[German]
Actually, my mom could be celebrated several times a year. We simply do that with small and sometimes big gestures. Maybe it's not even called a celebration every time. But a mom doesn't need that. Now that I've been a mom myself for four years, I've learned that being a mom is often an unnoticed job. I'm not saying ungrateful, because gratitude often shows itself in many different moments. When I'm cuddling, when I recognize my child's own scent through every other smell, which can often be a mixture of sweat, chocolate and playground sand. I suck it in and hold the little body even tighter. My daughter thanks me by hugging me back and snuggling even closer, because she's enjoying this moment just as much as I am.
Unnoticed are the moments of not being able to sleep, of cleaning these little dirty sparrows several times a day, of cleaning their and my surroundings, of preparing meals and feeding and protecting and raising and worrying.
For me, being a mom is a full-time job with overtime, but disguised as a side job. Why do I only really appreciate my mom now that I've had these experiences myself? Because as a young person, when I was trying to find myself, I was primarily concerned with myself. I was concerned with my emotions, experiences, discoveries and expectations. I have to find myself before I know what kind of mom I want to be. And then I still have to find a partner!
A family does not have to be traditional
A family does not have to consist of the traditional main characters of mom, dad and children. The constellations are numerous and colorful, beautiful and hard, traditional and unconventional. It is not necessary to name them all precisely. That limits the possibilities of a family definition. It is much nicer to define a family in essence. This rough definition often comes up: people who take responsibility for each other. I think that could be the core. Everything else around this core is a product of our society, economy and politics.
In my case, I have a mother who chose her path out of love. As soon as she had us children, her main motivation was her responsibility for us. I am forever grateful to her for that. For that, she deserves at least two Mother's Days. International Mother's Day every May and Thai Mother's Day every August. She is also still the glue that holds us siblings together.
We see the loving grandmother through the eyes of our children
When we celebrate Mother's Day, the families come together. We eat a lot and enjoy it. We simply enjoy being together. We sisters all understand motherhood very well now, because we all have children and are rediscovering our mothers - ssee them through the eyes of the mother herself and the loving grandmother through the eyes of our children.
She didn't have an easy time as a small child in the village, as a young woman in the urban jungle of Bangkok, as a mother and migrant in reunified Germany. Now, as a pensioner, she can finally relax. She still worries about us "children" and "grandchildren", but none of us made it easy for her. She often had the feeling that communicating with us children in German was a problem because she couldn't express herself as she would have liked. We children quickly overtook her linguistically and she felt that we treated her less intellectually. We can't change the past.But now she deserves to be valued and loved even more. It is never too late for that.
Mom this is for you 💖
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[English]
My mom could be celebrated several times a year indeed. We just do it in small and sometimes big scope. Maybe that's not always called celebrating. But a mom doesn't need that anyway. I have been a mom for 4 years now. I've learned that being a mom is often an unnoticed job. I'm not saying ungrateful, because appreciation is often shown in different moments. While cuddling, when I recognize my child's own smell through all other smells, which can often be a mixture of sweat, chocolate and playground sand. I suck it in and squeeze the little body even tighter. My daughter appreciates me by hugging me back and cuddling me even tighter, because she is enjoying this moment just like me.
I'm talking about the moments of not being able to sleep, of cleaning these little pigs' dirty diapers several times a day, of cleaning their surroundings and mine, of preparing meals and feeding and protecting and educating and worrying. Those are the moments that are unnoticed.
For me, being a mom is a full-time job with overtime, but disguised as a part-time job. Why have I only really started to appreciate my mom since I started having these experiences myself? Because as a young person I was primarily concerned with myself and in self-discovery. Busy with my emotions, experiences, exploration and expectations. I have to find myself before I know what kind of mom I would like to be. And then there's still having to find a partner!
A family doesn't have to be traditional
A family does not have to consist of the traditional protagonists mom, dad and child/ren. The constellations are numerous and colorful, beautiful and tough, traditional and unconventional. It is not necessary to name all of them precisely. This limits the possibilities of defining a family. It is much nicer to essentially define a family. This rough definition is often used: People who take responsibility for one another. I think that could be the core. Everything else around this core is a product of our society, economy and politics.
In my case, I have a mom who chose her path out of love. Once she had us children, her main motivation was her responsibility for us. I am forever grateful to her for that. She deserves at least two Mother's Days for this. The International Mother's Day every May and the Thai one every August. She is the glue that holds us siblings together.
We see the loving grandmother through the eyes of our children
When we celebrate Mother's Day, our families come together. We eat a lot and we love to eat. Most of all we just enjoy being together. As we sisters all understand motherhood very well now, because all of us have children, we are rediscovering our mom - seeing her through the eyes as moms ourselves and the loving grandmother through the eyes of our children.
It wasn't easy for her as a small child in the village, as a young woman in the urban jungle of Bangkok, as a mother and migrant in reunited Germany. Now as a pensioner, she can finally relax. She still worries about us “children” and “grandchildren”, but we are also not making it easy for her. She often felt that communicating with us children in German was a problem because she couldn't express herself the way she would have liked. In terms of language we children had quickly overtaken her and she felt that we undermined her intellectually. We can no longer change the past.But all the more she deserves to be valued and loved. It's never too late for that.
Mama this is for you 💖
Subscribe to our newsletter and you will also receive our blog updates.
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