Have I already mentioned how happy I am to be mummy to my beloved baby boy? Despite having to deal with interrupted sleep, mini tantrums, piercingly loud wails, stress of breastfeeding or expressing milk and, in the previous months, the problem of gas-induced colic, all it takes is a sweet, sweet smile and tender look from my baby to make me feel on top of the world again. It's as my own mother has said before, being a mum means crying when your baby's crying, and smiling along with him when he breaks into a smile. It's all quite natural to anyone with a sense of maternal instinct.
This day, I celebrate the fact that I am finally one of those whom Mother's Day was created for. It's always been my dream to be a wife to a man I love, and mother to perhaps 2 or 3 adorable children. Yes, beneath my seemingly strong, career-driven exterior, I'm actually just a housewife who would be contented just to stay home to cook for her husband and play with her children. But alas, with the high costs of living and having children in this country, I have no choice but to succumb to being a working mum so as to provide more for my family. Nevertheless, the thought that I actually CAN provide a better life for my family by working helps make me feel better about returning to work. Not 'good', but at least 'better'!
Anyway, my very first Mother's Day celebration began with a happy mother's day greeting and kiss from Hubby some time around midnight. And then when morning came, I opened the bedroom door to find my baby boy bright-eyed as he always is in the morning, and comfortably seated in his red stroller, which was facing me. Hubby had positioned him there so that our baby would be the first thing I saw that morning. "Justin actually wanted to wish you a happy mother's day, but he didn't wanna disturb you in the bedroom, so he decided to just sit here quietly and wait for you to open the door," said Hubby. Awww. What a lovely tale to start my morning. :) And then, the rest of the day was spent going to my in-laws' place for lunch and then to my parents' place for dinner, as we wanted to celebrate the day with two other important mothers in our lives. Then my own celebration ended with us coming home and Hubby taking a picture of me cradling a sleepy Justin. I'd pestered him to take a shot of us just so that I would have a picture of myself as a mother on my first Mother's Day.
For our own mothers, Hubby and I had decided to place orders for cakes from The Ritz-Carlton, baked specially to commemorate the occasion but, more importantly, to raise funds for Operation Smile Singapore. We only had to pay a little extra to have the cakes delivered to our parents' doorstep.
The Valrhona Chocolate Banana Cake.
Absolutely yummy; not too banana-ish or sweet.
This year, instead of the usual jewellery or ornament, I'd decided to get my mum selected Chinese recipe books from the Chinese section at Kinokuniya. She cooks very often and likes learning about new dishes and their nutritional values etc, so I thought it'd be nice to get her a few comprising recipes that I know she would like to try. I also wrote her a note in Chinese (gosh, I haven't written Chinese characters in soooo long!), thanking her for all the years of cooking for me. It's a short note, but I must say it's the most mushy I've ever sounded to her. I was glad to see that she seemed delighted and interested in the books, and I'm sure she felt touched by my note as well. It felt really good making her feel happy.
All in all, this was a rather happy day for me. The only anti-climax was that I returned home with the sniffles, which I suspected was the onset of cold or flu. Let's hope it doesn't take too long for me to recover!
