My mum turned 54 recently, and we had a lovely celebration together – Just the two of us. =)
I cannot tell you how rare this is. Ever since I’ve had kids, they are usually with me whenever I go back home to visit my parents. This was a first time in God-knows-how-many-years that I met my mum for dinner and shopping and spent quality mother-daughter time together. It felt sooooooo awesome.
Without the kids around, we could have a quiet and long dinner without having to rush. My mum’s all-time favourite food is crabs, so I brought her to have crab bee hoon from my favourite stall. My mum was so happy, I could tell she was really enjoying herself. She kept chanting, ‘I’m so happy.. I’m so glad we could go for crabs together!’ Haha.. My mum’s really cute. After dinner, we settled down at a dessert stall and shared a huge plate of Snow Ice. My mum’s first time trying it and she loved it!
My mum’s a really talented woman. Because she has so many interests in life, my growing-up years saw her learning cake-baking, flower-arrangement, sushi-making, pastry-making etc. She is a person who puts her whole heart and soul into whatever she’s learning, and while she’s deeply immersed in a particular hobby, she’d keep practising and practising until she masters it. I’m proud to say that my mum is a person with a spirit of excellence, and has great passion and zeal for life.
Because of this great attitude of hers, she’s become so good at many things and was able to use her talents in the church. Now, she not only serves in the refreshments ministry, she also holds cooking classes for members and friends in church as a form of outreach programme, and holds monthly charity sales for the items she makes, to raise funds for orphans in Indonesia. Amazing woman, eh??
The time spent together was so fun. We chatted and chatted about so many things. We talked about things that happened during my childhood, my growing-up years and about my kids and my job. It was a great time of reminiscing how our lives have been. She also reminded me that I should treasure the time I have with my kids now and really invest into their lives, building up their self-confidence and imparting important values into their lives, and not leave any room for regrets for things I didn’t do for my kids. Such precious advice and good reminders.
Actually, what our parents want is really simple. They do not fancy big presents or big fat ang pows. What matters to them is that you can take a little time to have dinner with them, spend time talking to them and knowing you appreciate them. Really simple stuffs. I feel bad that I don’t do that often enough, and really feel that I ought to set aside time just to accompany my dad and mum more. They’re after all getting older each day and now that they’ve survived the super tiring days of taking care of their kids, it’s now time for them to enjoy the fruits of their labour. I’m just glad that my parents are still considerably young and healthy, and I have opportunities to show them my love and appreciation
Happy birthday, mum. You’re the most amazing mother anyone could ask for. I love you! =)
