a little light reading

okay, not so little. quite a lot.

i stumbled upon this as i skimmed through theage.com.au for today's share of news.

interesting? mostly are things we've already known and it is still a bit far-fetched for now. i'd have to look a bit further into the future to be able to picture myself in that situation, but hey, there is nothing wrong with thinking about it now, is it? it is called planning and preparation :p most girls will eventually become wives and mums anyway, but the question is, what kind of wife/mum will they be?

working mum? stay-at-home mum? mum with lots of maids or mbak-s? (i will refer to maid as mbak from now on since that is what i usually call them at home. mbak is actually a polite term to call older sister in javanese culture).

it does annoy me sometime when kids get too spoiled, but now it annoys me more when mums get too spoiled, aka do not really take up the responsibility of motherhood and homekeeping. the article i linked up to were talking about mothering being an extreme sport. getting up every three hours day and night to feed your baby while you're still sore from childbirth, resulting in lack of sleep and irritability. distress that originated from initially being unable to understand why your precious little gem cried his/her little lungs out. hungry? sleepy? need nappy change? bloated? every mother gets to recognise different cries eventually, but it still comes with time. changing nappies and cleaning poo from their precious little bottoms, inhaling the stink that comes from your beloved. and on top of all that, hubby in the background, either sleeping soundly or snoring loudly. no wonder young mums get baby blues.

everyone will say it is worth it, and i believe that i will agree when my turn comes :) now, let's talk about what i wanna talk about.

this crossed my mind when i was scrubbing grime out of my bathroom tiles. this is not the kind of housework most young mum will do nowadays, especially in beloved homecountry, in-do-ne-si-a. spoiled rich mums often take shortcuts, in the form of aides: either the grandma, or mbak. i have nothing against nannas helping taking care of their grandkiddies. it is lovely. nanna is okay, but nanny is a bit, uh... and mbak in indo does not only do nanny's job, they do maid's job as well. lots of young mums in indo are usually very well groomed, with manicured nails i imagine would've never touched a brush to scrub shower tiles or do dishes. i tried painting my nails once and most got chipped as soon as i scrubbed a pot after making dinner. but isn't being a woman, a wife, a mum, essentially and traditionally means cooking, cleaning, sewing, and loving her family and her home? such a pity, a lot of wives nowadays are just trophy wives, not real "functioning" wives.

i give my kudos to all nanna generations who did and still do their houseworks themselves. to stay true to their natural role as the homemaker.

this is nothing against working mums, it is perfectly fine, even the bible said that the wife of a noble character is an amazing businesswoman who also manages her house very well.

i love my job, but i love homemaking too. it's not easy to find the work-life balance, but i will make do, somehow :) coz this is what we're made for. so dear ladies, career and all, you can have it, but stay true to your nature, okay?