A Regular Mad-Rush Day of A Regular Mommy
Oh yes, most of us mommies are always rushed and running and juggling and multi-tasking, aren’t we? I am, and so are you, I’m sure! Some days I’m really really tired all the way to my bones, my eyes drooping dead with fatigue, my back and limbs crying out in pain, my throat begging me to be quiet and try not to talk for at least 5 minutes (that would be an achievement while my little one is around!)
Some days, those dark hideous tell-tale circles around my eyes will do the talking (no one can get through to the real me while I’m shrouded in those black sleepless-parent circles).
You see, one of my biggest identities right now, and I know I will keep for years from now and forever, is that I’m a mommy. But other than that, I’m also a few other things. Yes, I’ve had my share of being a mum, but I wanted something more in addition, and I’ve been trying to juggle around, doing a bit of shuffling here and shuffling there and trying and managing time in a way that will help me get a little bit more out of life. Don’t we all strive for that?
So my day typically starts with my daughter, running around her, helping her go to school, helping her with her work and her tiny bit of studies, spending lots and lots of quality time with her and listening to her many questions and complaints and try to come up with suitable and smart answers that will hold the interest of her little curious mind. Plus my work and my deadlines and my books, and somewhere in the middle of all this – ‘me.’
Some days I can easily manage my multi-tasking routine, but some days, it’s really hard to be working from home – my daughter just won’t let me spend time at the laptop – she wants all my time to be hers.
On such days, I will do everything to trick her into spending some time on her own and giving me a little more time. I get her a nice colouring book and ask her to show me how many pages she can colour without spilling out of the border. I give her practice writing and set a competition, to see if she can beat the time. Many days, I just sit and talk to her, listening to her baby talk, seeing the world through her eyes, and bringing out her world through my writing.
And when nothing seems to work, I shut off everything else and give her a big hug, and almost immediately, everything gets simple enough. I look around the house, I see it’s not ‘perfectly’ tidy, I look at my work and I see there are still deadlines to reach, I look at my daughter, and I realise that everything else can wait, that this is a moment I would rather spend with her.
So out comes the child in me, to my daughter’s delight (I must confess that the child in me comes out at least once a day, if not more), and suddenly, there is not one, but two kids in the house! Couldn’t get better. So what do we do then? Well, all the usual things that children do.
It’s okay to be angry and upset sometimes, and other times, to shut out everything else and enjoy, no matter what, trying not to be ‘perfect’ all the time. What is most important, as a parent, especially in the formative years of the child, is to be able to spend some quality time with your kid, to let them know that you are there for them no matter what, to be their best friend till the new ones arrive, and to just enjoy these beautiful priceless moments for as long as they last. All you mums out there – you are amazing!
Debolina Raja Gupta loves being a mommy and best friend to her 5-year old princess. A working mom, voracious reader, social activist, photographer, poet, travel freak, beauty writer and an everything-of-sorts. Best fun is story time and our fashionista time together. My blogs: The Book Worm, A Few Thoughts Here And There, My Little One And Me, Beauty Makeup And More.