Okay, so this is a random post.
This is the beauty in writing. When inspiration hits you just in the middle of the mundane.
Yesterday, out of boredom and due to a shortage of toys on her reach (the gadgets were also unavailable), my three-year old daughter decided she wanted to play a different game with me. She wanted to pretend to be Mommy, while I pretend to be her. And so we did. She did me for a full 30 minutes or more. And this is probably something that maybe most of us moms are used to, we had our own share of bahay-bahayan role playing when we were girls, but I noticed that she was ON POINT the whole time! She was doing a very close impression of me.
She nailed it from the beginning. From the part where I feed her breakfast, whenever I would put a bowl of Froot Loops, Milo Balls and milk in front of her, or if we were having her favorite, rice and longganisa, in which case I have to feed her.
She also took out a pretend laptop and placed it in front of her, and whenever I, the pretend baby, wanted to meddle with her keyboard, she would raise her hand and say, "No baby, I'm almost done working." And she typed away on her pretend laptop (with much gusto, if I may add), and afterwards when I persisted, she would say, "You want to sit on my lap, baby?"
I tried to be mean and imitated her when she would have one of her crying fits with her older sister (of course, Ate didn't want to join our game and said she only wanted her real mommy). I was kind of expecting her to retort in a mean way, but instead she said, "You're not an x baby, you're beautiful."
Pretend Mommy and Pretend Baby went on to go to the cinema. "Jumanji" was the last film we watched. She pretended to feed me popcorn, and when it came to the scary parts, Pretend Mommy hugged me and offered me her dede, as a way to comfort me.
There were so many other parts of our "skit" where I was so amazed at how she "did me" so perfectly. But my favorite would probably be the part where it was already night time. She tucked me in, made sure the blanket covered my feet, and taught me the words to our bedtime prayer. She memorized it, up to the pauses and the intonation. Afterwards, she said I love you and kissed me like a dozen times. Pretend Mommy liked to kiss her baby a lot.
Again, role playing like this is nothing new, especially to hands-on parents like me, but I just never realized how much my daughters knew me. We only usually focus on it being the other way around, us knowing our kids all too well. But this little girl copied me like she had been studying me for years. It was way amusing, and really, extremely touching.
I know I shouldn't take all the credit for that beautiful and dare I say great display of affection (as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery), because we get a lot of help from our families in raising our kids and the girls are just really clever on their own. But it is a nice reminder for me, when I have those difficult moments of self-pity, wondering if I gave up too soon on a promising career, if I am being a positive role model to the kids, and if I'm doing something right in the world, that indeed, I am. In a really special way, what I am doing matters to somebody.
And I could only be grateful that that my daughters still see me in rose-colored glasses. That my little girl's portrayal of her mother wasn't focused on me pushing them to fix their toys, getting mad at them for playing near the stairs, or me fixated on my phone. Although they still see me as the one "in-charge," I'm glad they think of me as the one who takes care of them, offering kind words and my milk when they need comfort. I know that won't always be the case, but for now I'll take it.
She wanted to "be Mommy," for a little while longer. But I said we should turn back to our real selves. She hesitated for a while, but eventually agreed. I have to admit, it was fun while it lasted but I wanted to be the mother again. Because even though being on the receiving end of my playmate's love and kisses felt really good, I realized there is no greater role for me than being those girls' Mommy.
This is the beauty in writing. When inspiration hits you just in the middle of the mundane.
Yesterday, out of boredom and due to a shortage of toys on her reach (the gadgets were also unavailable), my three-year old daughter decided she wanted to play a different game with me. She wanted to pretend to be Mommy, while I pretend to be her. And so we did. She did me for a full 30 minutes or more. And this is probably something that maybe most of us moms are used to, we had our own share of bahay-bahayan role playing when we were girls, but I noticed that she was ON POINT the whole time! She was doing a very close impression of me.
She nailed it from the beginning. From the part where I feed her breakfast, whenever I would put a bowl of Froot Loops, Milo Balls and milk in front of her, or if we were having her favorite, rice and longganisa, in which case I have to feed her.
She also took out a pretend laptop and placed it in front of her, and whenever I, the pretend baby, wanted to meddle with her keyboard, she would raise her hand and say, "No baby, I'm almost done working." And she typed away on her pretend laptop (with much gusto, if I may add), and afterwards when I persisted, she would say, "You want to sit on my lap, baby?"
I tried to be mean and imitated her when she would have one of her crying fits with her older sister (of course, Ate didn't want to join our game and said she only wanted her real mommy). I was kind of expecting her to retort in a mean way, but instead she said, "You're not an x baby, you're beautiful."
Pretend Mommy and Pretend Baby went on to go to the cinema. "Jumanji" was the last film we watched. She pretended to feed me popcorn, and when it came to the scary parts, Pretend Mommy hugged me and offered me her dede, as a way to comfort me.
There were so many other parts of our "skit" where I was so amazed at how she "did me" so perfectly. But my favorite would probably be the part where it was already night time. She tucked me in, made sure the blanket covered my feet, and taught me the words to our bedtime prayer. She memorized it, up to the pauses and the intonation. Afterwards, she said I love you and kissed me like a dozen times. Pretend Mommy liked to kiss her baby a lot.
Again, role playing like this is nothing new, especially to hands-on parents like me, but I just never realized how much my daughters knew me. We only usually focus on it being the other way around, us knowing our kids all too well. But this little girl copied me like she had been studying me for years. It was way amusing, and really, extremely touching.
I know I shouldn't take all the credit for that beautiful and dare I say great display of affection (as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery), because we get a lot of help from our families in raising our kids and the girls are just really clever on their own. But it is a nice reminder for me, when I have those difficult moments of self-pity, wondering if I gave up too soon on a promising career, if I am being a positive role model to the kids, and if I'm doing something right in the world, that indeed, I am. In a really special way, what I am doing matters to somebody.
And I could only be grateful that that my daughters still see me in rose-colored glasses. That my little girl's portrayal of her mother wasn't focused on me pushing them to fix their toys, getting mad at them for playing near the stairs, or me fixated on my phone. Although they still see me as the one "in-charge," I'm glad they think of me as the one who takes care of them, offering kind words and my milk when they need comfort. I know that won't always be the case, but for now I'll take it.
She wanted to "be Mommy," for a little while longer. But I said we should turn back to our real selves. She hesitated for a while, but eventually agreed. I have to admit, it was fun while it lasted but I wanted to be the mother again. Because even though being on the receiving end of my playmate's love and kisses felt really good, I realized there is no greater role for me than being those girls' Mommy.
