Motherhood Chronicles: Tales of Mami and Her Two Sonshines

Full disclosure: I generated the post's title using ChatGPT. 

It's Mother's Day today. 

I didn't plan on writing a blog post today. It is 2024. Social media has been reigning the past few decades and lengthy blog posts have gone out of style. Even Instagram has taken the backseat to TikTok. For personal and mental health reasons, I have chosen to leave Instagram temporarily, and, for the life of me, will never, ever, embrace TikTok. 

I choose to remain a dinosaur in the social media age.

Moving on. 

I have been a mother for close to 16 years now. Being a mother is hard, y'all, and no one can ever say they are prepared to be mothers. If anyone tells you this, they are lying. No amount of reading can and will prepare you for the dizzying, emotionally intense, identity-changing whirlwind that is motherhood. 

Having said that, I wouldn't trade the past 16 years for anything in the world. 

The love I have for my sonshines is unlike anything I have ever experienced. It's a rollercoaster of emotions, from pure joy from seeing them graduate sixth grade, scoring 19th place out of 600 at the World's Scholars Cup challenge; to overwhelming fear from losing them in the crowd, from sadness seeing them broken hearted and trying to recover from heartbreaks; and everything in between. But seeing my sonshines grow, learn, and become their own unique persons makes it all worth it.

Motherhood is the hardest job I've ever had, but it's also the most rewarding.

My eldest has grown into a wonderful, thoughtful young man. His determination to achieve what he sets his mind to amazes me. He is sweet and loyal to those he loves. He has good tastes when it comes to home decor and fashion style, and is a reliable shopping buddy. He bakes the best soft choc chip cookies too. 

My youngest is also the sweetest little man. He is kind and thoughtful. When he cares for you, he will fight for you. Once, he defended me when someone changes the Spotify playlist I had chosen to play, because "let mami listen to her songs!". He's bright, creative, and resourceful, he reminds me of myself. (not the bright part, although I was some sort of a bright student back then!)

When they were little kids, I would read them bedtime stories, almost every night. We have our favorite author, Oliver Jeffers. We would read his books over and over again, and sometimes, act the books out. Last week, I re-read one of the books with my youngest, and told my eldest, who has left the nest, about it. 

My eldest said how the book brings him good memories, and, the kids started calling dibs on who gets to inherit what books to pass on to their children. Oh, my heart was full! I was happy that I had given my sonshines, and myself, such core memories! My heart was really, really full. I was overwhelmed with love. 

With my two sonshines, everyday feels like mother's day. Every day that I get to be their mother is a celebration in itself. 

I don't need a special day to celebrate motherhood (ok but i would still like getting wishes today)

Every day that I choose to rise, despite my everyday struggles, is Mother's Day to me. Every day I show up, I do it for my sonshines.

I thank Allah for making me a mother, for blessing me with two sonshines, and I pray Allah guides me and support me along the way to be a mother that they need. I love you both, sonshines!