More than three years into motherhood - I feel like I have aged several lifetimes.
There is definitely more into the mothers being paragons-of-virtues thing. After being a mother for more than three years now, I realize the humble truth that there is no job task or business as demanding, and as perfection driven than raising children.
Unlike jobs that revolve around routines and hitting your targets, raising children is an ever-evolving task. Kids are unpredictable and uber lovable creatures who act and react on whatever is happening around them with such spontaneity and simplicity. Unlike adults, they do not know how to shield nor monitor their thoughts yet.
They will ask someone - "Are you a mommy?", "Are you a daddy?", without thought that their innocent questions can make the person they are speaking with uncomfortable. And at their young age, they believe in everything that we tell them.
Along with the monumental task of seeing to their needs, we as adults have the responsibility to shape their minds and character. This I believe, is the most significant task that we have as they go through their early formative years but sadly - this can be the most overlooked task as well.
Adults and parents have our life's goals. And often, in our pursuit of making that job or business endeavor successful, we lose sight of the fact that our presence is also needed inside our homes - not just during dinner time and breakfast, but during the day when the kids go through the most significant learning phases in their young lives.
I learned this simple truth after days of spending my days and almost nights at our family shop - driven by the desire to make the business achieve success in the shortest time possible, I lost track of time and my precious time with the kids.
It took some discussions and arguments between me and my husband, and a friend's common tale of what happened to her and her family, to make me stop and take stock of my situation. Lucky for me that I was not yet too deep - I still have the time to pull out and re-plan my days and time.
These days, my time outside the home starts after lunchtime. Though I spend time at the computer blogging, and communicating with the head office for stocks requirements and orders processing, I can stand up anytime and brush the babies teeth after they eat, or I can redirect the browser and see that elephant video that my daughter loves so much. I can stop tinkering at the keyboard and cuddle my son close to me.
There are so many learnings that I continue to get from the passing of years. Yes I definitely aged lifetimes but the great thing about it is that I am learning - and having fun doing so at the same time.
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