why do i love thee, let me list 5 reasons...

first, my apologies to abha for letting this post slide for this long - will your hurt be appeased, my friend, if i say it was because i was romancing my darling husband in the hills somewhere, singing songs, running around a tree, with flowers nodding in the background, etc., in true bollywood style?

what! you don't believe me?

oh just as well, because it wasn't true anyway - at least not the singing part :)

now, on to the tag - 5 things you love about being a mother - that's what abha's tagged me to d0 - check out her list of 5.

i'm going to copy paste her instructions

The tag is: 5 things that you love about being a mom. Next, find someone to link to and tag - someone from your own country, if you like, but definitely someone from another country (let them know that you've tagged them!) - and link back here and HBM (that's where this all started) and leave a comment.

here goes - 

1 - i love seeing the world through my children's eyes -  my 17 yr old, i swear he was born old, is the eternal cynic. i'm amazed at the way his mind works, at how he can take apart an action, a reaction, a conversation, anything at all, and analyse it to death, dragging me into discussions the wildest stretches of my imagination could not otherwise think up! i love the way my 13 year old, a romantic in the truest sense of the word, is ready to believe the best of everything, and secretly pray she never loses this innocence that makes her such a pleasure to be with.

2 - i love the way they keep me young and 'with it' - without them, how would i know how awesome jesse mccartney or the google android was? how would i know that a pottery party was the most 'uncool thing' a mom could think up for her child, and that girls are just as good at football as boys, if not better? it's not just media stars, gadgets, and other things teens are fascinated with, they have such fresh ideas, and think in ways i've forgotten to. they take me back to my own childhood, and remind me what hard work it is to be a child in a grown up's world.

3 - a little give, and a little take - ok, a lot of it! -  i love doing things for the children; covering books with brown paper, giving massages and mini facials, finding the right shade of bangles to match that silk skirt, driving them to an early morning classes, serving them hot lunch when they come home tired from school... there are alternatives, somebody else could do it, why they themselves could do it, but i do it, simply because it makes me feel great to still be able to do little things for them. 

and it's a wicked thing to admit, but children are very handy when it comes to fetch and carry - who else can you get to run around looking for the keys that are in the handbag right next to your elbow, or to fix the computer when the dog has jumped on the wires? who else can you get to give you a foot rub when you're home after a long hard day, or carry back that sandstone sculpture you fell in love with in thailand? 

4 - i love how i can still teach them to look at the world through my eyes - wow, raw fish is not such a bad food, and taking half a day off to go browse through a museum while on holiday is not so boring really. and hey, this ray charles dude can sing, can't he, and bombay jayshree, and begum abida parveen, and vivaldi can make really nice music ma! music, art, indian culture and customs, the list goes on. there's so much they still have to learn, and i love introducing bits of these worlds to them.

5 - i love early morning 'kattis' (our word for hugs) - at one time early morning hugs were things i took for granted. actually with two children, one who fell asleep only if she had my hair twisted in her fingers, and another who kicked me all about the bed, i was glad for space. who needed early morning hugs! now that big bed seems strangely empty without all those bodies filling it up, and i'm glad for times they still feel little enough to sneak in for a cuddle. reminds me of how quickly times flies by, and how soon the small joys we take for granted today are gone. i love you my babies, i've always got room for an early morning hug!