Running out of Mommy skills

This is a question to all moms or rather all parents:

Do you get mad at your kids? Really angry, annoyed, pissed off enough to say Ok-Do it your way!

Or am I one of the few who cannot keep the ‘Mom hat’  on at all times and say no matter what you do or say child (or how obnoxiously you say it), I forgive you because I cannot remain angry with you?

As my daughters live up to their pre-teen (is that supposed to start at 7!!!)  identities with gusto,  we are having more frequent and serious showdowns each day. I get seriously upset when I have to juggle schedules, work crazy hours to meet my deadlines, miss out on things I wanted to do, just to ensure that they do not miss out on anything, be it be extra classes, doctors appointments, trips to the library or even a birthday party, and all they do at the end of the day is crib!

Sometimes I really question my maternal instincts. I do not have that unlimited patience and wisdom motherhood was supposed to come with.

We had another of these showdowns today as the younger went on arguing it was ok to go swimming with her cold. After the usual round of reasoning, explaining, cajoling, and debating, we fell back to our same old conclusions: THAT’S NOT FAIR and NO MORE DISCUSSIONS! (Why on earth did we have to waste an hour for reaching it when she had an exam the next day and I, as usual, had a deadline to meet??? )

Next time I’ll let her do it her way and bear the consequences…maybe she’ll learn that way. But not this time.

It’s been hours since then.

My baby could not sleep as she was racked by terrible coughing fits. I tried everything to help her, but she was just clinging to me and coughing away. After a trip to the doctor, a change in medicine, and vomiting out her dinner, she’s finally sleeping peacefully (touchwood!)

I am still awake. Watching over

Tomorrow she’ll be better. Fighting with me again, and yes, calling me the “worst mother” amongst all the friends’ mothers. And I’ll be fighting back instead of allowing her in the pool. Because no matter how angry I get, I am a mother.,,

This Mom has her day

I had to pick Aurora from a birthday party.

She took one look at me and forgot the excitement of showing me her return gift: Mamma you are wearing my earrings again! Last time you wore them to office and broke one..

Well, I didn't have much time to get ready and her stuff was scattered all over my dressing table-including earrings in the exact shade of pink as my top, so of course I borrowed it.

What’s a pair of earrings between a mother and her daughter?

Remember all the lipsticks you broke painting your face, including my favorite one which my best friend had given me, right upto the day we got a carpenter fit locks on my cosmetics shelf?

And all those “sticker bindis” collected from across cities which you stuck all over your forehead, all at the same time?

And the "heels" you broke while practicing to walk on them?

The “zari” dupatta you borrowed for dancing on the bed and returned with a big vertical slit?

The mascara you used to play “ghost”?

I may have to wait for some more time before I can borrow your bracelets and stilettos, but surely I can use a handbag if it matches my dress, or nail-paint, or a beaded necklace, or..

Sibling bonds-Is this what they mean?

As soon as my daughters wake up, they instictively look for each other, and start fighting like cats and …well cats.

The issues are different each morning, they keep changing throughout the day, but the argument continues…quite like the heated political discussions onboard the CTC routes.

Come on gals cap it-----

I too grew up with a sibling.

I can’t say we never fought but then we fought over real issues:

Like who gets to watch DD1 or DD2 on TV.
Actually I can’t remember why we needed to argue over that one, but anyway the issue was a real one.

And the telephone-that was too real. It was about someone curtailing my conversations by keeping the line busy all day, screening all my calls and inflating the family phone bill.

Even who gets to drive the scooter and who has to ride pillion (or take the moped) was as real an issue as it can get.

I guess that was all, except a few minor ones which were about…

And any way we didn’t have this incessant bickering going on, our confrontations were different…….

Like that once I tried to give him an electric shock or the one time he punched my nose so hard that I had to be rushed bleeding to the hospital.

Oh and there was that one time, when we managed to explode a lighted tube light, I don’t remember who had thrown the bat at whom…

He was even rude to me even on the day he was getting married, and had the cheek to forget about it, asking me to guard his shoes as he was getting ready for the pheras. I walked off!

And the once……

On second thoughts, I guess the girls are better off with these cat-fights about non-issues.

As for my brother and me, yeah despite the miles we’ve still managed a few altercations when we met, over the phone, on email, and sometimes without saying anything to each other.

And yet there are times he is the only person I can speak to.