Being an expecting mother is the absolute best feeling in
the world. At least, that’s what every newspaper, magazine and TV channel
proclaims. And, every time I come across these proclamations, I feel alienated.
Two months ago, around Mother’s day, a
magazine happily announced that if you want to meet the “happiest” person in
the world, just find a woman who is carrying life in her womb. Really? Well, then, what about me?
Now, before you begin to give me that disgust-laden look,
let me explain. It is undeniably an out-of-the world experience to watch the
round, pulsating speck that’s your baby’s heart beating on the computer
monitor, or to look at a tiny nose or a tiny spine in those very first ultrasound images. But —and that’s a
big, emphatic BUT—I wouldn’t rank it
number 1. I’d rank it in the top five—maybe even number 2—but not number 1. Nope.
My teenaged sister (who, like most others, thinks I value my
career above everything else) wondered aloud if being a journalist topped my
list, instead of being a mother. Actually, that makes it to the top 5 too, but
again it’s not number 1. “So, what is
it that makes you happiest?” she asked, intrigued.
“Being with my one true love in a place that’s
breathtakingly lovely and romantically secluded, where we can just be together
without having to worry about whether the water pump is working or what’s to be
cooked for dinner,” I grinned. She
shrugged, smiling. “I guess you’re just different.”
“Why don’t we ask mummy what she thinks?” I suggested. As
our mother entered the room, we told her about our conversation. She was quiet
for a few seconds. And then she surprised me. “You know, honey, what you just
defined is every woman’s best feeling in the world. Having a baby counts, but
it comes second. The stuff about mother hood being number 1 is just lots of
hype.”
I couldn’t believe my ears! This, from the woman who’d joked
with me a hundred times that the single biggest reason she wanted to get
married was to have babies! But I felt infinitely happier. Happier, that
neither I, nor my sister, were the best things that happened to her. It was, in
fact, my father.
And I was happier that there is at least one woman who feels
the same as me. Any of you other ladies out there want to cast your vote in my
favour?
(Read more on my pregnancy experience at www.znaqvisajjad.wordpress.com)
(Read more on my pregnancy experience at www.znaqvisajjad.wordpress.com)
