Esther went to be tired. She woke up exhausted again. She loved her three sons to bits but could use a break from them. That morning was no different from the other ones. The nanny had left for her day off, and although she had prepared breakfast before leaving, one of the children wanted something different for breakfast.
The younger boy wanted the remote and was yelling loudly.
“Mum! Frankie won’t give Tommy the remote, and yet Tommy is the child,” shouted Arun, the oldest child.
Esther turned and covered her head with a pillow.
“Mum! It’s my turn to watch what I want. It’s not fair,” Frankie shouted in his defence.
She was trying to ignore it when Dan, who was sleeping beside her, told her it was best to go check on them since they wouldn’t stop calling her. He then covered himself and went back to sleep.
Esther dragged her sleepy self outside the bedroom. The boys came running to her when they heard the door open. “Mum,” they all started speaking. Frankie was in tears. He felt Tommy got everything he wanted. Arun wanted a cup of hot chocolate, but Tommy decided he was no longer interested in the remote when he saw his mother. He just wanted her to carry him around.
Like the dutiful mother she was, Esther went to the kitchen and served them breakfast. She got a moment to sit down almost an hour later. It was a Sunday, and she would ordinarily prepare them for church, but she was mentally and physically exhausted.
She was debating on whether they could still make it to church in time when she scrolled through her phone. It was Mother’s Day, and almost every other post included someone opening gifts or sending wishes to others.
Dan came for breakfast.
“Aren’t you going to church today?” Dan asked her.
“I don’t know. I am so tired,” Esther replied.
“The boys need a routine. You should take them. I don’t remember my mother ever allowing us to miss church,” said Dan as he took one of the pancakes on the plate.
“You could take them,” said Esther, taking the dirty dishes to the kitchen.
“I plan on resting. I have a long week ahead,” said Dan.
“You know it’s Mother’s Day,” said Esther and before she could say anything else, her children quickly wished her a good one. The boys discussed how they should make a card and get her flowers.
Esther told Dan about the posts she had seen.
“Your children should wish you a happy Mother’s Day. If my mother were still alive, I would take her out,” said Dan.
“What about the mother of your children?” Esther asked.
“How come we didn’t have such celebrations while growing up? This is just another avenue for women to ask for gifts and attention. You already have birthdays, Valentine’s and anniversaries,” Dan said.
“But you don’t even get me anything or even commemorate any of those unless I remind you,” said Esther.
“Women make everything a big deal,” said Dan.
“It’s an appreciation of mothers’ role,” said Esther.
“That’s your job,” said Dan.
“It’s nice to feel appreciated. You just said you would do something for your mother,” said Esther.
“Yes, that’s my mother. She was special and did so much for us,” said Dan.
That conversation angered Esther. She was already in a bad mood without Dan giving her more reasons. She decided she would prepare lunch and rest. Dan heard her in the kitchen.
“So you’ve decided you’ll not take the kids to church?” Dan asked.
“You can also take them. I told you I’m tired,” said Esther.
He called her lazy and negligent of her tasks as a mother. Esther had no energy to spare to argue with him, so she continued her chores. She took a long shower afterwards and decided to rest in the bedroom. Dan came into the room. He had left the living room because the boys were playing loudly. He called his best friend to see whether they could meet up.
Dan’s friend was out with his family. He had taken the kids out so their mother could enjoy peace and quiet. Dan sounded surprised.
“I didn’t think you’ve also been brainwashed, but that’s a clever low-budget way of celebrating it,” said Dan, laughing.
“It’s not about the money. I sent her something to get herself a gift, but this is what she asked for. She wanted a moment to rest,” said Dan’s friend.
“Okay. I’m not falling for that. There’s nothing special about a mother doing what she’s supposed to,” said Dan. The call ended shortly after.
Esther’s anger multiplied. She couldn’t understand why Dan insisted on belittling a mother’s role. It also hurt that his peers listened to their wives while Dan hardly attended to her needs. She finally understood that he didn’t appreciate her efforts in their home. She took away a lot of parental load from him and put his needs before hers.
She had learned that telling him what she wanted didn’t serve her, so she changed her tactic. She decided to pay him in his coin. His birthday was a few weeks later. She had always remembered to do something special for him. She acted as though she had forgotten it. That evening, he was in a bad mood but didn’t bring it up.
Esther would ordinarily help the kids with homework and school projects. She decided she would let Dan handle it during the weekend. She looked for reasons to leave the house on Saturdays, leaving Dan to help the children with assignments and projects. Dan hated the projects, but he had to help them. The children started turning to Dan more.
He tried sending them to Esther, but they often compared them and would tell him, “Mum always knows what to do. She doesn’t send us to you.” It annoyed him when the kids thought highly of their mother, so he had to indulge them.
“You’ve changed so much,” Dan told Esther one evening.
“Yes, I have,” said Esther with a smile, knowing it wasn’t a compliment. She was past asking him to listen to her. His Mother’s Day remarks had given her a glimpse into how he viewed her and her role in the family, and she had readjusted.
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