Mummy in the Morning

Manic! That best describes my mornings as a mother. If you are slowly raising your hand and saying me too – then read on. If you’re a dad or a parent-to-be or someone who is curious by nature, hope I can give you some insight into the not-so-typical mornings for mothers – because every day, there’s bound to be some drama AND in different doses.

What makes your mornings so crazy and intense? Do you iron school clothes in the mornings or the night before? What about making lunch? I won’t judge you for your choices. It’s about being honest about what works best for you.

And then what about those Monday mornings when the black shoes are covered in dust from the week before and haven’t been polished after all the weekend activities? That was me this week. But for some reason, I just stayed calm and got the job done myself. Ordinarily, I would be screaming at both my son and husband and waking the neighbours up! I’m a morning person thanks to the early mornings working as a journalist, and I relish it! For those mornings when I am feeling not so chirpy, a quick hot shower does the trick and I’m ready to open out my lungs again to coax my son to wake up. He loves school so that’s half the battle won. And believe me, it is a battle to get him to move at a fast pace.

This Monday, even with the curveball of the dirty shoes thrown at me, we beat the traffic and arrived at school BEFORE 7 o clock. I was surpised. That hasn’t happened in a good few months. I decided to park at a garage nearby – to make myself look more presentable and yes to buy coffee. I earned it after the morning rush – said in the voice of a self-confessed coffee-holic!

At the garage, there were many other mums, sitting in their cars. As I reached for my brush to go through my dishevelled hair, I noticed at least three other mums doing their hair and make-up, just like me. I thought to myself – it’s not just a co-incidence. That right there was proof that, as mothers, mornings are missions – which we do accomplish. We all rush to get our children to school on time and make a mental note that we can always worry about our appearances later. And we stash our high heeled shoes for our office look in our boot and drive in our slippers, sometimes bedroom slippers.

Ah! Talking about those, here’s how last week was different from this week… Fridays are my day off, make that Friyayyyys for me! But this past Friday, my husband had to be at work earlier than usual, leaving me to do the morning  school run, with just 5 minutes notice. And so I did what I have never done before, bearing in mind that Friday traffic is dreadful. I put on my warm, fluffy bedroom shoes, I brushed my teeth and got into the car in my pyjamas. I was mindful that the polka dots on pink fleece could alert others to my out-of-sync attire so I threw on a pretty pink shawl to camouflage the top. I went undetected in my pyjamas, got back home and into bed. Of course, I couldn’t sleep so I did the laundry!

Motherhood really is a maze and amazing! It’s about how you navigate those straight and curvy roads and the many turns along the way. At the heart of it, is your love for your child or children that will see you doing things you wouldn’t ordinarily do. Face it, there’s nothing ordinary about being a mother. It’s an EXTRAORDINARY role that must be saluted.

I didn’t intentionally write this piece to mark the start of Women’s Month in South Africa as I don’t believe that tokenism writing is helpful. We need to write about issues affecting women every month. But, since we are here, let’s celebrate the phenomenon of motherhood. If you have forgotten to acknowledge yourself, let me do it for you – well done mum for all that you do! Now, let’s get another manic morning started….

8 thoughts on “Mummy in the Morning

  1. Great morning laugh! Yes motherhood can be crazy, but it’s the most unselfish and selfless job that God had ever created. Sometimes women are too quick to judge the next, reading where you sat in the car at the garage and noticed other mums doing the same thing, goes to show that all that is on the surface may look as if all mums are superhuman, yet under all of that (and in their car boots) ….. It reveals a whole different story. Love reading the blatant truth about everything you write. Much love and respect for you Maya!!!

    1. Thank you for appreciating my blatant writing! Absolutely agree with your sentiments on motherhood. And oh, those car boots could tell many tales…

  2. Guilty as charged. Heels in the boot of my car, make-up done in my office and no one can slay traffic like a mum on the school run
    But rest assured, it does get better as they grow.
    Great slice of reading cake for the morning Maya

  3. This is a great post! So cheerful and optimistic and just rolling with all the crazy things we try to squeeze in the mornings before getting the kids off to school. Those days are behind me now, but even adult kids still take priority for us moms. It is a maze and amazing, as you said!
    Joan Senio
    kindness-compassion-and-coaching.com
    @joansenio1

    1. Yes, that’s it, trying to squeeze as much in as we can in the mornings. Thanks for your lovely comment!

    1. I was sceptical about writing this, but I’m glad so many mums can relate! Thank you for reading.

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