Sunday, June 15, 2008

Daughter today Mum tomorrow?

Mother - verb look after kindly and protectively, sometimes excessively so. [As per the Oxford Dictionary]

That’s what mothers do best. Look after, protect and love unconditionally. Yet what is with the daughter – mother relation? They can’t live with each other and certainly can’t live without each other. The constant bickering and arguments that seemed so important a few years back just make me wonder how it would be if those fights had never happened.

How would it be if we had spent a lot more time sharing and laughing and shopping? How would we have turned out to be? How would our relation have turned out to be? Would it be any different than what it is? Or would we have been the same? Its not that I don’t have a good relation with my mum but I just seem to understand all that she did for me only after I don’t live with her!

It’s the small things about a person that you miss the most. My top few about not being at ‘moms’ would be:--

*Fresh fruit! It was so easy to come home and pick up a bowl of fruit cut and kept cold by mom and just gulp it down….but of course I would refuse to eat even that because it didn’t seem important to keep down the phone to eat fruit! Now I realize how long it takes to cut open a pomegranate when I do it myself!

*Putting away folded laundry done by mom, in the cupboard. I still put my folded laundry in the cupboard – after I have separated [whites, colors, blacks and hand wash], washed, put out to dry, got it back in from drying and folded them.

*Mom’s food!! I still don’t like all the dishes she cooks…but I certainly miss my favorite ones…..a lot!

*Changing bed covers……why cant we plastic coat our mattresses and pillows?? Its crazy how it needs changing every week and adds’s on to the separating, washing, drying and folding process!

*Meals for office? I think in all the places I have worked for, I have always had THE most elaborate snacks packed from home - planned out for from morning tea to drive back home!

*Morning cold coffee. She knew just when to get the milk out so it’s the right temperature when I drink it before rushing out for work. I now get up half an hour early to take the snacks and make the milk!

*The best was the late night gossip sessions with mum……we could laugh, cry, abuse and b**c* about people and know its fine to do so because it’s not going out anywhere from our tummies!

So I wonder does it always have to be that way. Do we have to realize our mum’s value after the time is gone? What are we so busy with to have not noticed so much in such little time? What can be more important than having to take mom to her most boring hangout supermarket even thought she just wants to look and not buy? Or take her for a ride once a way with her friend? Or help around the house more than what we did?

Can I go back about a decade back when my sister and I could still be at moms place and do all that we didn’t? Can we have the relation we now have with her…just a little while back? Can we just be her little girls once again……we don’t promise not being naughty but we do promise on more fun and understanding!

Love my Mum....think its time to go meet her :)

4 comments:

Unknown said...

never thought of it that way.. i hope by the time i get married i hve robots in my house to do tht for me.. if not will tell my husband to do it.. :P
lollll

Anonymous said...

I so agree with you... The most terrible thing is uprooting and rerooting! I already have tears! I completely agree with whatever you've written... Couldn't agree more!
Renu

Unknown said...

I think what's important is not to think about the robots for later or even the husbands.. Husbands of todays generation are a blessing in any case.. think about the time you have now with your mum and enjoy it as much as you can.. make her feel that all that she put for you was worth it :) just cos there is no one like MUM!!!!
Trust me no one can say better than a daughter who stays miles away...

Baiju Samuel said...

Old memories popped up while reading your blog. I never understood the relationship between my mother and sister. I have seen them arguing and combating and next moment they would be laughing and cracking jokes. All I can recall is that both of them were at the happiest when they were together. When my sister was a kid… my mom was a goddess for her. She would smear her face with her lipstick and wear her earrings and high heels; wanting to be just like mummy. When she entered her teens, mummy suddenly became the most ignorant, non-understanding, out-of-touch creature on the planet. The primary form of interaction during those years was a single word "Mummmmmyyyyyy" and when she started college mummy became her best friend again. You said it right - "They can’t live with each other and certainly can’t live without each other"