The Things Parents Do
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Posted by Wei Yin Wong Mar 3, 2009 |
When I was a kid, I didn't harbor the dream of becoming a mum. Sure, I played with dolls but I played with guns too. As I grew older, I saw friends going crazy when they saw a cute baby in the arms of her adoring mum. While they went ooh and ahh, I stayed far, far away.
No, I didn't like kids. At the departmental store, the only place I wouldn't venture into was the children's department. Too colorful and too many miniature stuff. I got dizzy just walking past those things.
I was still pretty indifferent to kids in my first pregnancy. I just went on my business as usual. Not a good sign for someone on the way of becoming a parent. And even after my son was born, I didn't fall in love with him immediately. In fact, I was a little disconnected from him.
Thankfully, things changed the days and weeks after. I learnt to care for and love this little person that I gave birth to. Surprisingly, I took to parenting with relative ease. It was hard going back to work after my 60-day maternity leave. But somehow, I managed to juggle between work, home, baby and husband.
Now that I'm a stay-at-home mum, things are a lot easier for me. I don't have to rush to work and suffer office stress. But I still have tons of work at home. The kids come first, of course. I'm in charge of getting them breakfast, driving them to school, volunteering at their school, picking them up from school, getting their afternoon snacks ready, cleaning up after them, helping them with homework, cooking dinner and cleaning them up again later at night. After all that hard work, they sometimes show no gratitude or worse, behave rudely.
Experts say that's common. Kids are like that. They get on their parents' nerves to see how far they can go. Agreed. But some discipline should be in order as well. So it's a lot of juggling and balancing act being a parent. Sometimes, the act falls flat and I just feel completely worn out. That too, is common. Luckily, I get lots of help from parenting books and magazines. Read the summarized versions of what the experts say here:
Problems of Being a Stay-at-home Parent
Benefits of Being a Stay-at-home Parent
Stay-at-home Parents and Isolation