A dedication to mothers

Nizar al Musalmy -

nizar.nmh.musalmy@gmail.com -

Whenever I see someone with his or her mother, I learn to appreciate the role of being a mother in a special way. I always see her doing certain things and certain marks that immediately stand out. Her talk, her glances, her touch expresses love in its true meaning.

A mother has observational instincts which I always fail to comprehend. I think it happens naturally. She rightly predicts which child was about to fall sick. She knows “Change in kid’s moods, appetites, sleeping habits means that, most likely the child is sinking under the weather”. Most mothers find this so obvious but I see it as rocket science.

Children will mess the house with food all over. They place food in many places apart from their plates which include the walls, tables, chairs and floor. You see many pieces of cornflakes somehow left to make their ways in all corners of the house and some into the shoes. But their mother ends up smiling because it gave her a thought of her cheeky little children.

The things mothers go through are quite many and funny in their own way. They deal with missing keys from their bags, lotion poured all over the house and finding all sorts of things in their hand bags. Every day they mess the house and as if that is not enough they turn the house upside down with their noise. And their mother handles it just coolly. She lovingly smiles as if it is a gift.

Many times, children do things in public that are annoying, embarrassing and silly. But the mother chooses to laugh because, she says, if you are a mother, you will know there are some things that cannot be helped. You see her just choosing to go with the flow. She laughs at the hilarious situation, disciplines where need be and get on with the day. Amazingly, she never leaves her children at home, even when she doesn’t take them along.

There is a lot we, men, are missing about our children growing up. Unlike mothers, we return too late for that ‘how was school?’ chat. Even when we are late for a reason, we can’t return and rush first to the kid’s bedroom to see how the kids are sleeping and whether the air conditioner is well set. Do we really have the guts of asking whether they finished their food and what time they slept?

Mothers know the kids’ stories, friends, teachers, best dish, best TV programmes, life aspiration, strengths and weaknesses. They do all things for our children. They tell them stories, answer their weird questions, watch cartoons along with them and learn school work. Even in parks, you see only women company sitting watching our children play. That is why you always see mothers endure all manner of sufferings to stay with their children - the bond is that strong. The bond it creates supersedes all the others to the extent that they no longer care about the other challenges.

No man finds time to be with the kids. And if there happens to be one, many would admire him for being there for the kids (as if he is not supposed to be) and many will want to know why the mother is not present.

Men ought to try out being a ‘mother’ at least for a while. After all, it all comes with the package of being a parent. This article is dedicated to all mothers. Happy mother’s day!