How Much I Love Thee Let Me Count the Ways

umm actually five to be precise...I have been tagged by Mad Momma to list five things I love about my 'mommy life':

1) To never miss your sister, niece et nephews and husband (mine travels)...to see their eyes in his, their glee reflected in his smile, the way arhaan channels gman as he sleeps, his cousin's tantrums in his scrunched up mouth, his father' furrowed forehead as he worries what his mother is up to next.

2) The community of fellow 'conspirators' he has introduced me to...as mommies old and new help me with their tricks of the trade... of friendships through networks I never imagined. Of old dreams of a 'commune of women raising the next generation' being realised through new technologies...my blog friends should band together to form a Justice League of their own as they take on all the challenges mommy hood poses.

3)To finally have an answer to the question...Will I burn in hell fire for eternal damnation if I question my parent's ways? Do mommies really have it right? Know everything? They dont. Well I dont...and I know Im flawed, I know I dont "do it best". I have fears, complexes, dark days which will influence my judgement and my son should know that. But I will still pull out the Because I Said So card, phir aadmi bachey hi kiyoo karey (some reason to have a kid).

4) That I have stopped being judgemental, and expecting high standards. Hell there are days when I even forgive the Pakistan government for their shenanigans. Gman found me one day muttering how one could expect them to handle the Taleban mafia when I couldnt even put one little terror to sleep.

5)The way he makes a volatile cocktail of vomit-farts-Johnson baby-fabric softener-poop smell so good, him startling mid-nap and reaching out to me, his warm breath on my cheek, the fake crying as he pouts his lips, his cheekiness as he puts his dad to sleep EVERY TIME, him staring me down into opening my eyes as I fake sleep to lull him into slumber--no fooling him, the drunken smile on his face post-feed, the RARE days when he acts baby and sleeps in his crib, his generosity of spirit and forgiving me each time I falter, of helping me discover strengths which cliched though it may sound I never knew.

Mad Momma was right, its tough putting it down to five.

And now to pass on the tag to post 5 things that you love about being a mom) and find someone to link to and tag - someone from your own country, if you like, but definitely someone from another country ..and to leave a link to the post at HBM

Now some of my Justice League has been tagged already ...looking forward to reading their take on mommyhood...the five who have still not been bagged:

Kat in Karachi

Parul in Mumbai

Mimi in Melbourne

Mina in Lahore

MayG in Dubai


Say a prayer for me and mine in the days ahead and ummm photographic evidence of The Baby Who Can Put YOU to Sleep.

Cheeky little bugger if I have to say so myself