Mother's Day Tribute

Yesterday was Mother’s Day. Due to another vacat..., sorry, business trip of Mr. H's, Miss V. and I spent Mother’s day all by ourselves. I took the girl out for brunch in a shopping/mall center close by. Given that the play area is under construction, I felt safe from having to spend some time in SIF hell. But as it turns out, I wasn’t quite so lucky. The shopping center invited my little girl to play in a temporary play area, and how could I resist those wishful eyes?

So I grabbed a chair and joined the array of fathers who were watching their offspring. Some of them, of course, tiny. The obligatory pregnant mothers of one, two, three occasionally drifted by with a nice coffee in their hands, enjoying some well-deserved shopping time all by themselves.

While observing these fortunate, fertile families from my side of the SIF lawn, I started to think of somebody else. I started to think of my daughter’s daycare teacher, who I will call Bella.

Bella sits on our side of the lawn, too. But even worse, Bella didn’t even get a live baby to take home when she was pregnant a couple of years back. When she was about 6 months pregnant, her water broke. She spent a week in the hospital but her baby could not be saved. Had the little one lived, she’d be four years today. Ever since then, Bella has been trying to get pregnant again without success. For four long years.

We SIF women often consider places, in which toddlers and their (pregnant) mothers get together a necessary, but frequently painful experience. For the sake of our child(ren), we go even though for our own sake, we’d rather stay away. And sometimes we do stay away (well, at least I do). Because we just can’t take it.

But what do you do if you work in a daycare? Not only do you take care of other people’s babies every day, you frequently see their mothers get pregnant again and have more and more children. How do you do this day after day, year after year, and still be the nicest and loving woman around?

Miss V. loves Bella and I sincerely think Bella loves her daycare children. Lovely internet, Bella is one of my heroes.

Yesterday was a day for Mothers. More often than not, however, people don’t think about Mothers like Bella. Those mothers who had to bury their children and/or are still waiting for a(nother) child of their own. They are mothers and deserve acknowledgment just like any other. Maybe even more so.

I don’t know who is in charge, but whoever is, it’s about time that Bella gets her take-home baby.