Your day begins with the thoughts of your work and ends with the worries about your family.
You wake up in the morning, even before the sun yawns, and your clock starts ticking from there. You want everything to be perfect, not for you, but for your child. His tiffin should be well packed, his clothes should be well ironed, and his shoes should be spotlessly clean. Has he packed his bag? Did he take out yesterday’s tiffin from the bag? “Oh no, he didn’t! He must have forgotten! He must have been tired after coming back from school.”
Did he wake up yet? Oh no, he’ll be late for school. I must get him ready before the bus arrives! Get up ..get up…
You wave your child goodbye.
The husband has an important meeting at 9. His alarm is ringing for the past half an hour, but he won’t wake up until you slide the curtains from the window. “Wake up, it’s the time! Wake up or you’ll be late…”
The husband leaves for office and… It’s 8:30 already! You have to be in your office by 9:30 or the boss will go bonkers. You take a shower, get dressed, and leave in a haste. Who’s got time for breakfast? I’ll do that later, “if” I get time.
Dear working mom, stop pretending that everything is perfect!
You see single ladies missing out on their day from the office just because they had a party last night and they are too “hung-over” to be present here. You feel annoyed with their rants because they have no idea how it feels to be a working mom, taking care of the work along with the house and the kids! Yet you’re here, sitting in the office, handling your team, taking orders from the boss, and pretending like you have it all together!
STOP PRETENDING.
Sometimes you sit by yourself and wonder how it would feel to have a simpler life. A life where your kid easily eats home-cooked meals at all times, never demands untimely chicken nuggets or desserts, does their homework on time, creates no mess while making art and craft projects, and goes to bed on time. A life where Mr. Husband wakes up by himself, can pack his lunch, does not take off his shoes in the living room, and helps in keeping the home, a little organized.
But you shrug off these pretentious thoughts almost as soon as they arrive because you feel that things are delightful as they are.
But honestly, stop pretending that everything is perfect. Because it’s not!
It’s high time you stop feigning. You don’t have to take the whole burden upon yourself. I know it becomes too much to take, at times, but you always just smile through it and bear with it, silently. But you shouldn’t. All I’m asking from you is to be a little vocal. Take a little rest. Ask your spouse and kid to help with as little as they can. Their baby steps will prove to help take off the burden from your shoulders, step by step.
For your sake, you have to train the family to help. Let them know you are not the super-mom or super-wife you have been trying to be and they need to help. Simple tasks – your child can help in is taking out the used tiffin from the bag, putting his clothes in the washing pile, putting away his shoes, bag, and books. And your husband can help too. Remind him that you are a working woman and cannot do multiple jobs without his help.
Let’s just all relax for a minute, open the curtains and let a little bit of honesty in: Perfect and Motherhood are two words that don’t belong together. And it’s okay because you don’t need to be perfect. You’re amazing!
