Thursday, November 18, 2004

A vote for full time mom

Everyone of us needs some affirmation, acknowledgement, confirmation etc sometimes to assure us that we are doing something right or something worthwhile.

It is one of those moments when I wonder if my presence in the home is appreciated by the kids. School holiday is here and any mom with school-going kids will tell you that it is nightmarish to have the kids at home 24/7. Yeah, yeah, I love them, I made them but still....

Last night I was watching National Geographic documentary 'Taboo' about this housewife in Bangkok who volunteers to collect dead bodies from accidents/murders/suicides scenes. In Bangkok, people die too fast and too many for the authorities to handle. So, they have these volunteers who helped with the hope of gaining merits (as in Buddhism merits). I jokingly mentioned to my #2 son that I also want to volunteer with our Malaysian 991 (what's the name of the organisation? Is it Jabatan Pertahanan Awam?). He must have gotten a little affected by the gruesome documentary. He gave me a stern look and told me 'You sit in front of your computer enough lar!' Ok, that means I have the blessings from my #2 son to play online games the whole day. Hurray!

Then, today my #3 watched the cartoon Stanley. Stanley's mom is a dentist while his father is a stay-at-home-dad/cartoonist. Stanley told his pet fish that he wish to have a mom who stays home instead. I asked #3 if it is ok if I go to work every morning and returning in the evening. #3 is a happy-go-lucky, always cincai, eager to please me kinda guy. He said "You want mah can lor." Wah...my heart broke. I resigned from my over-paid, under-worked job six years ago all because of him. And now, he doesn't give two hoots if I am home or not. How can, son? You know ah, I threw away all the glamorous, bitchy, politiking, easy life of a sexy-turkey for you. But..... ahem, I told him, "Really ah, I can go to work la? Wah...nice lor. That means tomorrow, you go to daycare for the whole school holidays hor. You remember daycare hor? Teachers and studies?" So, I got my #3 to vote for a full time mom which means no routine, no studies, just lepak.

That leaves two more votes. Without asking, I know #1 enjoys having a mom who cooks him sambal hairbee, nasi lemak, fried belacan chicken, asam pedas stingray with pineapple.....(drool, drool, drool) rather than someone who order home-delivery KFC, McD, Pizza Hut after a hard day's work. You can't get a 14 years old to express his feelings so I shall take those moments when we have lunch together as a yes. Times like today when we sat together eating rice at home and arguing whether the soup is lacking salt, sugar or tamarind.

As for #5, well, there is only one choice- that is a full time mom who asks every hour, you got shee-shee, you got ngggh-nggghh? You want orr-orr, you want milk-milk?

Must go look in the mirror and tell myself, yes, yes, yes, you are a great HOUSEWIFE. The best of the bestest.

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