The Best Job in the World

I love being a full time mom. It's great to be able to see first hand how the children's personalities develop, to be around for their firsts - first time they smiled, first time they crawled, first time they staggered around the living room, first time they said "Mummy" and "Daddy". Sounds so cliche, but it's true!

I remember the first time Abang could sit up on his own - it was so exciting! He looked as surprised as I was and a bit apprehensive that he would topple over (just as I was). After a few seconds, he did. So I put him into the sitting position again to see if it was a fluke, but then he managed to stay up again, this time for a bit longer. He was about five months old and I thought that was just so cool.

It's also nice to be there for them when they're feeling a little down. Once, Adik scraped his knees pretty badly so Mummy helped to clean it up, put some medication on it and topped it up with some Winnie-the-Pooh bandages. He felt much better after that and I was so happy to be able to fix his "owweee".

Then there's Abang and Adik's first cuddle we caught on film - many more after this one!

I'm also glad to be at home when they're not well to make sure they're not over- or under-medicated. Given the opportunity, my auntie would definitely over-medicate while our maid would probably under-medicate. Middle-of-the-Road Mummy to the rescue!

How about when Adik crawled for the first time? He pushed himself up on all fours, then pretty much swayed forward, backward, forward, backward, and all the while we encouraged him to lift his leg to propel himself forward. He did, but his hands didn't move so he landed on his face! He didn't cry, but was more shocked, probably wondering who's the meanie who shoved him. It didn't take long for him to get the hang of crawling and before we could say, "Look, Adik can crawl!" he was scooting about all over the house.

There's a certain satisfaction to doing all these things with the boys and to be there when they reach those milestones, knowing that I play a pretty big role in their lives.

Fast forward to the future, I have much to look forward to - homework, school bullies, teenage angst, sibling rivalry ... No, I still wouldn't change jobs!