Blogs

There are moments in life when we have no other recourse but prayer. I find this true especially in the case of moms.

Recently my 15-year-old daughter had exams while my 11-year-old was happily in a world sans examinations. I was reduced to an emotional wreck by their antics during this period, and this is the prayer that came straight from my heart:

Dear Lord, please help me to hang on to what little shreds of sanity I've managed to retain in this very trying phase of life. Help me not to surrender to my baser instincts and howl like a banshee when I have a dire situation in hand, like the combination of a slightly stressed out teen, an impish 11-year-old in a world of her own and a spouse with mercurial mood shifts. Please cool my temper when I feel like clonking the spouse when he wildly swings from "Does our daughter have to study so much?" to "Why isn't she studying?" Kindly help the poor man make up his mind as to what he wants her to do.

Let my children understand that there's a four-year gap between them, and they have to behave accordingly. The 11-year-old acts like a 15-year-old and vice versa. Please, Lord, make the younger one understand that lazing around with a smirk in front of her sister and listening to music at a volume which can easily be heard in the next state is really not conducive to my peace of mind. Please make my teen aware that the time spent in conjuring elaborate schemes of revenge can be better utilized in studying.

I'm so thankful that my teen has created a timetable for her studies and is adhering to it. But you have to assist me here, in my efforts to pound it into her that it's a timetable and not the Constitution. She can veer away from it once in a while to listen to my lectures. I'm a mother and I have the sacred right to deliver long monologues to my children. She needs to comprehend that "I'm studying !" is not sufficient reason to escape from my ramblings. Please help me gain some clarity on this issue.

Dear God, I wish to become a Tiger Mom, cracking the whip, barking instructions at my offspring, creating punishing schedules and frowning on rest and relaxation. Or maybe not, because I'm starting to scare myself!

Why does my teen think that during exams I become a fount of knowledge? The other day while I was peacefully crushing candies on my phone, my daughter approached me with a doubt. The sudden shift from the world of candies to the world of science was in itself a shock to my system. Then she asked me a question that had words like "evolution" and "generation shifts" in it. For a few seconds I gave a very creditable impression of a weak-headed goldfish - slack jaw, glazed eyes and an open mouth. Thankfully she quickly grasped the futility of the situation and quietly told me that she'd check with her grandmother, who's an absolute whiz on such stuff. I couldn't even send a plea your way, Lord, since my brain actually stopped functioning.

Dear Lord, is there a secret portal in washrooms that leads to an alternate universe? My teen's visit to the washroom increases dramatically during exams. I have a sneaking suspicion that she's just enjoying the peace and quiet in there with some of her favorite books for company.

Dear Lord, this is just the beginning of exams and already I'm a wreck. As the days progress, you'll find me quite often on the hotline with you. Please bear with me.

Yours faithfully,

A Stressed-Out Mom

- Anjana Avinash

Blogger Anjana Avinash lives in Kerala, the southern-most tip of India otherwise known as "God's own country." She blogs at The Glass Bangle and The Greedy Reader. Another blog she started with her husband includes his photographs and her poetry.