Motherhood

When I was in grade school I hated my lunch. It was a single hotdog on 2 cups of rice, squished in a Sanrio plastic lunch container. By mid noon, the rice would be cold, tough and the hotdog in the middle would taste boiled. I had a nanny who dutifully prepared my meals which consisted of either a drumstick or a...

Mothers–there’s just nothing like them on the face of the earth. I am one. I am not saying am a good one because that is something that only time can tell. I realized that one DOES have to be a mother to know how it is like. You don’t have to give birth to be a mother. Time comes when you start caring for somebody...

[quiet knock on the door] “Mama, I need your help,” my son whispered. I opened the door to see him wearing my bra. He was turning red with every minute that passed. “I can’t unhook your bra.” “WHY? ARE YOU WEARING MY BRA?!” I asked, half angry, half amused. “I wanted to see how it feels. I don’t understand how you guys...

The older we get, the more we hang on to what was or what used to be. I noticed that only the older people and parents insist on spending Sundays with family. Here you find parents hovering around kids who spend the afternoons watching movies, playing computer/tv games and napping. Kids would always want to do...

I dreaded having a teenager in the house. Those eyes that roll with each interjection, automatic objections, daily complaints – and that’s just coming from me. Before, morning kisses would go, “I love you too, take care!” Now it’s, “Ouch, please shave.” I’d pause and  raise my voice slightly, “Now!” Tomorrow,...

When I was 23 years old, I met a 20-year-old mother washing clothes outside her house who I thought was older than me. Way older. She looked like she was 30 years old. She had THREE children and was married. She asked me if I had a problem because I’ve been in a relationship for 3 years and I wasn’t pregnant. I said no....

My grandmother was a grade school teacher (a strict one) and never let a learning opportunity pass. Earlier I was cleaning out the fish when I saw something that reminded me of one of my afternoons with my grandmother. “Brian!” I called out. My son came with his earphones. “Yes mama?” “Do you know what fish eggs look like...

For most boys, summer means lots of play time. No school. No homework. On this end of the world, it is also the time when young boys are circumcised as a rite of passage to manhood. In the provinces, the boys are lined up under the sun and one by one, they face the village doctor, screaming with fright and pain as...

My days are pretty predictable: Wake up, eat, work, bath, work, commute to the office, work, go home, cook breakfast, sleep. Weekends are also predictable: Wake up, cook lunch or dinner/supper, listen to casual banter, work then sleep. This Saturday I did something different that I believe will change my son’s life...

For those who do not know me, I am a single mother with a teen-age son. Since I can’t use that “Oh talk to your father [your uncle, your grandfather, your father’s-cousin’s-neighbor-in-law] kind of excuse, I have to deal with questions boys have when they reach “that” age. In this case – whatever age that signifies...