Why therefore would i wake up at the crack of dawn, thanks to little Kayla with her baby alarm clock (which is really her pulling my hair, then pinching my nose and scratching my eyes and cheeks in an effort to get my attention); struggle to get her back asleep (15 minutes later) and then snuggle back to bed and get back to sleep (10 minutes afterwards, annoying how you lose sleep the minute you wake up right?) only to have my older daughter Aliana cruise into the bedroom, turn the lights on and begin her speech on why she should be allowed to go and play with Nichole our neighbor (yes, at 7am) and yet its Mother's day, the day when mommas are all meant to sleep through the morning, get breakfast in bed and not lift a finger for the rest of the day? Its a western concept I tells ya!
In this continent of Africa, and precisely, Kenya, Mother's Day is an illusion, hell, I did not even know that such a day is celebrated until my days in campus. I never ever saw my Dad give my mum flowers to appreciate her on this day and it often feels like an out of body experience to call mum and wish her 'happy mothers day', birthdays i can call but this? Could it be our upbringing, where we learn not to share feelings and emotions?
Anyway,so there I was at 7am, wondering whether i'd ever had that dreamy "Mother's Day" that I see on TV or was it, just like TV, an illusion. Even for those who have the opportunity, would you really, really let go of the reigns for just one day? I keep threatening hubby that I will take a month off from the house but when i really think about it, can i really? I like the idea of mother's day,only as long as its done my way and more often than not, it doesn't because for all the good intentions, you still find yourself reaching for the table cloth to wipe a mess, rushing to change the stockings that obviously don't match withe dress and silently cursing when you end up being given flowers when you tried hinting to go to that new restaurant in Lavington.
So i look at this picture again, wondering, when will it be Mother's Day for me? But then, when is it ever Mothers Day for us? When they are infants, you worry about them dying in their sleep, at 4 months you wonder when they will sit up, at 6 months you are worried about their weaning, at 1 years your biting your nails wondering if they will start walking already! By two years you are dreading tantrums...then theres puberty and the raging teens, then your worried if she will get a good high school and campus, then you worry about her getting a job and a good man to marry her...woi! it never ends. Its not yet mother's day, but we can cherish those moments in a day when you exhale and live to fight another day.
