Motherhood lessons from the monkeys

No offence, okay? This is just my own musings. I belief in God's creation and not evolution. I prefer to take Adam and Eve as my ancestors and not a bunch of gorillas and chimpanzees.



I caught this photo outside the Penang Botanical Gardens, just after a drizzle. Mama monkey is shielding her baby from the rain. If you take time to observe them, you can see how protective and loving a monkey is towards her baby. Such patience and tolerance. I have yet to see a mama monkey biting her own baby when the baby gets annoying. Or slapping the baby. Or screeching to baby to keep quiet.

*sigh* If only I have that amount of patience. Baby will stick to the mom all the time, hugging her belly while mom is busy jumping from tree to tree to find food. Mama monkey never lets her baby out of sight. And yes, mama monkey breastfeed her baby!

One of the common quip my husband always use to counter my over-reactions or anxiouness when my kids are sick or something is - You think the Botanical Gardens monkey got doctors meh? Or if my kids happened to pick up (from the floor) some food which I feel is dirty, he will said - Aiyah... the monkeys also eat like that lah.... You seen them sick before or not?

Another thing - There is a ban in the garden about feeding monkeys. One can be fine RM500 if caught doing so. The reason is to curb the over-population of the monkeys. They breed too fast and too many when provided too much food. But hey, our monkeys are smarter than the authority. They now gather outside the boundary of the 'No Feeding' area. They wait along the roads leading to the gardens and still get fed with peanuts, bananas and whatever leftover foods the people bring.