DIFFERENT JOY OF MOTHERHOOD AT DIFFERENT TIMES

Different Joys of Motherhood at Different Times

Being a mother of teenaged daughter and a small son- everydayisamothersday for me as I go through a plethora of emotions throughout the day. Both the kids are poles apart in their behavior, tantrums, preferences and demands. Just to satisfy both of them, I don different garbs at different times. 'The road to success'-with destination as a smile on their face is quite tedious but satisfying journey.

 My daughter, being the Gen-X teenager, has developed her own perceptions about Life. Her newly acquired ‘Gyaan’ about Life has turned her into Self proclaimed Guru and she religiously delivers sermons to me. She talks like a profound sane and makes me believe that I am the most conservative and outdated person in terms of technology, fashion sense, relationships. I listen to her motivational and reformatory speeches silently and wonder if really being ego-less, attitude less and less cool means I am a moron or abnormal. YES, she actually makes me believe that. The moment she cools down and becomes my daughter, her ‘gyaani’ avatar disappears and she is back to her normal self. Our fighting zones are clearly marked- ranging from choice of clothes, use of phone, fb, instagram and the never ending cribbing about lack of dresses continues. With her, I have to be extra patient, cool and in control of myself. At times, she is like a mirror to me where I can see myself speaking somewhat same lines to my mother in my teens. History does repeat itself.

As my son is small, his demands are limited and easily affordable .His gibberish talk, his impromptu kisses and hugs ,dance sessions,stunts, dialogue baazi, descriptive details takes me to another world and the child in me comes to life. The stories about superman ,ironman, chota bheem, shinchan-I really struggle to remember them as I know only about barbies. But I am brought back to real world when my daughter angry looks speak more than words "of course you love him more than me, after all he is a boy. How actively you play with him" Again, I sit with my head down on being charged with favoring my son.

But apart from our fights, I really feel that I have found a very good and reliable friend in my daughter. We talk, discuss on every topic under the sun. She understands and respects my views. She comes to me to discuss her trivial problems and that reminds me that inside this grown up, strong headed teenager, my daughter still needs me. Over the years few things haven't changed, a tight hug by my daughter in the morning so she is my heartbeat--my son waking up and cuddling in my arms with a big smile so he is my sunshine. The race about who will tell what all happened in school is still a #contest between them and all these small joys of life makes #everydayisamothersday for me. 

BHARTI KIKAN