My mother sends me WhatsApp forwards every morning and most nights.Sometimes it’s a pretty picture with a good morning and good night,some times wisdom ,funny stories and sometimes pictures with quotes.

She sends me sensible quotes,memes,funny videos  and they often  make me smile.

10 Things My Mother Gifted Me!

Love,Time,Education,Dreams,Health,Hope,Strength, Courage,Persistence,Friendship.These are my mother’s gift for me.

How exactly did my mother do that?She wasn’t very patient,but she persisted.She didn’t sit down with my home work after 6th grade, but kept an eye on me while doing house work ,to see I sat down to do my work.She didn’t buy me new books every month ,but enrolled me in a library.She didn’t have the budget for more than one dress during Durga Puja,but she ensured we had all our school books.I wasn’t the easiest child growing up,but I was a determined one.She helped me understand, the path to a better life is in my hand, if I studied hard and did my  best,God will do the rest.

By walking the talk ,my mother showed me the path to a better life .She appreciated the power of a good education and did everything in her power to help me study hard.I made mistakes along the way,suffered because of them .But survived.They definitely made me stronger and helped me stay very sure about “what”,”whom” I didn’t want in my life.

My daughter told me she doesn’t want me to read parenting books because they hack my brain .My husband once told me “be the way you want your daughter to be. “My daughter was two ,she was having a tantrum and I was having a melt-down.

I don’t know how my mother managed two kids with so little help and resources.She didn’t always have all the answers ,but she provided a stable home and a sense of security which is crucial for growing up .But she also  didn’t spare-the-rod and that is a scar I am still working on.

As a kid I was strange .May be I am still strange by many standards. But becoming a mother helped me accept a lot of those strange stuff which are also my strengths.Strange or different needn’t be bad,they just might be “don’t-know- what-to-do-with-it-but-helpful-for-my-work category.

But I am starting to realize I am a WIP(work in process) just like all other people,nature, art.The master artist is helping me tweak the unclear parts and the picture is becoming clearer.

What I don’t want to become is a know-it-all .That’s irritating. Unfortunately  I am a know-it all,since I was about four and my life and work has been a series of “wow I didn’t know that”.

My mother has taught me to accept myself flaws and all and still try being better.So if I ever wrote an autobiography, it would be “I didn’t know it all”.