Motherhood. Did that bring a smile on your face? A smile that is both congenial and maybe also says, “not another post on it now”?
Lol, that was my point too. While motherhood is an amazing experience a very demanding job, sometimes it seems it is a bit overrated too. There are atleast a thousand posts flying around Facebook eulogizing Motherhood. Many appearing on my news feed more than once. They get god know how many likes, comments and shares. Men and women equally appreciate it. Fathers sitting somewhere silently say kudos to their wives for their great role as moms.
While being a mom deserves a pat on the back, so does being a father. As parents both roles are equal and extremely important for the child. For a child, while a mom’s kiss soothes her cuts and bruises, it is the father who ultimately tells her to get up and stop crying. Just as important a life lesson as learning how to heal the wound.
Being a daughter I always felt I was a daddy’s girl. When we were younger, my father often stayed away for days on end, on temporary transfers in different far-off cities. Now those were days before even the basic necessity of a phone at home. All communication was through the postal network. Or sometimes papa would call up office and a colleague of his would bring his message home.
We would eagerly await his visits / return home. We rarely knew the exact date he would arrive and loved the surprise we got upon returning from school. Tales of his travels (once he bought a car, our first car, in Salem and with a driver drove all the way from Salem to Ranchi) and of those far off cities were like fables and we stayed hooked on to them even when he left. We would even hear the stories of the Tamil movies he watched. And when the time came for him to go back, we were really sad. We missed him so much.
Today I see the same in my sons. Being on vacation away from their dad, every night they ask for him. A phone call does not satisfy their need to be with him. Everything they do, they measure it upto their dad, they want to “do it like dad”.
“Mommy, tickle me like papa,” said my little one today morning. I tried but could not get it right!
Yes, when the time comes to sleep, they want to snuggle up to me, just as we did with our mom. But the balance of a father figure in their day is just equally needed and important.
This post is probably few days late and should have gone out on June 16th, Father’s Day. Neverthless, I would like to wish my own father first and all the dads out there reading this … everyday is yours. Celebrate it with your children!
Happy Father’s Day, everyday!
Shweta Sinha 