Translated…
Recently I was sorting through the photos, seeing the pictures of my children when they were younger, I couldn’t help, but exclaim, because of how cute they once were, I’d pulled on my husband sitting right beside me, “the photo of the kids, bathing with their toys in the tub, and this one, of our whole family, look at how happy we all were! I’d often thought, I’d been, more than blessed, being able to, stay right by the kids, to watch them grow up every day.” My husband smiled and asked me, “Yeah, time surely did, fly right by, have you, any, regrets?”
the choice that every woman is forced to make: to work or stay at home and raise the children…
I was, taken back to the past, when I’d, quit my job, and returned to the family, because I’d wanted to be active, in my kids’ coming of age processes, and I’d found my health, as well as, happiness back too. For me, having my children, life took a turn for me, my days became pulled between the family and work, I’d become, somewhat, imbalanced; the job is only for the time being, but kids are forever, in the complete support of my husband, I’d, left the workforce, and started working, as a stay-at-home mom and housewife. Not being able to work anymore, with the reduction of my paycheck, I’d gotten more time, to accompany my daughter as she drew, worked on her art projects, reading the children’s books to her, and play with her too, and, I was also there, to help her, adapt to life in the kindergarten too. My neighbors saw how my younger son looked so strong and cute, and would always comment, “You’d done great, raising him!”, and these sorts of compliments would always, make my days brighter, and I’d felt, very achieved at the same time. Without the pressures I once had from work, no longer would I need to be the center of a sandwich, I’d become, happier, and I can focus on, raising my kids and just, being a mom.
Recalling one day many, many years ago, when my daughter was just five, she was, performing stories from a book to her younger brother, and, I saw how her six-months old younger brother squinted toward his big sister, and made sounds, as if, to return her words; it’s really interesting, watching the two of them interact, and all of a sudden, I’d, picked up my camera, to document the moments, and all of a sudden, my daughter turned to me and said, “Mom, you go to work, and I, to kindergarten, then, we leave brother at aunties (the nanny’s).” I was, somewhat, stunned, felt a little heartache, and, I’d held her tight immediately, “If mommy can stay at home with you guys, would you still want mommy to work?”, my daughter shook her head, “no!”
not my artwork…
“Holy! Here comes, the dark histories once more!”, my sixth-grade son’s laughter came, pulled me back from remembering their younger days, my daughter heard the laughter, and came, sat next to me, as we flipped through the books of memories, she’d smiled and said, “How I missed kindergarten! Younger brother is so white and chubby when he was younger, I can’t believe, that he’d turned, into this, dark guy now”, and, we’d started, making fun of one another as a family, recalling the memories we once shared together.
I’d once heard, “You need to see what you have right now, instead of ruminating on what you’d already lost!”, and so, if you’d asked me, have I any regrets? I’d not regretted my choice back then one bit, however, I am, regretting, that I’d not spent as many years with my daughter sooner, by quitting to stay at home.
picture from the papers…
So, that sense of achievement that you get, from watching your kids grow up a little every single day, is more precious than getting those job promotions, as you’d climbed up the corporate ladders. And this, is a woman, looking back in her past, and reviewing the life she’d had, the choices she’d made, for the sake of her family, and she’d come to the conclusions, that she has, absolutely NO regrets whatsoever!