Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Celine Dion is a mother. I didn’t need to Google that. ‘I’ve got wings to fly. I am alive’, voiced the lyrics. Only a mother can sing with so much compassion and such devotion.
I want wings too … the ones I can flutter and use to vanish with.
Why do children cry so much? It’s a question I will never find an answer to. Some cry more than others, but all of them cry. The other day my daughter was crying for a shower and after the shower she was crying that she was wet. Any sense of rationality disappears the moment you are alone with a wet toddler refusing to use a towel but fussing over being wet.
My senses freeze when I hear that squeaky tremble begin to form. Once upon a time I considered it noise pollution but now it’s all white noise.
I recently discovered the effects of crying on mental health are pretty severe and I truly believe that my capacity to think rationally and function normally might already have been compromised.
The other day a friend called me after 10pm so she could be spared the frequent breaks in conversations I take to reprimand my children. She excitedly told me that she got ‘Kinder’ for her birthday. Shocked, I asked her what was so exciting about a surprise egg at the age of 32? There was silence. I thought the phone line had disconnected. After a minute I heard a cold sarcastic voice: “Not Kinder, Kindle - the reading tablet.”
Oh! A crying baby that very instant would have been a saving grace. Oh baby, don’t you cry. Mama will get you a brand new toy. Was it Kindle for you, or Kinder?
Mariam Sarwar, freelance writer, playing mummy since 2012 and winging it as a trustee for a women’s empowerment group.
