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Those moments

Apr 26th, 2008

By Marsha Maung

This is something I wrote eons ago...back when I was a new mother...you know, the no-sleep-no-life stage of motherhood whereby you can't leave the home with diapers in your bag? Yeah...well. Thought I'd republish it just for the sake of republishing it...(read: because I ran out of ideas!) -Marsha-

Sit back and relax; and then when you’re ready, can you think of moments whereby you can classify as the perfect motherhood moment? Be it good or bad ones, there are bound to be many memories that you can dig up from your sub-conscious mind that you will realize has helped shape you into what you are today. I dare say being a mother has definitely defined me as a person and developed me into a better business person. It’s given me the strength to be more patient (Oh, yes. Patience is a required skill in parenting).

But the strange thing is that most of us choose to remember the bad moments instead of the good ones. It’s almost as though the good memories are to be chucked aside and the bad moments, the bad salami we packed into the lunch box or the time we completely lost our heads are worthy of a place in our conscious memory. The good moments only resurface when we look through the pictures together with our kids (recommended activity to be done with kids during the weekends, I swear!) But what about those times when we’re not flipping through the photo albums?

At every stage of our lives, there are different memories and moments that we want to hang on to. As they grow, different sets of memories will be created. In my personal opinion, as a mother, I want to hang on to and remember those moments as clearly as possible – which is why I blog and write a journal about the activities that we do together, the quarrels we had and the joke we shared. If you don’t have a journal specifically for your kids, I recommend you starting one now. It’s never too late.

The moments that we create together with our kids, whether you realize it or not, has a purpose. It’s supposed to improve us, develop them and enrich our lives in general. When we’re old and suffering from a bad knee, those memories will serve as a cure….although I doubt the doctors will agree with me.

While we cannot control every moment that we are given with our kids, something I call borrowed time, we can cherish them while we still have them. When bad things happen or when the situation becomes challenging, we always have an option. We can either opt to feel punished and angry about it or we can choose to roll with the punches and get through tough times together with our kids. I choose to enjoy them. Recently, I discovered that one of my kids had problems, big problems in school, and we are currently looking into the reasons why he’s underperforming. It’s tough (and expensive) but we’ll get through it. In fact, because of the optimistic stand that I have taken in dealing with this, he is enjoying the process even though he knows that something could be wrong. 

To me, as a mother, I think my job involves more than just to cook and care for them. Mothers are here to guide them and most importantly, help them see the fun things in the most mundane and scariest of tasks. And if they still hate to do their homework, at least we’re there with them to help them get through it, albeit grouchily, and then reward them with kisses.

Remember, all those precious moments, each and single one again, may never repeat itself again in the future. Treasure them.

Marsha Maung is a renowned (ahem!) freelance writer who is based in Malaysia, who ghost blogs, writes web content, website copy, advert copy and SEO stuff for her clients. She's been doing this for the past 9 years and counting and is kinda wishing she didn't have to write about menopause or kayak-making for a change. She's, after all, one of the most kick-ass SEO writer in Asia for now (until someone kicks her off the chart) and loves the idea of putting food on the table...so.

For more info on Marsha, visit http://www.marshamaung.com. For the drying of dirty laundry on the life and times of a freelance writer and mother, visit her blog at http://marshamaung.blogspot.com