Perhaps most of us before marriage,
Don’t really understand the impact our mothers have on us
We don’t really appreciate it.
We don’t possess enough awareness to appreciate what they’ve done for us.
I used to get mad at her quite often,
Just like anyone who was in high school or college.

When I gave birth to my first child,
I gave birth naturally and it was quite difficult,
As soon as I opened my eyes,
I told my mother,
“Don’t be mad at me.”
I didn’t ask about the baby.
The first thing I did,
Was look at my mother and tell her,
“Don’t be mad at me.”

Time passed,
And I understood her a little bit more,
And started becoming like her.
Now I tell my children the things she used to tell me,
And which I didn’t like.
I try to read the situation first, though, before I say anything.
But I still find myself saying the exact things she used to say.

I was on my way to work one day,
And I was listening to the radio station, Nogoum.fm.
Mother’s Day was just around the corner.
They said they had a special gift,
For the person that shares with them the sweetest story about their mother.
I sent them my child birth story,
And they called me,
And told me that I won a voucher for a sum of money.
I can’t describe to you how amazed she was.
She was very happy that I shared this story about her.

My mother is kind,
But weak.
She’s not strong enough to handle the things life throws at her.
I keep criticizing her and telling her,
“Toughen up, mama.”
She cries very easily.
But now I’m like her.
I try to hide it.
I try to hide the fact that some things get to me.
I’m just like her,
But I’m pretending to be strong.
The truth of the matter is that,
I could go into the bathroom to cry and scream,
And come out as if nothing had happened.

She used to work,
And I would tell her,
“Why don’t you stay at home with us,
Like other mothers, mommy?”
I work now,
And do just like her.
And now since I work,
Nothing can be perfect.
It’s either I work,
And not be home all the time,
Or take the kids to the sports club,
And not be completely invested in my job.
Nothing will be perfect.
All this time,
I thought she wasn’t capable enough.

I’m a mother of five children.
I had three children,
And a year ago,
God blessed me with twins.
I never ask any of my first three children to help me out with anything.
The kids go to nursery early in the morning because I have work.
I didn’t want to be a burden to my mother,
Because I thought she wouldn’t be able to handle it.
That’s what I thought,
That she couldn’t handle it.

But in fact,
God has made me see things more clearly.
After I had twins,
And after she retired the same year I had the twins,
She’s the one that stays with my children.
Without her,
I wouldn’t be able to go to work.
I don’t know why I can’t get myself to enroll the twins in nursery.
I had no problem taking their siblings to nursery.
I’m more protective of them.
She’s staying with me,
And she’s supporting me.
Whenever she sees that I’m tired, she tells me to “toughen up.”
She’s the one that’s currently giving me strength.
I’m my mother.