Mother's Day 2011

I really don't believe in celebrating just one particular day as Mother's Day for the sole reason that a mother is the only person on earth who performs multiple roles as teacher, nurse, counselor, chef, chauffeur, friend, etc., etc., with aplomb, and therefore needs to be recognized every single day for her selflessness and sacrifice. Better said than done, so we take whatever is accorded to us with grace, and milk it for all its worth!!! Last Sunday, May 8th, was Mother's Day, and I jokingly commented on Facebook that I had finished all the maid's work of cooking and cleaning the previous day itself, so I could be treated like a queen the next day. That was just light-hearted ribbing, mind you! I must acknowledge in this post, that jokes apart, I DID have a fantastic day of relaxation and fun, and some pampering to boot!

Friends Rupa and Gopi, and their daughter Nayantara, have immigrated to Canada recently, and since Gopi has returned to Bahrain to work, it was just Rupa and Nayantara by themselves on Mother's Day. so we decided to include them in our family outing for the evening, in this case, dinner at the Saffron Lounge in Metrotown. The husband had already made reservations for the dinner, so there was no surprise there, but on an unsuspecting occasion or two, I caught the kid whispering to his Dad behind my back, with a worried expression on his face, and wondered what the fellows were up to. Come Mother's Day, I woke up quite late, to find the house eerily quiet. The kid was deep in slumber in his room, and the husband was nowhere to be seen. It was then that I remembered I'd gotten a hug and a kiss by way of greeting in the morning from the husband, all in my sleep, when I'd been half-unconscious to the world. So where had he gone? Where else? To work! No surprise there again!

I warmed the Bournvita that had already been thoughtfully made and left covered for me, and sat down to check my email and Facebook notifications, when the kid sleepily sauntered from his room to give me another hug and a kiss, and wish me a happy Mother's Day. Now this is such a rarity in my house, and by that I mean both his getting up early and also his giving me a hug and a kiss! For him to be up and about before 10 AM on a Sunday morning just to greet me is so very special just because it's rare! Anyways, he promptly went back to bed and slept on till noon, leaving the house in absolute quiet, just to myself. Solitude is such bliss at times, and when there are no attendant chores to be taken care of, it can be heaven indeed! He woke up around noon and made me an omelette with all the professionalism of a chef. I wasn't allowed to enter the kitchen, not even for a glass of water. Everything was brought to me wherever I was at the time, and then when the husband arrived, they sheepishly announced that they had ordered something for me, which unfortunately hadn't arrived in time for Mother's Day (hence the worried expression on the kid's face that I'd caught earlier)! Surprise!!!

Now what was that mystery gift that so famously did not reach me in time for my day? The kid had decided that I should take things up a notch with Zumba dancing, something he'd remembered that I'd been interested in sometime ago. I assured the guys it was OK, that it was the thought that counted, blah blah blah, while the husband dutifully gave the receipt to me and the tracking number to trace my gift's whereabouts. Looks like all Canadian orders had an extra delay in shipping and handling (am yet to receive the DVDs), but the guys made up for it by waiting on me hand and foot the entire day. The evening with Rupa and Nayanu was a very pleasant affair and when I crashed into bed that night, the thought that was foremost in my mind was that I had had a very pleasant day, and was fortunate indeed to have a wonderful son and a loving husband, irrespective of their untimely, delayed gift, or no gift at all! Who cares? My men are the best!!!