Ho Hum, another Mother’s Day came and went and with that another year of unfulfilled expectations. Sounds harsh? Of course, it does! Try eagerly waiting for Mother’s Day with social media screaming, “This is the best gift for your mom”, “What mom really wants for Mother’s Day!“, or even ” Surprise mom with these and she will never know it is coming!”. Are your kids a tad too young to deal with money? Then expect homemade cards, freshly baked cupcakes, to be smothered in hugs and kisses, oh, how can we forget, breakfast in bed?
The run up to some of these days, that we are now celebrating, seem to take on a life of their own. Mother’s Day is a relatively new entrant and takes all its trappings from the old kid on the block – Valentine’s Day. Cards, flowers, perfumes, jewellery suddenly shoot up in price and are paraded under the nose of new dads and ever guilty kids as something they need to buy their mom to show their love. “Thank god Mother’s day came on a Sunday”, remarked a friend of mine yesterday. Little did she know that the Americans made sure Mother’s Day is always celebrated on the second Sunday of May so it makes it easier to plan a weekend trip at moms.
Cynical much?
Why wouldn’t I be? I am a mom of two and this is how I celebrated Mother’s Day. It is the month of May and a rather curious thing happens across households in India – the domestic help takes off for a month to holiday in the more peaceful climes of her village. This meant I woke up and while the kids were sleeping cleaned, swept, mopped my whole house. Then made sure I started on breakfast (yes, because the cook is away as well). By then the boys woke up and promptly undid my cleaning and made a mess. I convinced the family that it was Mother’s Day and that we must do luncheon. The husband wished me and began calling places to make a reservation only to find out they were all booked, “Aaj mommies day hai na sir?”
Finally, we managed to make a reservation and I started to get the kids ready. I cleaned them up and ordered them to sit in one place while I got ready. I threw caution to the wind and chose something a little dressy and then the Gods chose to punish me. I walked out of the room and my older son had spilt an entire bottle of water on the floor. I hitched up my skirt and cleaned it up. I got into my heels and my younger son decided it was time to use the bathroom, err rather messily. I took off my heels and cleaned up. By then the tone and mood was set for Mother’s Day, right?
It was rough. For a while.
But I am no cynic, at least not for long. Once the kids were in bed, I did manage to count my blessings. I realised the boys slept in so I had my coffee amidst the morning bird calls and cool breeze, in a completely quiet home. The boys did oblige me by sitting down (and smiling!) in their clean avatars for a nice picture for my phone wallpaper that will last me till next Mother’s day. My older son sat next to me and asked me what gifts I wanted for Mother’s day and indulged me with a lovely conversation about my favourite flowers and chocolates. My baby boy went to bed a half hour early, giving me 30 minutes to catch up with all that happened on social media. And finally, both the boys did indulge in a Mother’s Day cliche. There were tons of hugs and kisses and Happy Mother’s Day wishes.
Maybe next year, there will be gifts…
Vaishnavi Venkatraman
Mansi Zaveri
Janani S Koushik
