Supermom

Motherhood can be so hard sometimes. When your baby chooses to soil his diaper in the middle of the night, while your doting partner sleeps in preparation for a long day of work ahead, your long night must now begin. The diaper change ends up disturbing your baby and waking him up wide enough to realize that mama is, infact, awake too and can actually play with him. So an hour or so of reluctant playing later, you fix him a bottle and pray for some sleep. But sleep is an elusive little minx that has been playing hide and seek with me for the past one year.

We live close to a railway line so every morning I hear the 4:50 am local train huffing and puffing its way to the nearest station. This gets followed by the 5 am call to prayer from a mosque that's a short distance away. While the azaan only brings me fond memories from the day I gave birth (read this to learn about the connection) it also informs me that morning has officially broken and I have a few hours left to myself to raid my secret reserves of mom-energy so I can take on the day with sufficient gusto to entertain my little angel for the next twenty-four hours.

I am my son's jester, his cook, his doctor, his nurse, his friend, and so very often his enemy (because guess who's the good cop in this family?). I spend my day in ratty old (super comfortable) yoga pants because suddenly, comfort is key to a happy day. I avoid wearing earrings because my toddler likes to grab them and pull them like juicy opportunities he doesn't wish to miss. No perfume for me either because he's teething and loves nibbling on my neck which I am okay with because whatever helps ease his swollen little gums is a godsend in my eyes.

Yes, I know I've made motherhood sound like a terribly difficult job which takes so much from you, but that's the thing- it isn't a job at all. It becomes you in the most organic fashion imaginable. You don't need to make any of these efforts because there isn't anything else you'd rather be doing with your time and energy. At least not me. Our son has become our top priority in such an unchallenged way that you might laugh at us for being such softies. He has enriched our lives in such a holistic way- I try to be kinder, more responsible, more considerate, more educated and more open to change because of this little boy. 

So after those toilsome nights that leave me puffy-eyed, groggy and cranky, I look at his dimples and hear him call me 'mummum' and am immediately recentered. 

He has transformed me and given me the strength to take on this world with guts, gumption and gaiety. 

And of course, the caffeine helps seize the day because even superheroes need an energy source, and who's a bigger superhero than your mother?
(NO ONE).