Another stage of motherhood

There are some posts you read and forget.

Some which make you think.

There was one from a woman, a mother with a married son who urged other not love their children so much. Her story was sad. She had put her son above everything and everyone and done everything for his happiness. Now that he was employed and married, he didn’t have time for her. He did not look after his mother the way she had looked after him. She was not the most important person in his life anymore.

I am a mother too.

One who always puts her children first.

I also feel let down that though my children love me and would not want to hurt me deliberately, I am just one of the important people in their life. Even though they are born out of me, every day since their birth, they have been moving more and more away from me, creating a world of their own.

They did not ask me to put them first. I chose to.

Obviously, I would want them to put me high on their list of priorities. But they'll have other priorities of their own too. That is hard to accept.

But isn’t that I do too?

I would put off calling my mom, if my daughter was sick or had an exam. That when my mom had also always put me first.

That I guess is the cycle of life.

Although it is one hard to accept.

My mom is at a stage where she definitely doesn’t want me to put her first. Where she wants me to take care of my family and my work first. Where she does not feel insecure if I don’t call her every day. Where she knows that I love her and will always be ready to take of her, but there are other things I need to do at the moment.

She has let me go and is happy being a part of my life from afar.

I too will have to do that one day.

It will be hard but then that is another stage which all mothers live through.

It is just a little different when the child is a married son. That’s another story.

Fly High my birdie.

As you get ready to fly on your own, I want you to know the real answer which I never gave to all those questions on: Why are you sending your daughter to a boarding school?

It’s not because:

I am too busy with my jobs and want to hive-off the responsibility 

(you know how I love to irritate you all the time!!)

Or because it is the latest fad 

(Along with Smart-Phones and FB, I hate all the latest fads related to soon-to-be-teen girls)

Or because you are not ‘doing well in school’ 

(I do admit, here in writing, that I am proud or all your prizes, and your performance in the Choir, and Kathak, and badminton, and your painting too..)

Or because you are giving me any “trouble” 

(I will miss arguing with a worthwhile partner)

Or because we do not have decent schools in our city

(Yes, your school is a Great one)

I am just letting go, so that you have more horizons to explore, more opportunities to grow, to learn, to flower and to bloom.

I am letting you go even though I'll miss you every moment, because you will find a whole new world.

I am letting go because I love you too much to keep you close, but confined.

Your wings are now ready for the sky.

Fly my baby.

Don’t look down for me,

Because, I’ll be right there with you..