how you would do for us. You've been a sister to your friends - sparing time from your schedule whenever they need you with absolutely no hesitation, helping them in all possible ways and just being there whenever they need you. 

I fight with you the most but you are the one I look upto always. Because of you, to me, a superman is a she and she looks like you! You are my superstar, the one who made me the woman I am. Happy Women's Day, Amma. I love you!

To My Utmost Satisfaction

Dear Adhrith,

As a new mother, I’ve been tested my tolerance level and my patience has been pushed to the maximum. I’ve been given unwanted, unwelcomed advice by random people on how I should take care of you, how to make you sleep, what to do, what not to do, what I should eat and many others that I’ve not even bothered to listen. People who’ve not even seen me feeding you have told me quite authoritatively about how I do not have enough milk for you.  When you fell ill, I was told what medicine I should give you, what I should feed you and how I am not feeding you enough. When I went for a trip without you, people made snide remarks about how I could go and enjoy while leaving my baby behind.

We, new moms, are made to believe right from the day our baby is born as to how lousy we are,  the things that we are not doing correctly are highlighted rather than appreciating the effort we do to make things right for our little one and in general, we are made to believe how we are not doing enough for the baby. We are expected to make sacrifices, to put our interests in the backseat and to keep our happiness aside. We are made to believe that there is no life other than the one that revolves around the baby and our world ends there.

I’ve tried my level best not to be affected by such remarks and I’ve succeed to an extent. I don’t give a heed to any of the unwarranted remarks thrown at me because you are my life and I know I will not compromise on anything concerning you. I give you my best, be it anything and I make it a point to do only what is best for you. I will feed you only when you are hungry and not when I am hungry even when I’ve been blamed over and over again and commented on how my boy looks malnourished. I will not give you food you don't like neither will I distract you and stuff your mouth with food. I want you to enjoy your food and love what you eat. In addition to this, I will definitely not sacrifice my needs and my happiness for you. 

If I want you to see me as the best mother you could’ve asked for, I need to be happy. I want you to know I have a world outside you and I need that world to keep me happy as much as I need you. I definitely don’t want you to see me as a frustrated, depressed mother who doesn’t have a life of her own. If I have to show you what happiness is, I need to be happy.

You are my responsibility and I will make sure that my little one is brought up in the best possible way so that I will never blame the mother in me ever. For this, I will not compromise on anything concerning you. I will take care of you to my utmost satisfaction always so that I will never regret what I did(or did not do). This way, down the line, when I look back, what matters will only be what I did and not what others said! 

Love
Amma! :)

Why Stay At Home Moms Need a Break Too

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Imagine getting up early morning after a tiring day's work, all geared up to start yet another action packed day. You don't wait for the alarm to ring (anyway however badly you want to press the snooze button you can't afford to) since you have a truckload of work to finish. So, you get up and start with all your morning duties - milk in the pan, prepping for breakfast and lunch and the mid-day snack for the kid, tidying the house before the maid comes for cleaning, get the little one ready for school, drop him at school, rush back home before the husband leaves and finish the remaining work, pick the kiddo from school, come back home, feed the little one and make him sleep (time to take a deep breath), finish whatever chores is pending and prep for dinner, take the little one to the park, finish the dinner and by the time you realise, the day is gone by. You will not be appreciated for the work you do, rather, your work is taken for granted and you will not be paid for the 24*7 work either. In between this, try pushing in some spare time for reading, writing or any other hobby of yours. And if you are working part time, then God be with you while you try finding time to finish the work! Now, imagine doing this seven days a week with no break at all. 

Stay at home moms are highly underrated. With so much women empowerment talks and points on why working woman is the smart one, no one appreciates the one who makes the house a home without compromising on a single chore, the one for whom there is no option of leave or running away from their workplace or a place to rant about their day's work. It is as much exhausting mentally as it is physically for the one who is "sitting" at home without ever sitting down for a minute. Things are monotonous and there isn't any deviation from the routine, mundane chores.

We yearn to sit down without having to think about what needs to be done, we yearn to rest without having to worry, we yearn to close our eyes and enjoy the moment that passes by us very fast. And this is why we, stay at home moms need a deserved well-deserved break where we could just sit without having to worry about making beds, getting dinner ready, tidying the house and all those unexpected work that pops up in between. We don't want our little ones to be our problem, we want to enjoy them. We need to stop doing everything else, atleast every now and then, just so that we can reaffirm how wonderful being a mother is. We definitely need to feel like a princess once in a while and not like a robot that we seem to be. Because, the man maybe bringing the dough for the bread but we are the ones proofing, rolling and baking it! 

So, while you are at this now, I have a little boy tugging my dress, fighting with the laptop for my attention, wanting a diaper change and feeling hungry at the same time. And oh, I forgot, we need to get ready to go out in ten minutes time before which I need to clean the kitchen, fold the clothes and change the bedsheet (for reasons obvious to a mom who has an infant/toddler!). Now that you are trying to imagine this, let me go and finish the rest of my work. So long!

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