Please don't be disillusioned: being a stay-at-home mother is 99% perspiration and 1% exhilaration. It's been a difficult week, so let's cast aside the rewarding moments, and lent me your ears to my pent-up whinging...
Single friends. They're the worse offenders.
"Your kids are so noisy. Are you listening to me on the phone?"
"Wow, you must be so free at home. "
"What? You don't have to go to work? No wonder you have time to do all this. Unlike me, I have to work, you know."
Surprisingly my patience to handle this has improved. I used to flare up with indignant outbursts and argue with them to no end. Nowadays, I don't even bother to provide an explanation to their ignorant questions. My heart whispers vindictively , "Just you wait."
My own mum thinks that taking care of children is "rese"(troublesome), her term synonymous with "dirty, messy, pointless". Eg. Feeding kids is troublesome. Kids feeding themselves is also troublesome. Taking them out shopping is troublesome. Leaving them alone at home is also troublesome. Breastfeeding is troublesome. Everything to do with kids is troublesome.
Is childminding really so worthless? Why does no one thinks higher of our efforts? For Asians with maids: Childminding is a chore best left to the Filipino/Indonesian maids. Parents are only there to enjoy the "fun moments". Maids are there to feed, clean, bathe, settle, carry the kids.
A case in point: Tonton has been raised by maids, sent to childcare at an early age, and went through the whole typical lonely Asian child-raising regime. That's why he truly appreciates what I go through everyday and values my staying at home to care for the kids. Yay! Tonton's the energy that lights up my thought in gloomy times.
1 comment:
I can never be a stay-at-home mom. It's the most difficult job in the world. Props to you! I don't have enough creative juice to keep my kids happy at home, yet also learning. Props to you!
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.